Tuesday, 26th May 2026
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Global Breeding, Racing and Sales News

  • Elite Legarto Sells for $2.8m at MM National

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    A daughter of New Zealand champion Legarto has given the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale a major early highlight, with the Day One session topped by the Gold Coast sale of the six-time Group 1 winner for $2.8 million. The former Matamata star, a Group 1 winner at Flemington and a four-time elite-level winner in her homeland, was offered in foal to Alabama Express on behalf of her connections and bought by the Devil Night Syndicate. Legarto had been one of the defining mares of her generation, and her sale carried obvious emotion for the ownership group that raced her through a career of rare quality on both sides of the Tasman. “She’s the mare of the whole sale and we love her,” Devil Night Syndicate’s Jon Zhang said. “We fell in love with her when we first saw her at Karaka.” Zhang said the syndicate intended to send Legarto to Snitzel, having purchased a Snitzel service, and said support from within the ownership of Devil Night and Private Harry had helped make the purchase possible. “We’re going to send her to Snitzel. We purchased Snitzel and we need some very nice mares to support our stallions, Devil Night and Private Harry,” he said. Zhang said the group’s future stallion interests could also influence the mating pattern, with Devil Night described as a possible option later and Private Harry also part of the broader plan. For Dayle Wylie of Ancroft Stud, the result was both a commercial success and a fitting reward for a mare whose race record had already given her connections so much. “Every mare is very special, so we can’t put any price tag on them,” Wylie said. “I think she was the one, and we had to get her.” The second-top lot was January, a Magic Millions Subzero winner by Swiss Ace, who made $1.8 million when bought to race at the Gold Coast Racing Club’s twilight meeting by Pierro Bloodstock’s Blake Ryan. Syndicator Nathan Bennett, who offered January, said the result had exceeded expectations. “I thought she was probably worth that,” Bennett said. “She’s a pretty special mare.” Bennett said the sale delivered an extraordinary return for her owners, who had paid $900,000 for her as a yearling before racing her into a valuable broodmare prospect. “Never in the business,” he said, when asked if he had expected to sell at that level. “Once you get into the million mark you’re hoping for another bid here and there and we were lucky enough to get a few.” He said January had turned a strong profit, with her racetrack earnings added to the sale return. “It’s a huge turnaround for the owners. They paid $900,000 for her as a yearling and then to go on and win over a $1 million on the track and produce $1.8 million in the ring is a great result.” Another of the day’s standouts was Group 1 sprinter Stretan Angel, who added further depth to a session shaped by proven racetrack class and serious broodmare appeal.

  • Atzeni Closing in on Last Season's 58 Wins

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    A potential Group 3 double awaits Andrea Atzeni at Sha Tin on Sunday, with the Sardinian rider booked for two of the most interesting runners on a card that gives Sky Jewellery and Crimson Flash chances to underline their progress. The John Size-trained Sky Jewellery will step into stakes company for the first time in the Lion Rock Trophy over 1600m, while Crimson Flash also rises to Group company in the Sha Tin Vase over 1200m after a preparation that has already produced three wins. Sky Jewellery was among the early players in this season's Classic Series conversation before Size was forced to abandon that route when the son of The Autumn Sun bled from both nostrils after a trial in November, triggering a three-month ban from racing. He has since returned in the right style, winning first-up on May 3 before repeating the dose on the same card that brought Atzeni his treble. "It will be good to get back on Sky Jewellery because he's a very promising horse," Atzeni said. "He's done nothing wrong so far and he was quite impressive the last day. He's obviously got to up his game again, but he's a nice horse. He'll only have a light weight." That impost is partly why Hugh Bowman, Sky Jewellery's regular rider, cannot continue the association, with the four-year-old's 119lb sitting below his range. Atzeni made full use of the opening last start, guiding Sky Jewellery to a decisive Class 2 Members Cup victory over 1600m, and the gelding now meets a Lion Rock Trophy field featuring Copartner Prance, Sunlight Power, Chancheng Glory, Beauty Joy, Light Years Charm, Winning Ovation, Stunning Peach and Patch Of Cosmo. It is a sharper test, but the manner of his comeback has given Atzeni reason to think he belongs there. Crimson Flash brings a different profile into the Sha Tin Vase, where the gelding will try to convert a fast-closing second to Patch Of Stars into a fourth win for the term. He was slow to begin on that occasion, then unleashed a powerful final 400m to finish closest of all, leaving Atzeni with the sense that the result might have been different with a cleaner getaway. "He went really good the other day. The track was wet and he just missed the break, which put me on the back foot straight away," Atzeni said. The performance was costly, but not discouraging, and the rise in grade now becomes the measure of whether Crimson Flash has more to give against a deeper sprinting line-up. For Atzeni, the appeal is obvious: one ride is a lightly weighted miler with interrupted Classic ambitions, the other an improving sprinter whose last run hinted at unfinished business, and both arrive with form that makes Sunday's Group 3 assignments feel more like opportunity than overreach. His 58 wins last season are now within reach.

  • $40 Million Reasons to Roll the Straddie Dice

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    With a $40 million Lotto win already banked, former disability support worker Cliff Little is chasing another life-changing payday of a very different kind as Cifrado heads towards next month's Gr1 Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm. The Cairns-based owner has confirmed he will pay the $18,000 late nomination fee to give the five-year-old gelding his chance in Queensland's premier race, worth $1.8 million and run over 1400m on June 13. Cifrado has forced his way into the conversation through a sharp winter campaign, winning the Listed Australian Turf Club Trophy over 1200m at the Gold Coast before being denied only in a photo finish by Abounding in last weekend's Gr3 BRC Sprint over 1350m. That narrow defeat under Tom Sherry, from a wide barrier and at $31, has only strengthened Little's belief that the Stradbroke is now the right target. "Yep, we'll go to the Straddie if Rex thinks the horse is up to it," Little said. "We've spoken about it. The Stradbroke is 1400m and he did so well at 1350m (in the BRC Sprint) that you can't help thinking it would've been his race if it was another 50m." The decision sits with trainer Rex Lipp as much as Little, but the owner is prepared to back his horse again, just as he and his supporters have done while the broader market has remained unconvinced. Cifrado had already been a $1 million earner before this preparation and had shown his class at two and three, but his latest campaign has brought him back into sharper focus after a period in which he had drifted from the centre of attention. The BRC Sprint result also suggested he was not merely picking off a soft option, with the gelding sustaining a long run and reducing the margin late in a race that has naturally pointed connections towards an extra 50m and a much richer assignment. Little said he was surprised punters, bookmakers and racing experts had largely ignored the gelding in the lead-up to his winter carnival appearances, particularly after he made them pay once and then came within a bare margin of doing it again. "The last two races, the racing commentators haven't even thought about him," he noted. "They didn't say a word about him. But that's OK, we've put plenty of money on him ourselves." The same pattern may well follow him into the Stradbroke, where bigger names are likely to dominate discussion, but Little is not expecting the silence to disappear. "I don't expect them to take much notice of him for the Stradbroke because there'll be some good horses running in it and that's all they'll talk about." For Little, however, the equation is simpler: Cifrado has earned his place, the distance looks within reach, and another ambitious Queensland roll of the dice is now firmly on the table.

  • Antony Thompson Elected President of TBA

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    After more than a decade with Basil Nolan in the chair, Thoroughbred Breeders Australia has elected Widden Stud principal Antony Thompson as President, opening a new chapter for the national breeders’ body while retaining the experience of its outgoing leader. Nolan, who is principal of Raheen Stud, has represented Queensland on the TBA Board since 2005 and served as President since 2014, but will remain a director after deciding the time was right to step aside. His period at the head of the organisation covered some of the most demanding years faced by the breeding industry, including Equine Influenza, the 2011 Queensland floods, major commercial issues affecting breeders, COVID and continuing national and international Pattern Committee matters. It was a stretch that required patience, continuity and a calm representative voice, and Nolan said he was proud of what had been achieved during his tenure. “It has been a privilege to serve as President of TBA, and I am proud of what we have achieved together as a Board,” Nolan said. “The time is right for me to hand over the role and make space for the next leader.” The transition places Thompson, principal of Widden Stud and Chairman of Aushorse, at the head of the peak body after working alongside Nolan through his Aushorse role. Nolan said he had enjoyed that association and wished Thompson every success, adding that TBA remained an important voice for breeders and the wider industry. Thompson’s elevation brings one of Australia’s best-known stud figures into the position at a time when TBA continues to deal with issues that extend beyond individual farms and sale rings, from commercial pressures to the national and international structures that shape the breed and its racing program. His existing Aushorse role also means he is already closely involved in presenting and promoting the Australian thoroughbred industry, giving the handover continuity rather than rupture. In accepting the role, Thompson made a point of recognising Nolan’s contribution to both TBA and the broader breeding industry. “Basil has given many years of wise and committed service to TBA and to Australian breeders,” newly elected TBA President Antony Thompson said. “He has been a steady and respected voice around the Board table, particularly through some of the most difficult periods our industry has faced.” Thompson also thanked Nolan, on behalf of the Board and the broader thoroughbred breeding industry, for his leadership as President and for the care he had given to the role. With Nolan remaining on the Board, the change gives TBA the benefit of institutional memory while allowing Thompson to set the tone for the next stage of national advocacy. For breeders, that balance is likely to matter. TBA’s work often sits behind the headlines, but its role in representing the interests of breeders through periods of disruption, negotiation and change remains central. Thompson now inherits that responsibility from a predecessor who helped guide the organisation through more than 10 years in the chair, and almost two decades at Board level.

  • Skybird Popped the Group 1 Distance Question

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    A fresh test beyond sprint trips awaits Skybird at Eagle Farm on Saturday, with trainer Mitch Freedman ready to see whether the Group 1-winning mare can stretch her brilliance to 1300m in the Kingsford Smith Cup. The daughter of Exosphere has not raced beyond 1200m since finishing third in the 1600m Moonee Valley Fillies Classic as a 3YO in October 2023, and her only subsequent attempt over further was last year's Queen Of The South Stakes over a mile, where she again filled third placing. Since then, her Group 1 success has been built around 1000m and 1200m, most notably in the Black Caviar Lightning, but Freedman believes the next step is not unreasonable if she can relax and find cover. "She's got to step out to the 1300 metres, which is perhaps a little query, but once you get to this grade there's not races on for them every week, so you kind of have to take them here and there," he told racing.com. Softer conditions could also help, with Freedman saying Skybird is in great shape and that rain may take the sting out of the ground. The campaign has not been entirely smooth, despite her elite-level breakthrough at Flemington in February. She resumed from last year's Manikato Stakes with a peak performance in the Lightning, then ran fifth behind Generosity in the Challenge Stakes at Randwick before producing a sharp third in the TJ Smith Stakes, where she finished only a length from Joliestar. A trip to Morphettville for the Robert Sangster Stakes then brought a flat seventh behind Reserve Bank, and Freedman said she was not herself after Adelaide. "Coming out of Adelaide, she had a bit of an average blood when she got back. She was just not quite herself," he said. "It must have been something that developed in the 24 hours before the race, or on raceday, but she just didn't perform up to her best." Freedman also noted she had "copped a hip-and-shoulder" in the run, enough to knock her rhythm, but a trial win has since encouraged the stable to press on to Brisbane, where softer ground and a slightly longer race will provide a revealing examination of where she fits for the remainder of winter.

  • Jospeh O’Brien Joins Elite Juddmonte Orbit

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    A major new Juddmonte role has taken Joseph O’Brien into partnership with one of world racing’s most powerful owner-breeder dynasties, adding another significant strand to a training career that has already delivered major winners across Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Australia and the United States. According to racingpost.com, the County Kilkenny-based trainer will prepare selected horses for Juddmonte, complementing an existing European roster that includes Andrew Balding, Andre Fabre, Francis-Henri Graffard, Ralph Beckett, Charlie Hills, Ger Lyons, Henri-Francois Devin, Dermot Weld, Colin Keane and John and Thady Gosden. For O’Brien, whose Flat record includes winners of both the British and Irish St Leger, the Irish Derby, two Melbourne Cups with Rekindling in 2017 and Twilight Payment in 2020, and a remarkable international campaign with multiple Group 1-winning Cox Plate victor State Of Restt (see below), the link places his stable alongside one of the great breeding and racing operations of the modern era. Juddmonte’s colours have been carried by champions including Dancing Brave, Frankel, Kingman, Enable and St Mark’s Basilica, and the chance to work with such bloodlines gives the partnership obvious significance beyond the first horses now in his care. Speaking on the Nick Luck Daily podcast, O’Brien said the association had begun with a handful of juveniles and could develop further as the relationship grows. “It’s a real privilege for us to be asked to train horses for the Juddmonte team. They have had an incredible number of years as a historic operation,” he said. “We have a few two-year-olds for them, and at this point in the season, they will be second-half-of-the-season types.” Juddmonte’s racing manager for Ireland and Europe, Barry Mahon, visited the yard with some of the team, giving O’Brien an opportunity to present his operation at close range after he had earlier pitched the stable to Mahon. The challenge now is to turn opportunity into horses capable of appearing in the races that define a trainer’s standing, something O’Brien acknowledged is never straightforward. “It’s hard to get horses that are capable of turning up in Classic races and Group races, as it is for everyone, because there are only a few of those in each generation, but the bigger breeding operations have access to these incredible families, and Juddmonte have those lines,” he said. With the first 2YOs likely to be seen later in the season, the early phase will be measured rather than rushed, but the ambition is plain. “Please God, over the next few years, we can have a colt or filly turn up in those big races and this can be a long, fruitful relationship.

  • New Victorian Base for Edward Cummings

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    One of Australian racing’s most enduring family names is back on the Flemington training roster, with Ed Cummings establishing a new Victorian base while retaining his Hawkesbury operation, reveals punters.com.au. The move restores a familiar surname to the famous Melbourne course, where his grandfather Bart Cummings prepared 12 Melbourne Cup winners and his father James Cummings trained Group 1 winners before leaving last year to train in Hong Kong after his time as Godolphin’s head trainer. For Ed Cummings, who won the 2022 Australian Cup at Flemington with Duais, the decision follows a period of reassessment after an attempt to relocate to Randwick did not come to fruition. Rather than abandon plans to grow, he has taken boxes previously occupied by Mornington trainer Jason Warren and will now split his team across New South Wales and Victoria. “We have been looking to expand for some time,” Cummings said. “There was a period where we needed to take stock and get things up and going again after the attempt to move into Leilani Lodge. After that didn’t work out, it was just going to be a matter of sorting through the horses, which I feel like we’ve done.” The Flemington arm gives him immediate access to one of the country’s strongest training centres, as well as a track on which the stable has already enjoyed its most significant success. It also offers a practical answer to the problem many emerging or rebuilding stables face, with suitable horses needing suitable programs and a trainer needing enough reach to place them where they belong. Cummings said the additional boxes would allow him to work towards the scale he has wanted without abandoning the foundations built at Hawkesbury. “We’ve always had aspirations to get up toward 40 but this gives us 35 in work between the two operations,” he said. The broader resonance is obvious, but this is not simply a sentimental return to family ground. Flemington gives the stable a southern base from which to target the Victorian program more directly, while keeping Sydney and provincial options open through Hawkesbury. That flexibility should matter as the team is sorted, particularly for horses who may benefit from the roomy Flemington training environment or the chance to build towards races without constant travel. Cummings has already had several runners show promise at recent jumpouts while he settles into the new routine, and he has others close to a return in the next few weeks. The next phase will be about turning extra capacity into results rather than trading on the surname alone. The Cummings connection to Flemington will always carry weight, but the newest chapter has to be earned in the same practical way as any other training expansion: through sound placement, fit horses and winners.

    Duais

    Triple Group 1 winner Duais (pic: Steve Hart)

  • Queen’s Rhapsody Can Reign After Two Years

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    Almost two years after making her debut, Queen’s Rhapsody gets another chance to convert promise into a second career win when she returns to Canterbury Park on Wednesday. The Warwick Farm-based 4YO is set to run in an open The Agency Real Estate Benchmark 72 Handicap over 1250m, with connections hopeful that a return to rain-affected ground can help the daughter of So You Think take the next step. She began her career with David Pfieffer in the winter of 2024 and immediately hinted at ability, going down narrowly on the Kensington Track before ending her first campaign with four consecutive runner-up finishes. That run of near misses made her early profile frustrating, but a move to Nathan Doyle at Newcastle brought the breakthrough she had been threatening. After two strong wet-track trial wins, Queen’s Rhapsody opened her account in mid-May, powering home to win a Hawkesbury maiden and confirm that soft conditions were very much in her favour. The celebration was brief, however, with only one more start for Doyle before she was spelled and later returned to Pfieffer for her 2026 campaign. This preparation has again suggested she is close to another win without yet delivering it. A winning trial set her up for a solid first-up run in a Class 1 at Kembla Grange, where she closed strongly, before she again made late ground in a Saturday Midway Benchmark 72 at Gosford. Those efforts point to a mare ready to peak, and the Canterbury set-up looks suitable if she can offset a difficult draw in barrier 12. Her $4.20 quote with TAB reflects both the confidence around her chance and the caution attached to her racing pattern, because she may need luck from the gate before producing her finish. The main obstacle appears to be Eton, the $3.60 favourite from the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable, who is chasing consecutive wins after a striking return at Wagga. The gelded son of I Am Invincible, out of the aptly named English, swept home to win a Super Maiden by almost four lengths at his first run for 19 months, making him an obvious danger. Yet Queen’s Rhapsody has the grounding, the wet-track evidence and the race fitness to make this her moment, provided she can turn another honest performance into the result that has so often seemed within reach after a stop-start career that has tested patience again at every turn.

  • Form Lines Suggest Sassy Filly on Track

    Wednesday, 27th May 2026
    A spring target in Melbourne is already being discussed for Sass Appeal after a deliberately patient autumn allowed the Danny O’Brien-trained filly to make sharp progress without being tested too often. Her rise began after a quiet debut second at Sandown last December, with O’Brien giving her time to develop before she broke through in a 1400m maiden at Mornington in January, then climbed quickly through the grades. She progressed from a Seymour maiden to a Group 2 success at Flemington in only four starts, with her first black-type win coming when she beat the Group 1 Thousand Guineas winner Ole Dancer in a Listed 1400m race in February. The form has continued to look reliable. Ole Dancer finished third in the Group 1 Surround Stakes at Randwick at her next start, while Sass Appeal then stretched to 1600m in the Group 2 Kewney Stakes and won with authority. That performance was strengthened when runner-up Salty Pearl later won a $500,000 race at Caulfield before narrowly missing again when third in the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill. O’Brien said those results had encouraged connections to think in terms of Group 1 handicaps over 1400m and 1600m, with the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes looming as the obvious early-season aim. “Hopefully we can get to the 1400(m) Group 1, the Sir Rupert Clarke,” O’Brien said. “That’s the race that we hope she can take the next step to Group 1 as a filly down the bottom of the weights in that handicap. Then there’s also the Toorak Handicap for her if she measures up.” The decision to bypass Sydney and Adelaide in the autumn now looks a key part of the bigger plan. Rather than chase every available option after the Kewney, O’Brien stopped with a filly still on the way up, giving her a proper break before the next stage of her career. That restraint could prove important for a rising 4YO whose best racing may still be ahead of her, particularly if she continues to strengthen into the frame O’Brien believes she is developing. The Sir Rupert Clarke also carries renewed appeal after returning last year to its traditional September position, having been run in mid-November during an experimental period. That timing gives Sass Appeal a natural spring entry point, especially if she can resume as a lightly weighted mare with proven 1400m form, a Group 2 win at 1600m and collateral form around horses already effective at the top level. Her record remains compact, but the shape of it is persuasive: steady education, quick improvement, a maiden win, a stakes win and then a Group 2. The next question is whether that measured progression can take her into Group 1 company while the handicap conditions still give her a chance to make the jump.

Amarina Farm
Arrowfield Stud
Bell River Thoroughbreds
Berkeley Park Stud
Bhima Thoroughbreds
Blue Gum Farm
Bombora Downs
Clear Mountain Fairview
Coolmore Stud
Cressfield
Evergreen Stud
Kingstar Farm
Lime Country Thoroughbreds
Mill Park Stud
Murrulla Stud
Newhaven Park
Segenhoe Stud
Silverdale Farm
Sledmere Stud
Torryburn Stud
Tyreel Stud
Vinery Stud
Widden Stud
Willow Park Stud
Yarraman Park Stud

2025 BTR Stud Stallions

BTP STUD STALLIONS

Sire
A Lot Established
Acrobat Established
Al Maher Established
Alabama Express Established
All American Established
All Too Hard Established
Alpine Eagle Established
Alpine Edge 3rd Season
Anamoe 1st crop 2YOs
Anders Established
Artie Schiller Established
Awesome Rock Established
Barbados Established
Barbaric Established
Best Of Bordeaux Established
Better Than Ready Established
Bivouac Established
Brave Smash Established
Brazen Beau Established
Bruckner 1st crop 2YOs
Bull Point Established
Bullbars Established
Cape Of Good Hope 1st crop 2YOs
Capitalist Established
Captivant Established
Castelvecchio Established
City Of Troy Established
Cliff's Edge Established
Cool Aza Beel Established
D'argento Established
Danerich Established
Dash For Cash Established
De Gaulle Established
Delaware Established
Denman Established
Dirty Work Established
Dissident Established
Don Corleone 3rd Season
Doubtland Established
Dubious Established
Dundeel Established
Ellsberg 1st crop 2YOs
Encryption Established
Exceedance Established
Exosphere Established
Extreme Choice Established
Farnan Established
Flying Artie Established
Foxwedge Established
Frankel My Dear Established
Gingerbread Man Established
Gold Standard Established
Graff Established
Grunt Established
Hallowed Crown Established
Harry Angel Established
Hawaii Five Oh 3rd Season
Headwater Established
Hellbent Established
Hitotsu 1st crop 2YOs
Home Affairs Established
I Am Immortal Established
I Am Invincible Established
Ilovethiscity Established
Invader Established
Jacquinot 1st crop 2YOs
Ka Ying Master 1st crop 2YOs
Kermadec Established
King Colorado 3rd Season
King's Legacy Established
Lead Artist 1st Season
Lofty Strike 3rd Season
Lord Of The Sky Established
Love Conquers All Established
Manhattan Rain Established
Maschino Established
Master Of Design Established
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Merchant Navy Established
Mo'unga 3rd Season
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My Admiration Established
Needs Further Established
Nicconi Established
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Officiating 3rd Season
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Pariah Established
Pierata Established
Pierro Established
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Playing God Established
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Shamus Award Established
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Skilled Established
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So Secret Established
So You Think Established
Soul Patch Established
Southport Tycoon 2nd Season
Spirit Of Boom Established
Squamosa Established
St Mark's Basilica Established
Star Turn Established
Star Witness Established
Street Boss Established
Super One Established
Supido Established
Swear Established
Sweet Ride 3rd Season
Switzerland Established
The Autumn Sun Established
The Brothers War Established
Time To Reign Established
Too Darn Hot Established
Toorak Toff Established
Top Echelon Established
Topicus 1st Season
Toronado Established
Trapeze Artist Established
Turffontein Established
Unite And Conquer Established
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Vancouver Established
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Victor Ludorum Established
Von Costa De Hero Established
Wandjina Established
Winning Rupert Established
Wooded Established
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Worthy Cause Established
Written By Established
Written Tycoon Established
Xtravagant Established
Your Song Established
Zousain Established
Zoustar Established