Yulong Victoria will stand nine stallions in 2026 and it was first season sire Vinrock who stood out for several of the people who visited.
“Yulong was great. There were loads of people there. Mr. Zhang was there. Jun was there,” said Stott.
“Vinrock is a beautiful looking horse, very I Am Invincible with a deep girth, a real quality animal. And the sons of I Am Invincible are absolutely flying, if you look at Home Affairs, Hellbent, I Am Immortal. They’re doing really well, so I think he’s a very exciting young stallion prospect for Victoria.”
Winner of the Gr.1 Sires’ Produce Stakes and Gr.2 VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes, Vinrock is a son of I Am Invincible.
“Vinrock. He’s a very impressive horse that fits the mould of the successful sons of I Am Invincible. He’s not as big as I Am Invincible but a very nice moving horse and it won’t be hard to find a suitable mare to go to him,” said Garry Cuddy.
Vinrock is out of Redoute’s Choice mare Girl Gone Rockin’ who won the Gr.2 Matriarch Stakes.
“Vinrock was very impressive for a first season, he’s going to be a really impressive type,” Liam Howley said.
“I was really impressed with Vinrock. I think that stallion line, you look at Home Affairs, Brazen Beau, Hellbent, and even a horse that started at the lower end, I Am Immortal. I think they’re all good stallions. I think that line is going to be very prominent and I Am Invincible is going to be a serious sire of stallions,” Ciaron Maher’s Head Of Bloodstock Will Bourne said.
A common name among those TTR chatted to about Yulong’s roster was Gr.1 The Everest, Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes, and Gr.1 Manikato Stakes-placed Group 3 winner Growing Empire. His first foals are due this spring.
“Growing Empire is the one that caught my eye. I thought he was a really good model of Zoustar. Very athletic. He was the one who stood out, but I was really impressed with the quality right across the board at Yulong,” Howley said.
First Settler, winner of the Gr.2 Danehill Stakes, is another whose first foals are due this spring.
“Yulong paraded Growing Empire and First Settler. I’m very keen on Growing Empire, he’s all speed and has a lot of Zoustar quality. I can see him leaving very attractive sales types and First Settler is very much in the mould of Written Tycoon, being a strong brute of a horse and again I could see him leaving very attractive yearlings,” Stott said.
“They paraded Written Tycoon at the end. He looks amazing so that was pretty cool.”
Panthalassa (JPN), a globetrotter who raced in four different countries, and won twice at Group 1 level is another that appealed to trainer Liam Howley.
“The stallion at Yulong that I’m looking at closely, and I’m interested to see what his first stock looks like is Panthalassa. I thought the improvement in him to now was great. He looks so athletic, and for a guy that loves training a stayer, he’s a stallion I’m going to follow closely. A powerhouse of a racehorse,” Howley said.
“To be honest, here in Victoria, we’re spoiled for choice in that price band for breeding a nice middle distance horse.
“I’d like to think I’m quite patient and I like developing those middle distance horses. I came away from today thinking that the future’s pretty good. There’s going to be some nice good quality stock coming through over the next couple of years with some new stallions on the board.”
Written for TTRAusNZ
