Yulong

Yulong Stud arrived on the Australian breeding scene with a bang when they sold dual Gr1 winner Hungry Heart in their inaugural Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling draft in 2019. Since then, they’ve bred and sold a steadily growing list of quality graduates including this year’s three-year-old Sketched, who ran third in the Listed Foundation Plate at his second start and is now a winner. Authentic Jewel showed promise immediately, running fourth in the Gr3 Gimcrack Stakes on debut, and now has four wins and four placings from 16 starts including second in the Listed Gosford Guineas.

Bluebloods talked to Troy Stephens about the Yulong Stud Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft.

In 2023, Yulong Stud will present a draft of thirty yearlings at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale with fifteen by their first season sire and Gr1 CF Orr Stakes winner Alabama Express, and another four by dual Gr1 winner Grunt whose oldest crop have just turned two.

The investment into quality broodmares is reflected in this draft with Lot 520, the first live foal, a filly by Champion Sire Snitzel, of brilliant Gr1 winning race mare Viddora (I Am Invincible). Viddora won the

Gr1 Winterbottom Stakes and the Gr1 AJ Moir Stakes, among her nine wins up to 1200m.

The first foal of dual Gr1 winning sprinter In Her Time is an I Am Invincible colt, Lot 965, and as well as her nine wins including the Gr1 Lightning Stakes and Gr1 Galaxy Handicap, In Her Time was six times Gr1 placed and ranked the Equal Leading Older Mare on the 2018 World Thoroughbred Rankings (Sprint). Out of a winning Zeditave mare, In Her Time is from the same family as The Everest winner Yes Yes Yes.

Written Tycoon’s rise from an initial fee of $8,250 and several different homes has defied the usual logic applied to stallion success, and his current fee

of $165,000 reflects his status as the Champion Sire in Australia in 2020/21 with 52 stakes winners. Yulong Stud will offer his yearling filly, Lot 457, who is the first foal of stakes placed winning Snitzel mare Talented, herself a daughter of Listed winner Exceptionally.

Extreme Choice yearling filly, Lot 497, is the second live foal of winning mare Trajectory, who is a half-sister to Gr1 winner Douro Valley and stakes winner Stellamac. First season sire and Gr1 winner Alabama Express (Redoute’s Choice) has five fillies and ten colts in this draft, with the half-sister to Gr1 Blue Diamond winner Lyre being the standout on pedigree, and her dam Erato is a daughter of dual Gr1 winner Mnemosyne, who also left dual Gr1 winner Impending, group winner Forget, and Listed winner Epidemic at stud.

A half-brother to Gr3 winner Irukandji, out of group placed winner Cerberus Gal, is Lot 707, from the family of Danzero. Cerberus Gal has left six winners from as many to race.

The third foal of stakes placed winner Pageantry (I Am Invincible), Lot 212, is a colt, and his second and third dam are both were awarded Champion 3YO Filly titles.

Another third foal from a good racemare is Lot 557, a colt, and his dam, Written Era, is a Gr3 placed winner of five races from the family of Shot of Thunder. Lot 1040 is the second foal, a colt, from stakes placed winner Bouquet de Flores, who is a half-sister to stakes winners Lazuli, and Inspiriter. Lot 524 is a colt from a half-sister to dual Gr1 winner In Italian, and two other stakes horses, and all are out of Gr3 Sunshine Coast Guineas winner Florentina, a half-sister to Gr1 winner Gathering.

A half-sister to stakes placed winner Sketched is Lot 701, and this filly is out of a half-sister to group winner City Style and to the dam of Listed winner

Hungry Heart

Universal Order. Lot 562 is out of a young winning half-sister to Gr1 Irish Derby winner Sovereign from the family of Trust in a Gust.

Grunt was a superior three-year-old winning the Gr1 Australian Guineas to make his record at that time four wins from five starts, and among his four second crop yearlings in the Yulong Stud draft are: Lot 154 who is the second foal of stakes placed winner Motown Lil, a full sister to Gr2 winner Daisies (Sebring) and a halfsister to Gr1 Golden Rose placed Zou Tiger, from the family of Horse of the Year Tycoon Lil; while Lot 841 is the first foal of two year-old winner Evening Slippers (Snitzel) who is a full sister to Gr1 winner Sweet Idea (Snitzel) and group winner Showtime (Snitzel), as well as a half-sister to Listed winner Rush.

Other sires represented in the Yulong Stud 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft are Blue Point (Lot 669), Capitalist (Lot 660), Dundeel (Lot 205), Exceed and Excel (Lot 32), Lope de Vega (Lot 64), Nicconi (Lot 120), and Pierata (Lot 324).

What is the best horse you have sold through Magic Millions?

Hungry Heart

When assessing breeding which influences/key horses do you mainly look for?

Broodmare sire is very important, and I like to see inbreeding to superior females.

Do you still get butterflies as your yearling enters the ring?

It takes an enormous amount of work to get a yearling to the ring and so much has to go right so there are always a few nerves in hope that we achieve a positive result.

What makes Magic Millions at the Gold Coast such a success?

The prize money over the carnival is extraordinary. Magic Millions has such a unique atmosphere, it truly is a world class sale and proven source of Stakes winners.

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?

Visiting Lexington, Kentucky.

What’s the most expensive thing you’ve broken?

I was fortunate enough to break in the $1,000,000 Fastnet Rock x Popsy colt who went on to become the Gr1 New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas winner Rock N Pop.