Former elite sprinter Espiona was sold for an astonishing $4.15m at an online auction. Yulong Stud associate Zhijun Zhang won the fierce auction overseen by Magic Millions on Wednesday.
The former Chris Waller-trained horse has just 24 starts to her name, including multiple Group 1 races. Espiona won seven of her 24 starts. Most notably, she won the $600,000 Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill Racecourse in 2023.
Star Thoroughbreds Syndicate earned a top price for their elite mare Espiona. At a Magic Millions Virtual Sale on Wednesday, Espiona was sold for $4.15m to Yulong Stud.
This deal is a sign that Yuesheng Zhang and Yulong Investments plan to continue its 2024 spending spree. Yulong Stud have spent over $10m on broodmares since May.
Yulong Stud spent $6.6m on New Zealand superstar Imperatriz. This price smashed the previous Australasia broodmare record price of $5m, which was set by Coolmore Stud with the purchase of Milanova in 2008.
Espiona is the fourth most expensive broodmare ever sold in Australia. Imperatriz ($6.6m), Milanova ($5m), and Sunlight ($4.2m) are the only horses ever sold for more than Espiona.
Denise Martin, Espiona’s managing owner, purchased the mare for just $190,000 at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2020. Martin said she expected to make a profit on Espiona, but the actual price left her stunned.
“We are elated,” Martin said, “We were hoping for $3m but to get to $4.15m is beyond our expectations.”
Martin, trainer Chris Waller, and the rest of Espiona’s ownership group watched the sale on Wednesday.
“We had 10 of her ownership group and Chris Waller Racing here together to watch the sale and it was just amazing,” Martin said.
Espiona turned six on Thursday. Despite her age, the mare had a relatively light racing career. Casual horse racing betting fans would be forgiven for not knowing Espiona’s name.
The mare is a one-time Group 1 winner and finished first in last October’s The Invitation (1400m). However, as her trainer explained, Espiona was never a consistent runner.
“She was a very tough horse," Waller said, “Her racing pattern made it difficult to get the best from her.”
Despite that, Waller was confident about Espiona being a good broodmare.
“She was often in the company of the very best Australian sprinters, and she had enough ability to beat anything.
“She was lightly raced and certainly from a pedigree and ability perspective, she is as good as you need and certainly capable of producing very good quality colts and fillies which would hype their chance in Group 1 races,” Waller said.
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