Where’s Mr Zhang? – Why the location of the Yulong supremo has so intrigued an industry

Such is the importance of Yulong’s Zhang Yuesheng to the Australian racing, breeding and bloodstock industry, that when he leaves the country, everyone gets nervous.

On Saturday, two of his star mares, Via Sistina and Treasurethe Moment will contest the Cox Plate, the former looking for a second straight success after her stunning eight-length triumph last year.

But the man behind the largest ever investment in the Australian thoroughbred industry won’t be at Moonee Valley. He remains in China and that has the thoroughbred industry decidedly nervous.

The rumour mill is often in overdrive in the racing and breeding industry – a fact no more evident than Ka Ying Rising’s supposed setback ahead of The Everest – and whenever Zhang leaves Australia, there are suggestions he won’t be coming back.

When he failed to attend the Easter Yearling Sale in 2024, and Yulong sat on its hands and did not participate in buying, the rumours flowed that he was “stuck” in China due to some form of issue with the Chinese government, and perhaps the enormous flow of Yulong’s investment into Australia was coming to an end.

That rumour mill has spun around this spring, with Zhang absent from the major meetings and the recent two-year-old sale in Sydney. As a journalist, you hear all sorts of rumours, but the flood of stories coming through in recent days about Zhang’s possible whereabouts has been exceptional.

The scenarios posed are too numerous to mention, but they all centre on his relationship with the government, which as a billionaire coal magnate, is crucial in a place like China. Phrases such as “house arrest” were whispered across the sales ground, Randwick and WhatsApp groups around Australia and southeast Asia over the past few days.

Much like the Ka Ying Rising rumours of a couple of weeks ago, the whispers gained huge traction. So much so that Jun Zhang, Zhang’s son-in-law and general manager, sent out a text message to industry participants on Thursday to hose down any suggestions that there was an issue.     

“I just wanted to take a moment to address the recent rumours about Yulong, they’re completely untrue,” Jun wrote in the text.

“Thank you all for your concern and support. I’m sorry this kind of talk has been circulating and causing some unnecessary distraction. Let’s stay focused on what really matters, which is enjoying the racing season and continuing the great work we’re all doing together.

“Really appreciate everyone’s effort and commitment to Yulong.”

Jun commented to The Straight on Friday that it is business as usual while his father-in-law is in China. It is also understood that Zhang attended a race meeting at Tianjin in northern China in the past fortnight.

So where is he exactly? In China, doing business according to Jun, who has suggested he will return to Australia in December and be present on the Gold Coast in January.

The Yulong team may become exasperated by the intrigue surrounding Mr Zhang’s whereabouts, but there are a couple of factors at play here.

Firstly, as things stand, he is the most significant investor in the Australian thoroughbred industry. We lost count long ago how much money he has spent, but it is in the realm of $500 million on bloodstock alone, much of which came during the pandemic era.

The breeding and bloodstock industry is well aware that without Yulong’s spending spree over the past five years, then they would be in a different state today.  The green and white colours are becoming ubiquitous in Australia’s biggest races, with two horses in last week’s Everest and two in the Cox Plate as mentioned.

It is not his fault, but his absence from Australia makes those who have built their business on his investment, quite nervous.

The other factor is how Yulong does business. For whatever reason – neither the sales companies nor Yulong has ever fully explained it – it buys its bloodstock under different names. The name Zhang or Yulong rarely appears in the sales records; it’s often Walnut Farm, Highway Farm or some other Yulong associate.

Yulong has been sensitive about coverage of this in the bloodstock trade press before, with suggestions that it would rather its investment go unremarked and unreported.

Such use of opaque details under the buyers’ name is far from unusual in the bloodstock game. However, it is not realistic for one entity to invest as much, and as often, as Yulong and its entities do and expect to stay under the radar. This approach only adds to the intrigue.

So too did Vin Cox’s sudden departure from the role of general manager earlier this year. Cox’s exit cited “differences in opinion on strategic direction and values” but the respected bloodstock and breeding industry figure has not uttered a word regarding Yulong since, with his six-month gardening leave clause ending in late September

His short statement created a fresh wave of wild rumours. Yulong acted quickly to appoint Jun as general manager, re-establishing the emerging global giant as a family business at its core.

Jun’s time in charge has resulted in much more open dialogue with the media. He appears keen to address questions about Yulong, its intentions and strategy. Zhang Yuesheng does not converse in English, but his son-in-law is becoming quite capable at communicating what is happening.

Playing into all this intrigue is a strong dose of cultural misunderstanding on how a Chinese-based businessman would choose to run his global equine empire.

It would be customary for many Chinese-Australian businesspeople to spend considerable time in both countries, especially since much of their wealth comes from businesses in China.

It is probably more remarkable that he has spent so much time in Australia in recent years. There are principals of other major thoroughbred businesses in Australia who haven’t set foot in this country for many years.  

Zhang has come into the Australian industry as a genuine outsider, changing the game. There are people who, for their own reasons, some of them less than charitable, are concerned about this. This is unfortunate, and, sadly not surprising.

But the reality is that Yulong’s colours will become the most prominent and recognisable on Australian racetracks in the decade to come. That is only going to create even more intrigue and discussion.

And it is not a challenge unique to Yulong. The past 12-18 months have seen all sorts of rumours emanating around Godolphin’s future in Australia, most of which have proven unfounded.

The only way to deal with it is to borrow the maxim of Oscar Wilde.

“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”