‘The progression is incredible’: Yulong’s big dream is coming true
It’s a slice of pristine horse heaven on the outskirts of Nagambie that has transformed into one of the most significant forces in global thoroughbred racing and breeding. Welcome to Yuesheng Zhang’s Yulong Stud.
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It’s a slice of pristine horse heaven on the outskirts of Nagambie that has transformed into one of the most significant forces in global thoroughbred racing and breeding.
It might be far from the madding crowds of Flemington, but what is occurring on the five properties under the Yulong Investments banner in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley – and one at Bayles, in Gippsland – as well as in the racing stables around the country, is shaping the fabric of Australian racing.
The Yulong juggernaut is well and truly firing.
If you needed any reminder, you only had to witness the breathtaking Cox Plate victory of Yulong’s banner horse, Via Sistina, who might one day call those lush paddocks home.
Or the dominant VRC Oaks win of Treasurethe Moment, who was bred and raised at Yulong Stud, but whose win carries more significance given the filly provided her sire Alabama Express – a stallion on the rise at Yulong – with his first Group 1 success.
Treasurethe Moment was Yulong Investments’ ninth Group 1 win in Australia, and Via Sistina will likely take that tally to double figures in Saturday’s $3m Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m).
There is a touch of symmetry in that six of nine Yulong Group 1 victories in Australia have come in 2024, the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac.
The Yulong operation is a very modern outfit, purchasing the best horses, broodmares and properties that money can buy in a spending spree across the world that has been estimated as around $500m since its founder, Chinese billionaire Yuesheng Zhang, started out with a big vision and very deep pockets.
But it is also business steeped in tradition, centred on the Dragon – a cultural and spiritual symbol which represents strength, prosperity and harmony.
Yulong is named for the revered Chinese Dragon, a symbol meant to bring good fortune to those who deserve it.
Mr Zhang – as he is known – has had plenty of good fortune, but he has worked hard for it.
The Herald Sun was granted access to Yulong Stud recently to see the operation of its mouth-watering portfolio of broodmares including Imperatriz, Espiona, Away Game, Forbidden Love, Montefilia, Melody Belle, Snapdancer and Tofane, as well as champion sire Written Tycoon and sires on the rise Alabama Express, Pierata and Grunt.
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THE VISION
The phone of Sam Fairgray, Yulong Investments’ chief operating officer, pings with messages almost daily from the man whose vision set all this up.
No matter where he is in the world, Mr Zheng is always checking in to see how things are going, or if there are ways to improve operations.
It’s why he has been so successful in business, and why he has invested hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide in horse stock and properties.
Mr Zhang grew up in the small farming village of Shen Xi in Inner Mongolia, where his passion for animals, notably horses, first developed.
He left the village as a teenager and started driving taxis to make a living before working in coal mines.
Later he started his own coal mining and transportation company, which turned him into a billionaire, allowing him to turn his long-held horse dream into reality.
“He had a passion for animals and then for horse racing and he has put the steps in place for his passion to grow and develop,” Fairgray said.
“It’s incredible when you look at the progression he has made and the success he has had. People go a lifetime trying to achieve what he has already had.”
Mr Zhang made his first trip to Ireland in 2010 where he purchased his first thoroughbred, but a key moment in setting up the Yulong operation came in 2013 when he visited Flemington and watched Fiorente win the Melbourne Cup.
He was hooked on Australia, and on one day winning the Melbourne Cup.
It also convinced him of the benefits of setting up a significant operation in Victoria.
“Australia is where he thought would be a great place to set up a horse farm in terms of having the right climate for horses,” Fairgray said, who started with Yulong in 2018.
“Thankfully he chose Australia, and he’s starting to have some really good success here.”
‘The Boss’, as Fairgray calls Mr Zhang, has been involved in almost every aspect of setting up Yulong Investments, right down to the silks.
He chose his green racing colours – which were originally Jade, but have now found more success with Bottle Green – as a homage to the green grasslands of his childhood home.
“He is meticulous in everything he has done and that’s why he has been so successful,” Fairgray said.
“When he is here (on the farm), he is always out walking around and looking at the horses.
“He loves the farm. He is not afraid to be on a tractor or slashing a paddock or fixing a water pipe (they irrigate from the Goulburn River).”
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THE BROODMARES
Yulong’s quest to build Australia’s – and one of the world’s – best broodmare portfolio seemingly knows no bounds.
The decision to bid to $5.5m for Via Sistina at the Tattersalls Mares Sales in the UK last December might have looked expensive at the time, but it has proven to be a masterstroke.
Alcohol Free, who was purchased for $10.1m, didn’t fire in Australia, but is safely back in the UK and in foal to one of the world’s great stallions in Frankel.
Just this week as Yulong’s general manager Vin Cox was in the midst of conducting an interview at Flemington after their two-year-old Tycoon Star won the Group 3 Maribyrnong Plate on Tuesday, he paused to take a call from Kentucky confirming they had secured racing/breeding mare Warlike Goddess for $US1.8m at the Fasig-Tipton Sales.
Closer to home, it emerged on Friday that Grahame Begg’s dual Group 1 winning star Magic Time would run in the Bottle Green colours in the Hot Danish at Randwick on Saturday.
“We are always trying to improve the quality of our broodmares but to also keep the numbers to a control point,” Fairgray said.
“It is mouth-watering when you walk into a paddock with the dry mares and you see the likes of Imperatriz, Espiona, Life Lessons and Autumn Angel. If you had one of them in your paddock, you would be happy. To have so many is incredible.”
Mr Zhang’s ‘mansion’ where he stays when he is at Yulong Stud isn’t far from the ‘Mansion 1’ paddock which boasts the likes of 10-time Group 1 winner Imperatriz, who was sold to Yulong for $6.6m after her racing career ended.
Imperatriz is currently in foal to one of Yulong’s stallions in Pierata, who is having good success in his stud infancy.
Her coat is glistening and she shares a paddock with Group 1 winners Duais, Chain of Lightning and Pennyweka, to name a few.
Imperariz’s dam, Berimbau, is also on the farm, and has a Pierata colt at foot and will return to him this year. She also has a yearling full-brother to Imperatriz.
Yulong Stud’s lush paddocks are also named for current and former jockeys including Damien Oliver, Jamie Kah, Frankie Dettori and Joao Moreira, as well as some of the world’s best tracks, including Flemington.
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THE STALLIONS
Yulong has eight stallions as part of its 2024 roster, including 22-year-old super sire Written Tycoon, who serves a private book.
Having been acquired by Yulong in 2021, he is one of the most popular horses on the farm, not just for the success that he has had in producing a swath of champions over the years but for his composed nature.
Included on the roster are rising young stallions Alabama Express, who has just had his first Group 1 winner, Grunt, Pierata and Tagaloa.
Fairgray is confident the stallions the stud has been able to assemble will play a big part in the future success.
“That’s part of the growth of the farm,” he said. “We have been able to acquire a proven stallion like Written Tycoon and we’ve also been able to buy these young colts off the track and bring them here to be young stallions.
“Grunt was our inaugural stallion and he was able to get (Group 1 winner) Veight in his first crop. We have got facilities here where we can have up to 14 stallions and that was part of the process in trying to buy yearling colts who we hopefully can turn into top stallions.”
Among those who could make the roster in the coming years include Coolmore runners Growing Empire and First Settler.
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THE FUTURE
When asked some time ago who his favourite horse was, Mr Zhang understandably named four-time Cox Plate winner Winx.
But, according to Fairgray, the boss has changed his mind – for good reason.
“I think Via has jumped the queue,” Fairgray said.
“For the boss to be here to see her win a Cox Plate was so special, but also to win it so emphatically was incredible.”
Given Mr Zhang’s desire to one day win a Melbourne Cup, it was a tough call not to run Via Sistina this year.
“Obviously the big carrot that one day the boss wants to win is the Melbourne Cup,” Fairgray said. “He would love to win it, but the horse comes first. The decision (not to run) was made in the best interests of Via Sistina.”
Fairgray said Yulong’s investment in Australia would continue to grow in the future in all aspects of the racing and breeding industry, including as vendors at the yearling sales.
“We need to be commercial,” he said. “With the numbers we have got, you need to be.”
“We don’t want to be seen to be keeping all the better (yearlings), we will offer them for sale. If there is one we particularly like, we will put a reserve on it, and if it meets the reserve well and good, but otherwise we are happy to bring it home.”
Fairgray said Yulong would continue to use a variety of trainers instead of having one central training base.
“We will continue to support the people who have supported us,” he said.
For the moment, though, the focus is on Via Sistina’s date with another Group 1 on Saturday, and what that means for the Yulong’s brand is worth its weight in gold.
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