Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Two of the top four priced yearlings at the 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale have won group races over the Spring Carnival with G3 Red Roses Stakes winner Lady Catalina (Written Tycoon) joining G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner The Next Episode (Snitzel) on the honour’s board.
Lady Catalina is a resounding success for the Yulong program. They spent $4 million to buy her dam Group 2 winner Away Game (Snitzel), bred her to Written Tycoon for her first mating and sold the yearling filly for $1.8 million to Resolute Racing and Ciaron Maher. Named Lady Catalina, she’s set up Away Game’s breeding career with a group win over the spring carnival.
Lady Catalina winning the G3 Red Roses Stakes | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“It's a fantastic result. Obviously, she was a high priced mare and to have a mare like that produce a Group 3 winner with her first foal is fantastic,” Yulong COO Sam Fairgray said.
“We’re thrilled with the result and it’s great for Ciaron (Maher) and his ownership group.”
Busy and tough; and just like her mother
Away Game was an expensive yearling herself, costing Kerri Radcliffe Bloodstock $425,000 from the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale when offered by outstanding breeders Mill Park Stud.
She debuted as a pre-Christmas juvenile, running fourth in the Listed Merson Cooper Stakes won by Hanseatic, then she won three in succession being the Listed Calaway Gal Stakes, R.Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic and G3 Widden Stakes before a fourth in Tagaloa’s G1 Blue Diamond Stakes and second to Farnan in the G1 Golden Slipper.
Not finished yet, she won the G2 Percy Sykes Stakes and took on the older horses in the G1 Robert Sangster Stakes finishing fifth.
Away Game | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Back at three, Away Game continued on the same way winning the G3 WJ Healy Stakes and picking up several more Group 1 placings at three and four.
Her daughter, Lady Catalina wasn’t quite as busy as a juvenile, winning on debut in March, then placing in the Listed Woodlands Stakes from her four starts at that age. Back at three, the G3 Red Roses Stakes was her fifth run for the campaign having run sixth, fifth, fifth, and second leading into this victory.
“She was neat (as a yearling). Away Game herself is not a big horse, but she's neat. She’s all in proportion and the filly was much the same. She’s got a fantastic temperament, and everything was just in the right spot, in proportion and she was a nice moving filly,” Fairgray said.
“She’s (Lady Catalina) got a fantastic temperament, and everything was just in the right spot, in proportion and she was a nice moving filly.” - Sam Fairgray
“It's a pedigree with plenty of fillies within the pedigree. We were hopeful that it'd keep on improving and it has which is great.”
Yulong have retained the 2-year-old full brother to Lady Catalina, Away Game also has a yearling filly by Pierata.
“The yearling filly by Pierata will head to Magic Millions (Gold Coast) under the Yulong-Segenhoe banner. And Away Game is in foal to Written Tycoon to Northern Hemisphere time.” She’s due in February.
Sam Fairgray | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Away Game’s full sister Modern Wonder won the Listed Dequetteville Stakes and is the dam of Listed Blue Diamond Preview (c&g)-placed Innervisions (I Am Invincible). Another half-sister three-time winner Cocoa Doll (More Than Ready {USA}) is the dam of G3 Blue Diamond Preview (f)-placed Written Swoosh (Written Tycoon).
The pattern keeps working
Written Tycoon over Snitzel mares has been a golden cross with Group 1 winners Captured By Love, Private Life and Velocious all bred on that cross. Recent G1 Golden Eagle winner Skyhook is out of a Redoute’s Choice mare, while G1 Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot is out of a Fastnet Rock mare. Booker and Music Magnate are other Written Tycoon Group 1 winners from Danehill (USA) line mares.
“The cross is so good. Written Tycoon over Snitzel mares. He also tends to love mares with Mr Prospector in their pedigree, so that's what we've tried to replicate and it's worked here,” Fairgray said.
Snitzel | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
Away Game’s dam stakes placed Elusive Wonder is by Elusive Quality (USA) from the Mr Prospector (USA) sireline. G1 Golden Slipper winner Capitalist is out of a Fusaichi Pegasus (USA) mare. Another damsire that Written Tycoon has crossed well with is More Than Ready (USA) who is from the Halo (USA) sireline but is out of a Woodman (USA) mare bringing in Mr Prospector that way. More Than Ready mares have produced Written Tycoon’s Group 1 winners Coolangatta, Luna Rossa (NZ) and Southport Tycoon.
“He definitely has patterns with his successful horses that keep repeating.”
“He (Written Tycoon) definitely has patterns with his successful horses that keep repeating.” - Sam Fairgray
A grand old man
At 24, Written Tycoon is well into his advanced years for a horse. The Champion Sire in Australia in 2020/21 has clocked up 83 stakes winners, an enviable record for a horse who didn’t have much of a commercial pedigree and was shuffled around various farms until landing at Yulong for the latter stages of his career.
“For his age, he looks great. He's still sprightly. Every morning when they let him go, he gallops off down his paddock. He's still bright and feeling well, which is great. We look after him and manage him and for a horse of his age, he's fantastic,” Fairgray said.
“For his (Written Tycoon) age, he looks great. He's still sprightly. Every morning when they let him go, he gallops off down his paddock.” - Sam Fairgray
“He's just a fantastic horse, a beautiful temperament and everyone at the farm loves him because he's such a laid back horse. He’s a gentleman. He knows the things he likes and the things he doesn't like!
"He’s very easy to be around and deal with, so we are all lucky to have him stand here at Yulong and be able to breed nice horses like Lady Catalina.”
Written Tycoon | Standing at Yulong Stud
And Written Tycoon doesn’t seem to be slowing down with Lady Catalina becoming the first stakes winner for his 16th crop. His current 5-year-olds have been his most successful crop to date with 14 individual stakes winners, and he already has six from his current crop of 4-year-olds.
“They keep coming and he's got Proverb running tomorrow in the Golden Gift. He was a horse we sold as a yearling and he looks very promising. He trialled up nicely and we’re excited to watch him tomorrow.”
He has slowed down in the shed in the last few years with 44 foals in his juvenile crop with 40 yearlings and he covered 62 mares in 2025 for his current crop of foals who are arriving now.
But those 44 juveniles already include $700,000 yearling Proverb who runs in Saturday’s Listed Golden Gift and Gangsta Girl who placed in her first trial in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago.
There is still more to come for Written Tycoon, the $50,000 yearling who is a true rags to riches story of the Australian turf.
