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The first major steps to owner Zhang Yuesheng expanding his bloodstock interests in Hong Kong came early last month when he purchased two horses in Paris specifically to run at this year’s HK$126 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) at Sha Tin.
Ramadan , bought for €1.5 million only hours after winning the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein at Longchamp, is to contest the HK$36 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) with Ryan Moore in the saddle, while Zarir, snapped up for €1.3 million, is set to meet Romantic Warrior in the HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m), with Christophe Soumillon aboard.
Both horses went under the hammer at the famed Arqana Arc Sale, which has been a popular shopping precinct for horses destined for the Cup races in Australia as well as other important features worldwide. Now the pair is set to carry the famous dark green, white check colours of their new owner on Sunday, December 8.
Under his Yulong Investments banner, Zhang has been growing his breeding and racing portfolio in recent years, counting the win of Jessica Harrington-trained Magical Lagoon in the 2022 G1 Irish Oaks as a significant early success but subsequently shelling out mind-boggling sums for yearlings, foals, proven horses and broodmares.
"Mr Zhang is very active across the board," Vin Cox, Yulong's racing manager, explains. "He enjoys being in the winner's circle on big race days, and he likes breeding and racing very good winners. But, also, the commercial arm of his operation is important to him — he wants it to be prolific and high quality.
"His ambition is to have a stallion roster that is both commercial and admired."
Ramadan and Zarir were bought with the LONGINES HKIR in mind several weeks before Zhang's Via Sistina recorded one of the most amazing wins of the modern era in the G1 W. S. Cox Plate (2040m) in Melbourne. She is regarded as the best horse in Australia at present.
The Chris Waller-trained mare annihilated a high-class field by eight lengths, smashing the track record for 2040m, and that immediately led to suggestions that Hong Kong might be next.
"We looked at Hong Kong and discussed it, but decided it was best to wait and aim her at an autumn campaign in Australia, with the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Sydney in April being a target," Cox said.
"I know there has been speculation about what comes after that. But a return to Europe is not on the agenda as there are a lot of races in Australia she can compete in. And, if she is still racing well, we would love her to have another shot at the Cox Plate."
Cox says that at the time Via Sistina won the W. S. Cox Plate on October 26, she was giving her owner his greatest thrill in racing. "But that was surpassed less than two weeks later when Treasurethe Moment, a home-bred, won the Group 1 VRC Oaks at Flemington," Cox said.
"Mr Zhang stood the stallion (Alabama Express) and had bought the dam as a yearling, and he raced her. Treasurethe Moment was raised on the farm and survived flood waters which threatened the property and all livestock on it more than a year ago.
"Then she turns out to be a Blue Riband winner. That's what really got Mr Zhang up and about."
Zhang, originally from Inner Mongolia, has expanded from coal mining, diversifying to a multifaceted business empire worth billions. He also plans to get more involved in Hong Kong racing, according to Cox.
"Mr Zhang has a lot of business contacts in Hong Kong through Mainland China. It's very much on his radar to race horses in Hong Kong. He and his daughter April look forward to racing more horses there down the line," he said.
Ramadan won five races from 10 starts in France for Christopher Head, with all wins being on ground ranging from soft to heavy. He has since joined trainer James Ferguson at Newmarket, who initially took charge of Via Sistina for Yulong before she was shipped out to join Waller in Australia.
"Ramadan will be well and truly in contention in the Mile, if he brings his A game to the track," Cox said. "Though I would suggest he's probably going to be running on, flashing home late, hopefully getting the right result.
"I think that 2000 metres will prove to be his sweet spot. Our intention is to leave him in Hong Kong after the Mile and for him to further his career there. He will be trained by Mark Newnham. A race such as the Hong Kong Derby would be terrific for him."
Zarir, to be saddled by Francis-Henri Graffard in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, "faces a formidable challenge taking on Romantic Warrior, we are under no illusions," admits Cox, "but there's a longer-range plan for him to end up in Australia with Chris (Waller) to be trained for the Cups."
Zhang Yuesheng grew up in the countryside around stock owned by his family and was loosely interested in racing from a young age. But it was a first visit to the Melbourne Cup, won by Fiorente in 2013, that sparked his passion. "He saw the magnitude, and the excitement and the colour, and that really got him engaged," Cox said.
Taking home a LONGINES HKIR trophy for either of his runners would certainly strengthen that engagement.