Lucky Vega

Welcome to TDN Europe's annual Value Sires Series. Over the next few weeks we will analyse the continent's sires by sire crop and provide a general state of play in the stallion market and, most importantly, pull out some potential value that may be lurking beneath the surface. Of course, the concept of value is subjective and can depend upon a wide range of goals: whereas one breeder may be looking to produce an animal that they can race and pick up purses with for years to come, many more...

When a colt retires to stud, a regular theme of the promotional drive to attract mares involves a bullish statement by the owner pledging to support the stallion with their own mares, as well as a commitment to invest in the stallion's progeny at the foal and yearling sales. Yulong Investments' Yuesheng Zhang has hit the ground running with his commitment to his young sire Lucky Vega (Ire), who kicks off his Northern Hemisphere stallion duties at the Irish National Stud early in 2022. Spearheaded by BBA Ireland's Mick Donohoe,...

Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who stands his first Northern Hemisphere season next year at the Irish National Stud, will debut at €15,000. Raced by Yulong Investments, Lucky Vega won the G1 Phoenix S. at two and placed in this year's G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S. before retiring to stand at Yulong's Australian headquarters. Also new at the Irish National Stud for 2022 is last year's G2 Coventry S. winner and G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up Nando Parrado (GB) (Kodiac...

Group 1-winning 2-year-old and Classic-placed 3-year-old Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}-Queen Of Carthage, by Cape Cross {Ire}) will stand the Northern Hemisphere season at the Irish National Stud in 2022. He is currently serving his first book at Yulong Stud in Australia. Purchased by Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong Investments for €175,000 at the 2019 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, Lucky Vega was a debut maiden winner at Naas last June for trainer Jessica Harrington. He won the G1 Phoenix S. in his third start, becoming the only son of Lope...

Saturday's Curragh card which features the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas is in doubt after 35 millimetres of rain hit the track overnight Thursday. With a morning inspection called, chief executive Pat Keogh is hoping for a turnaround with the course currently waterlogged in places. "We got a lot more rain than we anticipated overnight. We were forecast 15 millimetres at the most in the last 24 hours," he explained on Friday. "It's come completely out of left field, unfortunately. The track would not be raceable today. We'll just have...

It has been a strange year and the Covid pandemic has meant that we have had to revolutionise the way we try to keep owners informed. We use a very good system now called Racing Manager and we do a lot of videoing of the horses, talking to their lads, talking to the jockeys. Because people haven't been allowed to come racing we interview the jockeys in the parade ring before racing, take photos of the horses in the parade ring and afterwards and then another video with the jockey's...

Yuesheng Zhang has built up an Irish stable with enviable horsepower while shopping with a relatively modest budget over the last few years. His stable star is undoubtedly last year's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who looks to someday have a future at stud both in Europe and at Zhang's Yulong property in Victoria, Australia. For now, though, connections have set their sights on the May 1 G1 2000 Guineas in Newmarket, with the colt preparing at Jessica Harrington's yard in good nick....

Zhang Yuesheng's Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) exited his emphatic victory in Sunday's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. in good order, and trainer Jessica Harrington said she is deciding between two potential next targets. "I'm very happy with how he's come out of the race--he couldn't be better," Harrington said of the colt, who was cut to 16-1 for next year's G1 2000 Guineas following his 3 1/2-length win. "There's the [G1] Middle Park at Newmarket [on Sept. 26] and the National S. at The Curragh [on Sept. 13]--we...