'Definitely a good thing' - boost for Australian bloodstock industry after China lifts tacit ban

Exports of Australian thoroughbreds to mainland China are set to resume next month after the lifting of the country’s tacit ban on the trade four years after it was imposed.

Permits for the importation of horses from Australia to China were halted in 2019 amid a sharp downturn in bilateral relations through the final years of Scott Morrison’s government.

While other sanctions involving Australian products headed by barley and wine were announced with some fanfare, the thoroughbred curbs were more quietly enforced, with experienced importers finding their applications rejected by Chinese authorities.

But as the bilateral relationship has improved vastly under Anthony Albanese’s administration, confirmation has come from Beijing that the importation of thoroughbreds can once again proceed.

Throughout the latest attempts to put racing on a firm footing in the mainland, Australia’s thoroughbred exports to China rose from 106 in 2012-13 to 261 in 2016-17, according to Racing Australia Fact Book figures. They reduced to 88 in 2018-19 as relations began to freeze over, and to zero for the past three seasons.

Tom Reilly (right): "It’s a hugely positive development"Credit: Thoroughbred Breeders Australia

While that represents an insignificant fraction of total trade to China, the removal of the ban is a boon for breeders in Australia, coming soon after Singapore announced the end of its racing from October next year.

Exports to China came close to matching those to Singapore in the six seasons before the ban, and in the one year in which they were greater, it was by a significant 261 horses to 202.

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA), who had been lobbying the Albanese government to try to have the ban lifted since soon after it came to power in May last year, said it had received official notification from Canberra this week that import permits were being issued again by Chinese authorities.

TBA chief executive Tom Reilly offered a vote of thanks to trade minister Don Farrell and Hunter Valley MP Meryl Swanson for their work in resolving the issue.

“It’s a hugely positive development, and we’re very grateful to Don Farrell and Meryl Swanson for their efforts in this area,” Reilly told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“A whole number of industries have been impacted by having trade with China disrupted in the past four years or so. Some were worth a lot more in terms of dollar value, but we know Chinese buyers have played an important part in the market here, so it’s important they can come back here and buy with confidence knowing they can export their horses.

“We’re pleased the government was able to include horses as part of their much broader discussions.”

While official confirmation has only filtered down this week, the first shipment - expected to leave next month - will comprise 18 horses bought at three Magic Millions sales in May by four Chinese buyers understood to have learned the lifting of the ban was imminent.

The 18 include five broodmares sold for between A$10,000 (£5,200/€6,090) and A$70,000, and 11 lots from the National Yearling Sale that averaged A$31,000, ranging from A$3,000 to a A$100,000 Zousain colt offered by Queensland’s Grandview Stud.

Chinese buyers were busy at numerous Magic Millions sales latelyCredit: Magic Millions

Magic Millions, understood to have heard speculation pointing to the lifting of the ban several months ago, welcomed the news.

“With Singapore closing down, this is going to help,” said sales director David Chester. “Singapore is going to leave a huge hole in our market, so we’ve got to find new markets to make up for it.

“China’s not a huge market at the moment, though it is significant, but hopefully over the next five, ten or 15 years it’s going to grow and become one of our biggest markets. Gerry Harvey has always said one of the reasons he bought Magic Millions way back in 1997 was he thought one day China would become a great racing nation. So that was always in the back of his mind.”

The newest push to re-establish racing in China - banned after Mao Zedong’s Communist Party took power in 1949 - has centred on Yulong billionaire Zhang Yuesheng’s establishment of the Yulong Jockey Club in 2008, and on the Wuhan racecourse, where racing re-emerged around the same time.

Based near Zhang’s former home province of Inner Mongolia in Youyu, 500 kilometres west of Beijing, Yulong Jockey Club has some 500 horses in training divided among 18 trainers, with racing taking place in the northern summer. Its breeding programme involves a reported 200 broodmares and around five stallions.

Zhang Yuesheng: established the Yulong Jockey Club in 2008Credit: Laura Green

In light of the Australian ban, Zhang had turned to buying horses from Europe to import to China.

Inglis’s general manager of bloodstock operations Jonathan D’Arcy called the end of the trade ban “excellent news for mainland Chinese owners and for the Australian thoroughbred industry”.

“Australian horses are highly regarded in China due to the success they have had at the Yulong and Wuhan racecourses as well as their dominance in the racing stronghold of Hong Kong,” D’Arcy told ANZ Bloodstock News in a statement. 

“Inglis has been a sponsor at the Yulong Jockey Club since its inception and continues to foster strong ties with the organisation. This news…will help the local equine industry in China to grow and assist many breeders in Australia who breed horses suited to this market.

“With the imminent closure of Singapore as an export market, it is hoped that buyers from the Chinese mainland can help fill the hole left in markets like the breeze-up sales. Leading up to 2019, Inglis welcomed many individual buyers to our weanling, yearling and Ready2Race sales.

“With Inglis Asia representative Jin Tian in Yulong this week, we are hearing positive reports on the appetite for buyers to once again target Australian horses for their racing stables in China.”

The news is expected to also trigger a resurgence in the number of well-resourced Chinese buyers purchasing yearlings to race in Australia.

Yulong Investments' Sam FairgrayCredit: Laura Green

Reilly said: “We had a lot of Chinese buyers active towards the lower end of the market. We’ve also had some who could give significantly more for horses, but these past few years have put them off a bit. 

“The idea was if they bought a horse for decent money, if it didn’t make the grade here they could export it. So hopefully now that’s possible again, we’ll see more of them or their agents buying horses here.”

Those words were echoed by Sam Fairgray, who has a foot in two camps as a yearling vendor and as chief executive of Yulong’s Australian operation.

Fairgray said: “It's definitely a good thing. Pre the shutdown of horses going, we had quite a few horses going up there. We’ll probably now start to send more back up there.

“It’s also great because it’ll open things up for Chinese buyers. We started to have quite a few come down. Now they know they can get their horses back home, I think we’ll start to see that pick up as well.”

The lifting of the ban was welcomed by Australian breeders canvassed by ANZ Bloodstock News, including Arrowfield Stud chairman John Messara.

Messara said: “Obviously Singapore closing was a disappointment but the news that China might be ready to receive horses from Australia is encouraging. It could be the beginning of something significant in the longer term."

John Messara: "The news that China might be ready to receive horses from Australia is encouraging"Credit: Edward Whitaker

Vinery Stud’s bloodstock manager Adam White said: “It means there’s another avenue we can trade horses to, and we’ve got to see that as a positive. Singapore closing was a jolt to our industry in the middle of the year. With China, hopefully that builds momentum and we can reap the benefits of that into the future.”

Yarraman Park director Arthur Mitchell said: “Any market opening up is good news after the loss of Singapore. China has potential. I don’t know how much it will grow, but this is certainly a start.”

Chester added that, now the ban had been removed, the Australian government should lobby China to lift their ban on the import of horses vaccinated for the Hendra virus.

“That makes it very difficult for Chinese buyers because it reduces the number of horses they can bid on,” he said. “That’s something the Australian government and Aushorse should be working on.”

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