Mullins Joins Heavyweights at Arqana August Sale

Willie Mullins has never been afraid to break new ground in pursuit of winners, as he proved when joining flat superpowers such as Coolmore, Godolphin, and Juddmonte on the buying bench at the Arqana August Yearling Sale. Mullins' talent scouts Harold Kirk and Pierre Boulard were busy throughout the three-day auction, and the team came away from Deauville with four recruits secured for a combined €525,000 (approx. US$608,000). "It's the first time I've been at this sale," Kirk said. "The proven flat horses are getting so hard to buy now, the 90-plus rated horses, so we thought we'd buy a few yearlings and see how it goes. "We've bought these horses on spec, but hopefully we've got a few owners who are going to back us." Current turf celebrities such as Blue Bolt (IRE), Constitution River (FR), and Diamond Necklace (IRE) all graduated from recent editions of the blue-chip August sale. However, Kirk said they were targeting horses with a profile more in keeping with Mullins' regular program. "We're looking for yearlings that can be flat horses that run up to 10 or 12 furlongs, and then, if they're OK on the flat, we can give it a go over jumps," he said. "Most people here don't go out to buy mile-and-a-half horses, so some might fall through the net a bit. They want 7- to 10-furlong horses. Now, if they have to go a mile-and-a-half that's fine, but flat people don't go out to buy those types really. "Hopefully these four can all run as backend 2-year-olds but, if not, they'll run in a 3-year-old maiden then hopefully go on to run over hurdles after that." Expanding on how the plan to venture into the high-end yearling market came together, Kirk said: "The discussion didn't really take place until two days before the sale. "Willie had one owner who said he'd maybe like to buy and it kind of snowballed from there. I came here to buy one and now we've bought four. It's a new enterprise, something different, something we've never done before. "Sometimes you just have to go places and get your name out there. Do something different. Owners read sales results, and some National Hunt owners are looking to diversify a little bit. Hopefully one of these can be a Royal Ascot type of horse in the future." Although the buying team was in uncharted territory in terms of the type of sale, Kirk said he had focused on the progeny of some familiar sires. Their first recruit, a €100,000 brother to Coolagown Stud stallion Kenway (FR), is by Galiway (GB), sire of Mullins-trained talents such as Gala Marceau, King Rasko Grey, and Vauban. Next came a €110,000 son of Sea The Moon (GER), sire of the Aug. 16 Prix Jacques le Marois hero Rayif (IRE) and grade 1-winning jumper Allmankind. The most expensive member of the quartet was a German-bred son of Zarak (FR) from the family of Derby and Arc winner Lammtarra who cost €165,000. The stallion has been responsible for Mullins' grade 1 Prix Alain du Breil Hurdle scorer Selma De Vary, among others. Rounding out the haul was a half brother to group 3 scorer Chilean who fetched €150,000. The son of Ghaiyyath (IRE) shares his sire with Mullins' rapidly improving 3-year-old Thread Of Gold (IRE), who has won handicaps at Leopardstown and Galway in his last two starts in the colors of Team Valor International and Gary Barber. "I'm kind of a sire-driven buyer," Kirk said. "I like to buy horses by sires who've been lucky for me before. Now, I can vary that a little bit. I bought a Sea The Moon here, which is a newer stallion to me, but this horse came from a very good stud in Ballylinch. "But I've also bought a Galiway, a Zarak, and a Ghaiyyath, so I've generally stuck with sires I know. I'm trying to buy those staying horses with pedigrees that have been lucky for me." He added: "It's exactly the same process (of working the sale). The only difference I've noticed is that here you have buyers from all over the world. The type of horse you're buying is younger, but you're still trying to buy the same type of horse, whether it's a yearling or store sale." The August Sale involvement continued a busy period of recruitment for the all-conquering stable. The buying team has recently spent a combined €2.41 million on 13 lots at the headline store sales at Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland, as well as the Deauville Summer Sale. "You have to buy every sort of horse," Kirk said. "We've bought more stores than we ever have before; now we're buying yearlings, and we'll keep doing what we normally do. "They probably won't all work out, but with these yearlings, if he's only an OK flat horse, maybe they'll go on to be a better jumping horse. We've got so many options."