Yulong Investment’s resident stallion Written Tycoon has added another jewel to his crown, earning Australian Champion Sire honours at the prestigious Australian Racehorse of the Year Awards on Monday night.
The awards ceremony, broadcast live via Sky Thoroughbred Central, acknowledged the performances by Australian-trained racehorses from the period from 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021.
The title follows his first-time victory as Australia’s 2020/21 General Leading Sire by earnings, with a clear $1.3million margin ahead of his competition. He is the first Victorian-based sire to claim the Australian Champion Sire accolades since Century in 1979.
Having been crowned Victoria’s Champion Sire for five consecutive seasons, the national win is a fitting title as he returned to Victoria after 12 months in NSW’s Hunter Valley.
Written Tycoon finished the 2020/21 season with 379 runners to 193 winners (12 stakes), 313 wins (17 stakes) and $17,035,983 in earnings.
The 2020/21 season was a career-best for Written Tycoon, becoming the first sire in the last 25 years to sire two colts to win the two richest Group 1 2YO feature races in Australia with Capitalist and Written By. He also became the first sire in 44 years to sire the winners of both the G1 Thousand Guineas (Odeum) and the G1 Caulfield Guineas (Ole Kirk).
Ole Kirk also claimed the title of Australian Champion 3-Year-Old Colt, whilst Odeum was a nominee for Australian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly.
“We are so proud to accept this award on behalf of Mr Zhang,” said Yulong Chief Operating Officer, Sam Fairgray.
“In securing his first Australian Champion title, Written Tycoon has cemented himself as one of Australia’s best stallions.
“Thank you to the farms that have previously stood Written Tycoon for their excellent work, and to all breeders who supported him along the way. It’s been a massive industry effort to get Written Tycoon from an $8000 stallion to Champion Sire of Australia 2020/2021.
“It’s fantastic to have a horse of his quality here on the farm and as the breeding season continues, there is certainly still a lot of support and excitement for him.”
At the conclusion of the 2020/21 season, Written Tycoon has sired a total of 877 starters for 661 winners across his 12-year stallion career, including 27 Group and 42 Stakes winners, with a 75.4% strike rate of winners to runners. Of his individual stakes winners, 12 alone were claimed this season.
With continued support from breeders and positive fertility results, the Champion sire is showing no signs of slowing down.
Written Tycoon stands at Yulong in 2021 for a fee of $165,000 and joins fellow sires Grunt, Alabama Express, Tagaloa, Yulong Prince and Lucky Vega on the stallion roster.
Watch Written Tycoon’s journey so far.
