4 minute read
A grand passion
Billionaire owner Zhang Yuesheng is a coming force in the world of global racing and breeding. Michael Cox finds out more
ulong Investments is a rising force in the racing world, and the group’s billionaire owner Zhang Yuesheng has an undeniable passion for the sport as well as a keen eye for horseflesh.Y
Yulong’s relatively rapid growth, part of the new wave of Mainland Chinese interest in racing, may give the impression that the investment is all about money, and a perusal of sales results over the last few years confirms Zhang’s operation as serious players.
Yet, along with the headline-grabbing sales purchases, there has also been highlevel development of farms and infrastructure in Australia that displays a long-term commitment. Not to mention what is clearly careful consideration when it comes to broodmare acquisition.
Underscoring it all is Zhang’s wealth and business acumen – he has made his money in areas as diverse as coal mines, wind farms and hotels – but also driving Yulong is Zhang’s passion for racing and an incredible knowledge of the horse itself.
“He is very passionate about it, he really does love it and his knowledge of pedigrees and racing worldwide is quite amazing,” Yulong’s Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray said. “He keeps a close watch on the big racing around the world and can tell you which stallions have been successful. He is unique that he does have so much knowledge. He also knows a lot about general horse welfare and health. Whenever he is in Australia or Ireland, whether it is at a stud or racing stable, he travels around to look at the horses himself.”
“Mr Zhang loves having a look at the horses in person and checking their progress. When he is at the farm he looks at every horse and when he looks at them he knows their breeding just by looking at them, he has a great photographic memory. He is a good judge of a horse, he knows a nice type, so although we do a lot of the groundwork when it comes to choosing horses, he is still instrumental in the selection process.”
Those regular trips from Mainland China to his three farms in Australia, and to check on his small but select band of broodmares in Ireland, have become more serious undertakings as the group’s footprint has grown.
Sam Fairgray
Yulong already has more than 180 mares worldwide and bought its first stallion – the G1-winning colt Grunt – who will stand at a brand new Australian farm next breeding season.
Yulong attracted more headlines this year with the purchase of 20 mares from Coolmore, but the northern hemisphere buying has emphasised quality over quantity, epitomised by a couple of canny purchases from the 2018 Tattersalls December Sales.
Yulong created waves by paying 600,000 guineas for Vintage Folly, in foal to Frankel, and paid 240,000 gns for You Only You, a buy that soon proved to be a boon.
Six months after those purchases, You Only You’s full-brother Sovereign won the Irish Derby by six lengths, providing an incredible pedigree update and huge boost for Zhang.
“It’s great for Mr Zhang to get results like that,” Fairgray said. “It gives him some more confidence in the industry and his willingness to go back in and reinvest is enhanced by getting results like that so quickly.”
Even though Yulong’s growth has been rapid, it remains on an upward trajectory, with Zhang searching for more stallion prospects and carefully selected pedigrees for the already strong broodmare band.
“Mr Zhang wants to build a Thoroughbred breeding group that is worldly recognised,” Fairgray said. “We have our first stallion this year, hopefully we will grow our stallion numbers over the next couple of years. We have around 185 mares worldwide. We have got to this point very quickly, but he is all about developing stallions and to do that he will be supplying them with some nice mares.”
“To support the stud side, there will be the racing business, and we will buy some nice colts – with the chance they could become stud prospects – and fillies that we hope can add black type and join our broodmare band. Three of our fillies have already won Stakes races so we are headed in the right direction.”
Yulong’s growth comes at an exciting time for the sport in mainland China, with a number of interesting developments in recent years.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s mainland training centre at Conghua hosted its first official race meeting – sans betting – in March this year, while a new racetrack has opened in Hohhot in Inner Mongolia. Of course betting is banned on horse racing on the mainland, but a glimmer of hope could be found in last year’s announcement that the possibility of a racing industry – with betting – on the southern resort of Hainan Island would be explored.
Wheels move slowly within China though, where officials think in terms of centuries and millennia, not decades or years.
But for those like Zhang, riding high on his country’s newfound prosperity, and with passions and a vision outside his homeland, the time is now.
“He has been very successful in his other businesses and he is determined to make his Thoroughbred breeding business as successful as his other pursuits,” Fairgray said. “But for Mr Zhang, as well as being a business, it is a passion. He loves it.”
