This week’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale has firmly demonstrated, if there was any doubt before, that Yuesheng Zhang’s Yulong business is an important player in the Australian market.
It spent AU$29,275 million (US$20,735,483) on 63 mares over three days on the Gold Coast.
The Chinese billionaire is determined to become one of the nation’s top purebred breeders, if not the world’s top, and spared no expense in achieving that goal this week, contributing nearly 24 % of total sales.
Yulong has “improved” its racing division over the past few years as its racing team has grown by nearly 350 animals at Nagambie Farm, located in Victoria’s Purebred breeding center in the fertile Goulburn Valley.
“We tend to have a lot of horses that can’t come to China when they stop shipping, so we’ve kept a lot of horses and tried them (in Australia), but we’ve been screening them now hours,” said Yulong chief executive officer Sam Fairgray.
“We’re trying to keep the team tidy, have some good assets at work, race quirky ponies, and we have a few partnership horses that we’ve also bought as ponies. alike.
“That’s what we’ll continue to do with that model and focus on the important side of things.”
FRANKEL is the top coverage male by total ($8,800,000) and second by median price ($880,000) in @mmsnippets Gold Coast 2022 Country Broodmare Discount #FrankelWatch #WorldClassTheWorldOver #NorthernStarInTheSouthernHemisphere pic.twitter.com/K8vvc1y6UG
– Juddmonte (@JuddmonteFarms) May 26, 2022
That focus was fully seen in the morning session, when Yulong purchased three mares in a mare for Juddmonte’s champion male. Frankel total of AU$3.89 million (US$2,755,287): Imagine (Lot 1084) was the most expensive at AU$1.7 million ($1,204,110).
Supplied by Coolmore, which owns most of the major manufacturers Cassandra Go Big family of, an opening bid of AU$1 million ($708,300) was received for Fantasy and there’s been stiff competition ever since.
“It’s a genealogy site; she has an early date of service to Frankel and she’s a beauty,” said Fairgray.
“If you keep falling for her, you can continue to build a family and that’s what we wanted to do to strengthen our broodmare band.
“Then if she has a lovely pony and he wins the group 1 race, he has serious stallion potential.”
The 3rd place winner in the group with five feathers, Fantasy is the half-sister to the winner in group 1 Halfway To Heaven group of 3 winners Theann and a full sister for the group 3 winner Pink ticks .
Halfway To Heaven itself is the dam of the European champion mares Miracle and Azalea as well as the winner of group 3 Flying flag .
The age of 20 is rising Tycoon writes likely the first Southern Hemisphere to mate with Fantasy while he was also in dispute Angel Easton a mare was previously purchased by Yulong for AU$1.3 million (US$920.790).
Neds Blue Diamond Stakes (G1) Winner Tagaloa is also being considered for Easton Angel, an underage and five feather bet winner who is already first in the pool of 3 Lough Derg .
“What we’ve done in previous years is we’ve bought some good quality mares and (Mr. Zhang) have seen those good quality mares produce nice herds and sell like young. , so we just continued that pattern.
“Clearly with Tagaloa’s younger stallions, Lucky Vega etc., we want to give them every chance, so we will add some good mares that will give them a good chance in learning. “
Tim Stakemire, representing Sheikh Bin Khalifa, is said to be the lower bidder for Easton Angel, who has a reserve of AU$600,000 ($424,980).
“If you look at her, she looks like she would have easily been born in Australia here; she looks like a five-hair Australian water horse and I think that’s what people think when they put it up. she’s out,” says supplier Brett Howard of Glenesk Thoroughbreds.
“It was a good mating for Frankel and she just had the best temperament, so I would be very disappointed for Yulong if they don’t get a good horse off her and it will be a quarter for Lough Derg who. has been placed in the group.”
Right after buying Easton Angel, Yulong added Great sunset (Lot 1078), another mare by pony to Frankel, for AU$1.05 million (US$743,715) from the Newgate consignment.
Amazing sunset in the ring at Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale
Born in Europe, The Great Sunset has been placed many stakes in the US. She was insured to the Southern Hemisphere by Frankel last September.
Regarding Yulong’s investment in mares in Frankel, Fairgray said it was a move with reason.
“Obviously Frankel is flying. We saw those weaners last week selling well (on the Gold Coast) and Mr. Zhang clearly has a love for Frankel. Hungry heart and now (the 3-year-old group won 3 times) My whispers and we also have a few other Frankels that haven’t been tested,” he said.
Yulong also purchased 10 mares during the recent Inglis and Australia President Broodmare Sales for AU$650,000 (US$460,395) each.
Bowditch said Fairgray and his team worked hard on the test period Magic Millions paid dividends during the purchase and sale.
“No one works harder in sales than Sam Fairgray and his team and we’re delighted to have them here,” he said.
“They’re key customers of Magic Millions and they’ve entered the market at every level and it’s clear they’ve succeeded beyond imagination.
“Overall, there’s a huge amount of buyers. When you look at it, we’ve had close to 30 buyers spend over a million dollars, which is huge.”
Strawberry Hill Press the right key
The fourth mare worth millions of dollars sold to Frankel was Key (Lot 1145), a Group 3 mare raced by New Zealand owner Gary Harding. Buyer Duncan Grimley has been relieved to be on the board after swinging and missing on a number of occasions this year.
Grimley bought the mare for John Singleton of Strawberry Hill Stud, who bred and raced the group 2 winner Miss Fabulasbut handed it over to dealers Bevan Smith and Andrew Williams to register for A$1.1 million ($779,130).
Shout out to the barwho made AU$2.7 million (US$1,920.808) in the President’s Sale earlier this month, was the highest priced mare Grimley had unsuccessfully attempted to purchase.
Grimley, Singleton’s longtime blood counselor, said: “I’ve had a crack in some of them and have had half a million lights on them.
“But I bought the best mare of the pack for Frankel in the sale. She’s a good runner and we’ve been interested in Frankel for a number of years.
“We sent him his first mare from the Southern Hemisphere and we sent him mares most of the year and I just thought he was a superstar.”
Granddaughter of the New Zealand mare champion Princess coup dam of group 3 winner Hong Kong Wizard of Oz and Anthony and Sam Freedman’s team trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman 3 won the fat 3 year old ArgentinaKey began his racing career in New Zealand before a short campaign for Canberra coach Matt Dale.
She was then transported to Europe by Harding to be sponsored by Frankel before returning to Scone-based Willow Park Stud, which offered her to act on his behalf.
“We get great results thanks to Frankel, both through the sales loop and racing them. If she’s not good we’ll race her and if she’s a pony we’ll sell him, that’s it. how we operate.
“I’d rather have a Southern Hemisphere mare Frankel than a Northern Hemisphere mare, so she fits the bill.”
Grimley was interested in another mare in Frankel’s ponies, AU$1.3 million Easton Angel, earlier in the session, but he was no match for Yulong.
“You have a big player at the moment (Zhang) and he’s a really big fish, so when you go up against him it’s tough and that’s just the way it is,” he said.
“Coolmore has been blown up several times this week and that hasn’t happened anywhere in the world.
“It’s tough, but we’re a run-of-the-mill store, so it wouldn’t be good without quality at the top and quantity at the bottom, so that’s where we’re at and that’s why we I do it.”
The average price of Frankel ponies was AU$880,000 (US$623,304) from 10 lots sold.
