The champagne corks were popping at Varsfontein this morning when news filtered through that their Gimmethegreenlight son Surcharge, who now races under the name Yulong Prince, won the A$1,5 million Gr1 Kennedy Cantala at Flemington.
Surcharge now Yulong Prince in his SA racing days (Pic – JC Photos)
Ridden by Damien Lane and trained by Chris Waller, the winner, an original R200 000 BSA National Yearling Sale purchase, banked over R10 million.
The victory recorded the first G1 win in Australia for Yulong’s owner Yuesheng Zhang after several seasons racing horses Down Under.
Trained here by Stuart Pettigrew, Surcharge won the 2018 Gr1 Daily News 2000, and finished runner up in all three legs of the Gauteng Triple Crown that year.
He was originally a vendor buy-back on the 2016 Val De Vie Yearling Sale.
He was then sold for R200 000 off the BSA National Yearling Sale of the same year.
The now 6yo entire was put through the ring and bought back for R550 000 by Dusty Trail Investments off the 2016 CTS Johannesburg Ready To Run Sale.
Watch the race here:
Bred by Varsfontein Stud, he is by Gimmethegreenlight (More Than Ready) out of the UK-bred Congestion Charge (Diktat), who was placed over 2300m from just 4 starts.
Yulong Prince’s only Australian win prior to Saturday came 12 months ago when he won the Listed Cup Day Plate but he could win another Gr1 before the end of the year as Waller has entered him for the Hong Kong Mile at the international meeting on December 13.
