Gigginstown Split with Mullins

[jono]

Huge news this morning!!

Ireland's leading owner of jumps horses, Michael O'Leary, will have no horses in training with Willie Mullins this season and taking away all the horses owned by him from Mullins' yard this morning.

The dramatic split between the country's champion trainer and champion owner comes on the eve of the new winter jumps season and will see a host of grade one horses transferred from Mullins to other trainers.

Up to 60 horses, including grade one winners Don Poli, Apple's Jade, Valseur Lido, Sir Des Champs and Blow By Blow will leave Mullins' yard this morning after a split between the biggest owner in jumps racing in Ireland and the game's perennial champion trainer.

Mullins and the O'Learys enjoyed Cheltenham Festival success with Sir Des Champ and Don Poli in recent years, and the four-year-old filly Apple's Jade was second in last March's Triumph Hurdle before winning grade one contests at both Aintree and Punchestown.

She is one of a number of young Gigginstown-owned stars expected to feature in the big races this winter.

The O'Learys will consider where those 60 horses will be housed for the coming season.

Gordon Elliott, second to Mullins in the trainers' championship last season, trains more horses for Gigginstown than any other, though trainers like Noel Meade, Grand National-winning Mouse Morris and Henry De Bromhead have all delivered top level success in recent times.

The development will come as a blow to Mullins, the perennial champion trainer in Ireland. Last season he came within a whisker of also winning the British jumps trainers championship, bringing the contest to the final day of the season at Sandown.

However, like the O'Learys, Mullins has other options too and the yard's leading owner Rich Ricci still owns the greatest portfolio of jumps horses in the world with Annie Power, Douvan, Vautour, Vroum Vroum Mag and Djakadam all members of the arsenal trained by Mullins.

The trainer can also call on horses owned by English businessman Graham Wylie, a founder of Sage software. Both Black Hercules and Yorkhill were winners at last March's Cheltenham festival for Wylie and his wife Andrea.

 

[paz247]

Elliott will be smiling like a Cheshire Cat today ready to take some off these, Don Poli for the National

 

[jono]

Definitely! A good thing for racing? You'd imagine Elliott will get the majority but be nice see de Bromhead and Morris get a fair few good ones too.

Could have a huge effect on the trainers title in Ireland and knock any chance of Willie getting the British trainers title (i bet Paul Nichols has a pretty big smile on his face too)

p.e Don Poli under Gordon Elliott for the National...yes please

 

[jono]

Bit more from the Racing Post...

GIGGINSTOWN HOUSE STUD have removed around 60 horses from Willie Mullins after a disagreement about the Irish champion trainer raising his fees.

Confirming the split with Gigginstown, Mullins said on At The Races: “Yes, we are parting company. It is basically over fees. I put my fees up for the first time in ten years. Gigginstown chose not to pay them.

“I’m not willing to try to maintain the standards I have [without putting the fees up], so that’s the way it is.”

Mullins admitted that the loss of such a large amount of horses, including Grade 1 winners such as Apple’s Jade and Don Poli, will be a blow but was magnanimous and wished Gigginstown the best.

“They will be very hard horses to replace. I don’t know where they’re going to go,” Mullins said. “They [Gigginstown] have been great to us with some fantastic horses and we wish them all the best, but we move on.”

In reaction to the news, Paddy Power have pushed Mullins out to 3-1 from 6-4 to win the British Champion trainers’ title.

 

[KingSprinterSacre]

In shock over this!

 

[Faugheen_Machine]

I'm delighted Don Poli is going to GE. Ideal handler for the national and possibly a Gold Cup.

 

[jono]

I'm delighted Don Poli is going to GE. Ideal handler for the national and possibly a Gold Cup.

May finally get the headgear that he needs too :triumphant: Very pleased with that

 

[mayo]

Colm Murphy quit too soon - Henry De Bromhead and Gordon will win big.

Got to be more to this than money.

Elliott told the Irish Independent: "I've been told that I will get about 20 horses, including Don Poli, Apple's Jade and Blow By Blow.

"Willie is a gentleman, a man I admire and look up to. This is obviously a big boost for us, another step up the ladder towards being champion trainer one day, that is what I hope.

"I am still realistic to know that Willie Mullins has so much ammunition but hopefully some day it will happen for me.

"I had no idea this would happen."

Henry de Bromhead, Joseph O'Brien, Mouse Morris - who won the Grand National this year with the Gigginstown-owned Rule The World - and Noel Meade are the other trainers reportedly set to receive a share of the ex-Mullins' horses.

 

[paz247]

Think Joseph will get the bumper horses to look after?

 

[Old Vic]

Sounds like money pure and simple

In a statement, Gigginstown Stud said that the decision to remove its horses from Mullins had been taken “with considerable regret”, adding: “Gigginstown wishes to sincerely thank Willie and all the team at Closutton for the many Grade One races we have won together over the past seven years.

“We hope that an agreement can be reached at some time in the future which will allow Willie to resume buying and training more Graded winners for us. While we part at this time with regret, we wish Willie and all the team at Closutton continued success.”

 

[Deleted member 4957]

I'll never be Mullins biggest fan but this stinks of a ruthless businessman not getting the deal he demanded so he's taken drastic action.
In my mind Ricci rules the roost in the yard and Giggs doesn't like/won't play second fiddle unless it's at the price O'Leary thinks is right.
I'm also convinced there were races O'Leary wanted his horses aimed at that Mullins pushed in other directions because of the talent he has in the yard, we know Ricci rarely runs his against each other and we also know Giggs are happy having half a dozen entrants, from a racing perspective it makes for a fascinating season and we're likely to see the best horses pitched against each other as a result.
60 horses is a big number and will impact the Closutton set up, staff will lose their jobs, and I don't think a single trainer has the room in their yard to take the lot so there will have to be a split across a few.

If I ran Giggs I'd be looking to base a selection of good ground horses in England....

 

[Kevloaf]

I'm not so sure that we'll sere any more horses race against each other than we would have done. Don Poli and Djakadam faced each other, VL and Vautour did too... I think that angle is being over stated a little. Gigginstown's horses went where they wanted them to. That is why I don't think the "playing second fiddle" arguement holds much weight either. Looks to be a combination of business and throwing the toys out of the pram at a price hike.

I'd definitely have given some to English trainers though like Ista suggested. Surprised that hasn't happened.

An element of Gigginstown wanting to dethrone Mullins? Gordon's year? Could it be the start of the end for Mullins? I don't think so but things don't last forever. Took a long time for Mullins to become the dominant force and hard to see Elliott not getting there at some point.

 

[Deleted member 4957]

We'll see kevloaf, there was no Giggs rep in the Mares last year and they like to/are usually represented in every festival race (bar bumper).
If nothing else then the potential for horses to avoid each other has been removed...

 

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

Gigginstown are ruthless. Cooper must be looking over his shoulder.

 

[Kevloaf]

We'll see kevloaf, there was no Giggs rep in the Mares last year and they like to/are usually represented in every festival race (bar bumper).
If nothing else then the potential for horses to avoid each other has been removed...

They don't care for the races that aren't group races (on the record) and I get the impression they don't care for the non-prestiges ones like the mares too... No facts to back it up mind!

 

[Deleted member 4957]

They don't care for the races that aren't group races (on the record) and I get the impression they don't care for the non-prestiges ones like the mares too... No facts to back it up mind!

That might be their aim kevloaf but they still target runners in every festival race and the likes of Empire of Dirt (Plate) Rivage D'or (Cross Country) Don Poli (Martin Pipe) Savello (Grand Annual) plus more I'm sure have all won non championship races in the last 2-3 years

 

[Morning Glory]

Not many horses improve after leaving Mullins. Cant think of any ?

 

[Faugheen_Machine]

Agreed MG but not many horses leave Mullins. In fact, can't think of any high profile horses leaving the stable in recent years.

 

[mayo]

Brian O'Connor,,,, Willie aint cheap


Many could label Willie Mullins an exceptional training talent too. In fact Michael O’Leary has more than once described him as a genius. And everyone knows you can’t put a price on genius. Except, it seems, you can. Just over €2,000 a week in fact, based on reports of the figures involved in Gigginstown Stud’s split from the champion trainer. Considering O’Leary has apparently reached billionaire status it can be assumed then that this split is not actually about money at all. Instead it’s hard not to conclude it is simply another old-fashioned peeing contest.

They’re reassuringly familiar, even for those of us barely able to afford a pot to pee in, because they basically come down to plain old ego and everyone gets that.

There’s an interesting element to this though because inherent in O’Leary’s decision to wind up his link with Mullins for the sake of a couple of grand a week is an assumption that it won’t come back to bite him because others will simply take over the training of these 60 horses. So are we to believe these other trainers are geniuses too? Or maybe no trainer is a genius? Or was the man famous for his bullshit detector simply flannelling when it came to the ‘G’ word? Does the nature of training racehorses make such flattery just plain embarrassing?

What’s undeniable is that Mullins is entitled to raise his fees just as O’Leary is entitled not to pay them. Few if any in Ireland know the laws of supply and demand better than the Ryanair boss after all. And his decision does bring a welcome note of intrigue into the winter action before us. Nevertheless it looks significant that of both parties’ statements on the matter it was the Gigginstown one which didn’t rule out a possible rapprochement in the future.

Maybe most reassuring of all is that four days of results at Cheltenham in March will provide a definitive answer to this particular chicken and egg quandary between training talent and ownership spending-power.

 

[Deleted member 4957]

That's a staggering cost to train a racehorse, I am aware of trainers who charge £1600-£1800 a month (£20k a year) so Mullins charges appear astronomic.
Perhaps Ricci was quoted a different rate and O'Leary didn't like it ?

Unrelated of course but Giggs had a poor weekend with the well fancied Grotesque and Tocororo disappointing badly and Road to Riches well beaten in the G2 chase....