Yuesheng’s Commitment Driving China

[Wandering Eyes]

For the second consecutive year, Arqana sponsored a race at Yulong Park Racecourse in China on July 20. Mathieu Legars of the Arqana bloodstock team was on hand and shares some of his views on the development and expansion of the racing and breeding industries in China, principally driven by Zhang Yuesheng.

The Arqana Stakes Sprint was won by the Zhang Yueshang-owned Souchez (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus}), a 5-year-old who was purchased at an Australian horses-in-training sale in 2018. Fuan Star won the Le Cheval and FRBC Stakes Long Distance in the colours of Mr Fu. He is one of many yearlings purchased by Yulong in Europe for the purpose of re-selling them to owners at the Yulong Jockey Club.

The creation of Yulong Horse Park

The Yulong Group is owned by Zhang Yuesheng, a self-made businessman who developed his business in coal mining as well as in the chemical industry, logistics and renewable energies. He has a passion for horses and in 2008 created the subsidiary Yulong Horse Group whose base, Yulong Horse Park, is located in Youyu in the north of Shanxi province, 500 kilometres west of Beijing.

Yulong Horse Park covers 400 hectares of land and has no less than 300 employees. Its facilities encompass the Yulong Jockey Club Racecourse with a 1600m sand track, 600 boxes divided into barns of 50, walkers, a swimming pool and indoor rides. The roughly 500 horses in active training are divided among 18 trainers and about 100 owners. The breeding industry comprises 200 mares and five stallions; the mares belong to Zhang Yuesheng and other owners that are members of the Yulong Jockey Club. Part of the races at Yulong Park are reserved for horses born and raised in China.

The import of racehorses into China and the commercialisation of them once there is also an important activity of the group. Every year, about 120 horses from the yearling and horses-in-training sales reach China. The vast majority of them come from Ireland and Australia. Inglis and Magic Millions finance races reserved for graduates of their sales. These horses are then sold on site to the members of the Yulong Jockey Club and since May 2018 have been presented at auctions in the brand-new Yulong Horse Park facility. Sales are held twice a year, in May and in the autumn.

The Yulong race programme has strengthened since 2017 with a race meeting every Saturday from May to October and from October to January further south in Wuhan. The Yulong Horse park has also been modernised: races have been broadcast live on the Internet beginning this year and young Chinese influencers are invited. They share their day live at the races with their subscribers on their smartphones. Very popular in China, social networks target the youngest population and help democratise horse racing.

On the technical side, the Singapore Turf Club helps with the training of stewards, handicappers and the rules of racing, while the most important media group in China, SINA, is also a partner. A sponsorship platform has been set up to help increase the prize money of races, including from the auction houses Inglis, Magic Millions of Australia but also Goffs and Coolmore of Ireland as well as the horse feed manufacturer Red Mills.

International development

Yulong has been very active in the Australian market for three years. A commercial structure has been developed there with three stud farms, two of which were new in 2018, with a total of 200 mares and a stallion station with their first stallion Grunt (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}), winner of two Group 1s in Australia, starting the breeding season in 2019. Yulong also has a strong presence in Ireland with about 30 horses in training spread over six trainers. Zhang Yuesheng also wants to showcase his Yulong brand by having some horses in training in the U.S. and Dubai.

Yulong’s first purchases in France were fillies for breeding in Australia, as well as horses in training and 2-year-olds that were exported to China. During the 2018 Arc Sale, Zhang Yuesheng was particularly active when buying three horses including Ancient Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who had recently finished third in his comeback race in Ireland for Jim Bolger, for €650,000. The objective is now to continue to develop Yulong’s presence and activity, an important first step in penetrating the Chinese market.

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