By Daithi Harvey
Chinese owner Yuesheng Zhang has been an emerging force in international racing in recent years through his many 'Yulong' prefixed horses and he was recognized for his contribution to the Irish industry at an awards ceremony hosted by the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners (AIRO) on Saturday night. Mr Zhang was the recipient of the 'Best Value Purchase At The Sales' award sponsored by Goffs. Appropriately it was at Goffs where Zhang purchased Whitefountainfairy (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}) through BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe for only €3,000 at the Sportsman's Sale last year before selling the subsequent Fairyhouse maiden winner for £300,000 at Goffs London Sale in June. “I am very thankful for this award and for all the support I have been given especially from Goffs, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, BBA Ireland and all the Irish companies and individuals who have helped develop Yulong and the thoroughbred industry in mainland China,” said Mr Zhang on Saturday.
He also enjoyed success in Ireland recently with another inexpensive yearling purchase when the Dermot Weld trained Yulong Gold Fairy (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}) won the valuable Foran Equine EBF Auction Race final at Naas and Zhang will be hoping to unearth similar gems in Kildare this week when he attends the Goffs HIT and Open Yearling Sale. Michael Donohoe has been instrumental in the expansion of Mr Zhang's bloodstock interests and he said, “It is great to see Mr Zhang recognised by the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners and Goffs with this award. When he first came over to Ireland, we picked up about 40 yearlings from across the Sportsman and Horses in Training Sales and had been lucky to have plenty of success with a number of them. He is over here this week to support the sales again and the plan will be to assess each individual after purchase before deciding whether they remain in training here in Ireland or if they are shipped to China in due course.”
With 480 yearlings catalogued at Goffs this week, coming off the back of an already packed autumn season of European yearling sales, an emerging market such as China is of major importance to a sale of this nature and this is something Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby is very mindful of. “Mr Zhang's support of Goffs and Irish Bloodstock in recent years has been enormous, and the industry is in his debt. I was delighted to visit his Yulong Racecourse earlier this year and was very impressed with the entire set-up as well as the very high standards he has ensured in every area. The horses looked magnificent and the racing was exciting and competitive, whilst I was made to feel extremely welcome,” Beeby said. Goffs begin the first of three days of selling this week on Tuesday with the Horses In Training Sale commencing at 2 p.m.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
