Yulong get in on the action
A few hours before the seven-figure colt produced fireworks at Karaka, it was another son of I Am Invincible who set the standard at the sale after Yuesheng Zhang’s Yulong battled hard to secure the KB Bloodstock-offered youngster for NZ$675,000.
Catalogued as Lot 32, the colt is third foal out of 2016 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes winner La Luna Rossa, a daughter of Yulong’s marquee stallion Written Tycoon (Iglesia), who hails from the further family of stakes scorer Listen Here (Elusive Quality), dam of Group 1 winner Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor) and successful stallion Deep Field (Northern Meteor), whose best win came in Group 2 company.
The colt was redirected to the New Zealand sale he passed in at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale after failing to reach his $350,000 reserve. He clocked a time of 10.26 in his 200-metre breeze.
Kit Brooks of KB Bloodstock was responsible for selling the then record-breaking Star Turn (Star Witness) colt at last year’s sale and he told ANZ Bloodstock News he expected the two-year-old to be well-received by the buying bench.
“He made close to what we were expecting but we had him on the market at NZ$400,000. He was very popular. All the top judges came to look so he was one of the colts of the sale,” he said. “We got him around the middle of the year, broke him in and he was no nonsense type and handled everything well.
“It’s nice to sell another top lot – Yulong have bought a really nice colt and we wish them the best of luck. He might be a stallion prospect for them.”
Yulong’s COO Sam Fairgray had to beat off competition from La Luna Rossa’s former co-trainer Andrew Forsman to buy the colt, who he said he would join Chris Waller’s Sydney stable.
All the top judges came to look so he was one of the colts of the sale
“He’s a very nice colt out of a good mare, and he breezed-up well,” the New Zealand native said. “We see him as a nice colt to add to the racing team, and then hopefully he might make a stallion prospect further down the track.
“The fact that he was a November foal means he’s got a bit of upside. We’ll take him home, be patient with him and see where he ends up.
“The fact that he’s out of a Group 1-winning Written Tycoon mare certainly adds to his appeal for Mr Zhang,” Fairgray said. “It’s a pedigree that suits Australia well, and the cross with I Am Invincible has worked.”
Yulong’s green and white colours have been an unstoppable force on the track in Australia of late, with their success headlined by Via Sistina’s (Fastnet Rock) record-breaking Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) triumph, a victory she followed up with dominant display in the Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m). The operation also celebrated VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) success when their homebred Treasurethe Moment (Alabama Express) took out the 2500-metre contest, while last weekend, they capped off a wonderful spring when their $2.2-million purchase Kimochi (Brave Smash) won the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
Fairgray said the results are just rewards for the investment Zhang has made in every area of the industry, at every level.
“Mr Zhang has put a lot of investment in, so it’s great to see him being rewarded for that with the results we’ve had this spring,” Fairgray said. “Some of those successes have been with yearlings and older horses that we’ve bought, and others are horses we’ve bred ourselves on the farm, so they’ve come from everywhere.
“We’re still quite a young operation, but the results are starting to flow, which has been great. Hopefully that can continue with some of our newer recruits, like this colt.”
