Burgeoning thoroughbred giant Yulong Investments has made a splash in New Zealand this season, buying up the nation’s top three-year-olds, and while they have already been rewarded with instant success, they are favoured to have plenty more on Champions Day at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Zhang Yuesheng’s Victoria-based operation has purchased a quartet of Kiwi three-year-olds in the last six months, and they have tasted topline success courtesy of Well Written in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) and Ohope Wins, who led home a Yulong quinella in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) last month.
While Ohope Wins has crossed the Tasman in a bid to add to her elite-level tally under leading Sydney trainer Chris Waller, New Zealand Oaks runner-up Autumn Glory and Well Written have remained in New Zealand to contest the Gr.1 HKJC World Pool New Zealand Derby (2400m) and $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) respectively on Champions Day.
Autumn Glory will be joined in the Derby by That’s Gold, who will carry Yulong’s silks for the first time after they purchased him following his dominant victory in last month’s Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m).
Well Written and That’s Gold have a particularly close connection with Yulong, with the pair being by resident stallions Written Tycoon and Lucky Vega respectively, while That’s Gold was bred by the farm, and Well Written was purchased by Yulong’s sales and nominations manager Harry King as a weanling in Australia on behalf of his brother Benji.
She was subsequently on sold through Brighthill Farm’s 2024 New Zealand Bloodstock Online Yearling Sale on Gavelhouse Plus to trainer Stephen Marsh and Dylan Johnson Bloodstock, and the King brothers have been enjoying watching her meteoric rise as a three-year-old.
Harry King had the pleasure of purchasing a share of her back, on behalf of his employer, ahead of her New Zealand 1000 Guineas success last November, and she continued on her upward trajectory, subsequently winning the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1400m) and $1.5 million Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), and capturing the attention of racing enthusiasts on both sides of the Tasman.
She now heads into The NZB Kiwi on Saturday, representing TAB’s slot, as a dominant $1.20 favourite, and like many, King is hoping she can continue her winning ways this weekend.
“It is a very exciting weekend for Benji and I and the whole team involved in selecting her,” King said. “Benji gave me a bit of a brief to find some nice foals, he was unable to make it to the sale (in Australia), and we were very fortunate to get her and bring her back to New Zealand.
“She is the first Group One winner by Written Tycoon for Mr Zhang (Yulong principal). For me to be involved in purchasing her with Dylan Johnson and Stephen Marsh privately was extra exciting.”
King said he took particular satisfaction from her Karaka Millions win where he was trackside to watch her triumph, with the bonus of Benji training a winner on the undercard.
“I was speaking to Benji during the week and I think what has hit home is after the Karaka Millions I opened social media and saw Chris Waller, Peter Moody and Gai Waterhouse all commenting on Well Written,” he said. “That gave us a bit of excitement, seeing those people that we look up to all talking about a horse that we purchased.”
While the brothers didn’t retain Well Written to race, she has helped raise the profile of Benji’s business, Foxhill Thoroughbreds, and given them the confidence to continue to invest in bloodstock.
“The amount of business he has gotten out of it in terms of marketing and promotion is great,” Harry King said. “Even off this sale he has been sent two horses by David Digney, who bred Well Written.
“We have purchased three or four horses over the past 12 months, two of those at Karaka that sold out straight away. We got a nice colt that we purchased out of Book 2 that we have put a lot of friends in, and he is a nice, sharp two-year-old looking horse and we will be expecting him to run in the Karaka Millions next year.”
While King is particularly close to Well Written’s journey, he has also been watching Yulong’s other recent New Zealand purchases with interest, and he is pleased to see his employer investing heavily in his homeland.
“As a proud Kiwi, and someone who works for Mr Zhang, I take great pride in seeing what he is doing over there,” King said.
“Being brought up in New Zealand and a former employee of NZB (New Zealand Bloodstock), it makes me proud to see him going full force into New Zealand and supporting an array of trainers. We are not just supporting one trainer.
“We have got That’s Gold (trainer Chris Wood) running now, who is a son of Lucky Vega, who looks like he is really in the market for the Derby ($5 second favourite) with Autumn Glory (trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood) looking a strong chance ($4.20 favourite).
“We have purchased Ohope Wins (formerly trained by Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott) and brought her back to Australia and she is with Chris Waller.”
King has also been buoyed by the strong interest Yulong’s purchases have garnered.
“Between those four horses, they have really captured the New Zealand imagination,” he said. “The support that we have had from New Zealanders, and even Australians, they are really getting in behind them, particularly Ohope Wins and Well Written.
“As a farm, we haven’t been going for generations, but for us to be involved and a part of that has really given everyone here a lot of satisfaction.”
While King said he would love to be at Ellerslie for Champions Day, he has commitments at Flemington, with Yulong the naming sponsor of the Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m), but he will be keeping one eye on the television taking in the racing action from Ellerslie.
“It is a massive day at Flemington and as a farm we like to sponsor and support race clubs,” he said.
“We have still got jobs to do back here at Flemington, and that will take pole position, but we will have huge interest in what they are doing at Ellerslie.
“I was there that day last year, we had our first ever runner in New Zealand in our silks in Vega For Luck (in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes, 1200m), and a year later we now have some of the headline acts.
“We feel very grateful to be playing our role in that day because it is just a superstar day for New Zealand racing.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
