Yulong’s pursuit of Group 1 winners to join a broodmare band that is already the envy of the bloodstock world has continued with the purchase of New Zealand mare Prowess.
Prowess, offered for standalone sale on New Zealand-based auction portal Gavelhouse.com, fetched $1,452,500.
An insatiable appetite for breeding prospects at the top end of the market ultimately proved too much for a New Zealand bidder after an online game of cat and mouse.
The bidding was won by “Downtown”, the same name used by Yulong to buy several other horses on that platform, including Entriviere.
Yulong has been almost unstoppable in 2024 in its quest to snap up the best breeding bloodstock, paying a record $6.6 million to secure Imperatriz during the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Only last week, Yulong purchased Group 1 Coolmore Classic winner Espiona for $4.15 after she went under the hammer during a standalone Magic Millions sale.
Prowess, Imperatriz and Espiona will join a Yulong broodmare that already includes star racetrack performers such as Duias, Melody Belle, Montefilia, Tofane and Viddora among many others.
With a $1 million reserve, Prowess was sold on behalf of a family syndicate headed by Dean Skipper.
“We’re absolutely stoked,” Skipper said.
“It’s a great result for us and a great result for her, and now she can go on to the next phase of her career and get every opportunity to succeed.
“Going into this auction, anything was going to be a bonus. We buy horses to race, not sell.
“We had our fun with her and got a fantastic return, along with some memories that we’re going to have forever.
“So to cap it all off with this auction result tonight, we’re just really stoked. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Warwick Barr
A daughter of Proisir, one of the biggest movers in the Australasian stallions ranks in recent seasons, Prowess was a $NZ230,000 Karaka yearling purchase out of the Hallmark Stud draft.
She compiled an outstanding record in New Zealand for co-trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood, winning six of her first eight starts.
The most important of those victories came against older horses under weight-for-age conditions in the Group 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes.
That laid the platform for an Australian trip and Prowess duly delivered against her own age and sex as a three-year-old when she claimed the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill.
She smashed her opposition, winning by almost 3-½ lengths and was crowned champion middle-distance horse in New Zealand in 2022/23.
Overall, Prowess won eight of her 12 starts and banked $1.44 million in racetrack earnings.
Bren O’Brien
A yearling sister to Prowess topped the 2024 Karaka sale, fetching $NZ1.6 million when purchased by leading Australian trainer Peter Moody.
Prowess raced only three more times after her Vinery success and won the Group 2 Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day.
She was retired from racing in December after being diagnosed with hoof disease laminitis.
