Yulong’s Kiwi stars primed for spring
Yulong Investments will have a strong New Zealand flavour to its spring assault, with quality mares Well Written and Ohope Wins both poised for major assignments on either side of the Tasman.
Unbeaten four-year-old Well Written (Written Tycoon) will put her perfect record on the line when she resumes in Saturday’s Gr.1 Proisir Plate (1400m) at Ellerslie, where she shapes as the headline act of the opening Group One meeting of the New Zealand season.
The Stephen Marsh-trained daughter of Written Tycoon has won all six of her starts, including last season’s Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) and $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m).
Yulong purchased a 50 percent interest in Well Written following her victory in the Gr.2 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) last spring, and the operation’s Head of Racing Danny Rolston believes she is ready to make her presence felt immediately this campaign.
“I think she is low flying,” Rolston told SEN.
“Her first barrier trial on the poly was just okay, but Stephen Marsh was very complimentary. Then she stepped out on the turf at Taupo in a Group and Listed trial which she won well and has galloped well at Ellerslie since.
“She is in really good shape. She isn’t a big, robust filly, so going into a big Group One after a few trials, she is going to be in it up to her eyeballs. She’s forward and ready.”
The Proisir Plate is the first step towards an Australian campaign, with the A$10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Randwick on October 31 as her major spring target.
While Well Written prepares to launch her campaign in New Zealand, fellow Yulong mare Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park) is being brought along patiently by champion trainer Chris Waller.
The New Zealand-bred daughter of Ocean Park developed into one of Australasia’s leading three-year-old fillies last season, winning the Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m) before being purchased privately by Yulong.
She subsequently carried the operation’s colours to victories in the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2100m) and Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott.
Transferred to Waller following her Ellerslie triumph, Ohope Wins went on to complete a trans-Tasman Oaks double when successful in the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick.
The four-year-old resumed over an unsuitable 1400m in the Gr.2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes at Caulfield last month, where she trailed the field home. But Rolston is expecting considerable improvement as the daughter of Ocean Park stretches out in distance.
“She was okay at a distance much below her best,” he said.
“Chris is spacing her races out. We are looking to take her to the Makybe Diva (Gr.1, 1600m) and she has been having an easy time of it since the P.B. Lawrence.
“She looked good, but she just looked a bit big. We will keep pressing her on to the spring staying races.
“Hopefully she comes up as well as she was in the autumn.”
Longer term, Ohope Wins holds a nomination for both the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m).
