Inside Yulong – Jun Zhang on the relentless ambition of Australia’s biggest thoroughbred operation

In an exclusive interview with The Straight’s Tim Rowe, newly appointed general manager Jun Zhang has revealed Yulong has no plans to slow its growth and wants a foothold in the Hunter Valley.  

Yulong’s massive Australian thoroughbred industry footprint could become even larger with confirmation the Chinese-owned operation has ambitions to establish a permanent presence in the Hunter Valley.

Plans to extend the reach of Yulong’s enormous racing, breeding and property portfolio could also bring New Zealand into calculations if and when the right opportunity presents, founder Zhang Yuesheng’s new general manager Jun Zhang says. 

In an exclusive interview with The Straight, which for the first time provides a deep insight into the inner workings of Yulong and the strategic thinking of its coal mining billionaire owner Zhang, Jun also revealed:

• Yulong has considered conducting its own private yearling sale in Australia. 
• The enormous scale of Zhang’s thoroughbred racing and breeding empire was not the initial intention when he started it about 12 years ago.
• Further investment in Japan, Europe and America remains a distinct possibility.

Jun, 30, who is married to Mr Zhang’s eldest daughter April, was last week catapulted into the role of general manager just seven days after the shock resignation of Vin Cox.

Graduating with a degree in tourism and hospitality management from the University of Melbourne, Jun has officially been part of the Yulong fold for a decade and has been mentored by his father-in-law on the finer aspects of the business which also includes the Angus and Wagyu beef cattle operation.

For that reason, Jun can speak with authority about the rise of Yulong from an unknown minnow to a global thoroughbred superpower and Zhang’s objectives for the business which started

It’s long been mooted, given Yulong’s broodmare portfolio of about 700 mares – and another 400 in China – that Zhang would buy a farm in the southern hemisphere’s biggest breeding region of the New South Wales Hunter Valley to complement the Victorian stud at Nagambie.

Zhang has owned the property formerly known as Limerick Lane since 2018 and he has since acquired four nearby properties.

Jun said Yulong has explored options for expansion into the Hunter Valley and elsewhere in the past, but they haven’t acted on them.

“We did look around at a couple of very good properties (with) very good staffing backgrounds. This was two or three years ago,” Jun Zhang said this week.

“But after we purchased Chatsworth Farm (in Victoria), we were just worried about getting there too quickly, so we had to slow it down a bit. We didn’t (want to) get into something that year. But … (the Hunter Valley) is a very good option for us.”

Yulong had been linked to the world-renowned Hunter Valley operation Segenhoe Stud, which was officially placed on the market by owner Kevin Maloney in May last year, but despite a level of interest from several parties no deal has been done.

“Whether it’s into the Hunter Valley or New Zealand, around Australia, or even Japan, America, Europe, we’re always open to considering new developments to support Yulong’s future,” he says.

“You can see the difference between the Hunter Valley and the Victoria currently, especially breeding farms and the stallion business … with the quantity of broodmares, the (majority are) in the Hunter. 

“So, like I said, if there is a very good opportunity (for Yulong to) get into Hunter Valley, that would be great. It also depends on Yulong’s stallion strategy.”

Vin Cox to depart Yulong over differences in ‘strategic direction and values’

Yulong general manager Vin Cox has handed in his six-month notice to the thoroughbred industry powerhouse, citing “differences in opinion on strategic direction and values”.

The StraightBren O’Brien

As indicated, Yulong’s stallion strength, both in Australia and abroad, will have a bearing on Zhang’s expansion strategy. Its Victorian roster, with aging champion Written Tycoon and the emerging Alabama Express, Pierata and shuttler Lucky Vega, currently numbers nine.

That number could increase as soon as this year.

In February, Yulong bought Group 2 winner Angel Capital for about $4 million and about a month later bought into The Galaxy-winning colt Private Harry in a deal that values him around $16 million.

Yulong also owns this season’s Blue Diamond-winning two-year-old colt Devil Night, a $1.4 yearling purchase by Extreme Choice, and Jun confirmed on Thursday that they had expressed their interest in last Saturday’s Sires’ Produce Stakes-winning colt Vinrock, the unbeaten juvenile by I Am Invincible.

The aptly named Growing Empire is also a three times Group 1-placed three-year-old colt by Zoustar who will also end up on the Yulong stallion roster in the next year or two.

Zhang also recently acquired UK champion two-year-old Soldier’s Call and Group 1-winning sprinter Shaquiellle who stand at Dullingham Park Stud in Newmarket.

“I don’t think we have a specific number of stallions (in mind) …” Jun says.

“We are focusing on careful selection along with some long-term strategic vision. That’s all I can say.”

Jun Zhang to lead new-look Yulong after Cox departure

Jun Zhang, the son-in-law of founder Zhang Yuesheng, will replace Vin Cox as general manager of global racing and breeding powerhouse Yulong.

The StraightBren O’Brien

‘It’s a huge job’

This year alone, as it juggles the logistical nightmares of large numbers of young horses, Yulong has had 178 yearlings catalogued across Magic Millions Gold Coast and Adelaide sales, the Inglis Classic, Melbourne Premier and Easter sales.

So, perhaps the most stunning admission during Jun’s refreshingly transparent interview is that Yulong has contemplated holding his own yearling sales. 

That, too, has long been suggested under hushed tones as a possibility as Yulong’s numbers and quality of horses has increased significantly.

Jun stressed that Yulong maintained an excellent working relationship with auction houses Magic Millions and Inglis and that Zhang and the management team had elected not to go down the path of holding its own yearling sale.

“He was thinking about it, but the question is, the difficult part is, how can we prepare? How can we do the (yearling) preparation well if we were to run a private sale?” Jun said.

“This is a very hard (thing to do) … it’s a huge job.”

‘Relentless drive for efficiency’ leads to amazing Group 1 success

Zhang’s introduction to Australian racing came via the 2013 spring carnival when he was a guest at Flemington. He witnessed the Gai Waterhouse famously train Fiorente to win that year’s Melbourne Cup.

While he had bought his first racehorse in Ireland three years earlier, it was his Melbourne experience that solidified his attachment to the thoroughbred and Victoria as the principal base for his burgeoning racing and breeding empire, Yulong.

Not even Zhang would have predicted how big and dominant Yulong has become because “in his mind it’s clear that there was no initial plan for it to grow to this scale”.

“However, as Mr Zhang travelled the world following the racing and the business, (visiting) leading farms and observing the different models running across the world, I think there was a plan in Mr Zhang’s heart,” Jun says. 

“And while the speed of Yulong’s growth may seem surprising, it reflects Mr Zhang’s consistent approach and relentless drive for efficiency and skillsets … in everything he does.”

After injecting hundreds of millions of dollars into the industry in the years since his arrival, which started with the purchase of a property at Bayles known as Yulong Park, 75km south east of Melbourne, Zhang has enjoyed incredible success in recent seasons.

Yulong has won 11 Australian Group 1s so far this season alone, while its green and white colours have featured in major races around the world. Including on Dubai World Cup night last week where Raging Torrent won the Godolphin Mile.   

Among the 11 Australian Group 1 wins this season are six by Via Sistina, her crowning moment coming with her emphatic eight-length Cox Plate victory last October. The 2.7 million guinea purchase from the UK at the 2023 Tattersalls December Sale is favourite in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth at Randwick on Saturday.

She is the best of a swag of high-priced mares imported to Australia by Zhang in recent years. Breeders’ Cup F&M winner Moira (US$4.3 million) had her first Australian start in the Doncaster last weekend as did fellow US Grade 1 winner Anisette (US$1.8 million), the latest batch of imports who will eventually join Yulong’s elite band of broodmares.

In contrast, three-year-old filly Treasurethe Moment, the winner of the VRC Oaks and the Vinery Stud Stakes who is a homebred rejected by the sales companies as a yearling, is favourite to make it 12 Group 1s for the season in the Australian Oaks on the same Randwick card.

“I think the success in this industry takes time. Whether it’s on the racetrack or in the breeding barn,” Jun says.

“The results today are not only a reflection of Mr Zhang’s vision and the willingness to take more risks, but also it’s a reflection of a strong and dedicated team. It takes time and adjustment and perseverance to reach this point. 

“Mr Zhang always tells me that every mare, every horse, every stallion has got their own chance, got their own puzzle (to solve) to succeed.”

‘Yulong is a family business’

Jun’s predecessor Cox, a former Magic Millions and Godolphin Australia managing director who joined Yulong in December 2023, disclosed to select media including The Straight that his decision to quit was due to “ differences in opinion on strategic direction and values”.

While not drawn on the specifics of Cox’s resignation, Jun reinforced Yulong’s commitment to the industry and its staff, which reaches upwards of 130 during the peak of the breeding season.

“Yulong is a family business, so my appointment as a general manager is not just a personal decision. It is a clear statement to this industry about Yulong’s long-term commitment,” he says. 

“And personally, what it says to me is, it’s not a title, it is an opportunity to be a part of Yulong’s journey towards potential success in Australia and beyond.”

The pursuit of elite success across all facets of the industry remains at the core of Yulong’s mantra.

“Mr Zhang is a very patient man who has done a lot of things for Australian breeding,” Jun says of his father-in-law.

“He’s spent a lot of time and money on this industry. He doesn’t care about the revenue, he’s (ensuring we are) taking care of how we breed the best horses we can.”