Willie Mullins

I agree with a lot of your post Grey but i wonder about the above. Whatever the ability it has to come down to the training methods more than anything else. Alan Kings too often fly high for a short period and Martin Pipe was obviously another example. No doubt someone will come back with a tiresome "whatabout" but on balance that appears to be the trend

if i was an owner i would want someone who more frequently ticks them over through a long career...and we know whos the master of that
 
That's the key, Grey. His horses have been carefully sifted before they earn a box and he comes into each season with ready made maidens. Secondly - it's hardly like his opponents in Ireland are equine geniuses at the minute. Half of them couldn't train Grey to be liberal.

Most importantly - I've had the leg in the odd beast down there and there were never any unexplained 'extras' on the invoice.

ps Digger: You couldn't be more wrong about the facilities. He trains them on a 4 furlong all weather saucer. The poor feckers are dizzy after a gallop.
 
an capall said:
He trains them on a 4 furlong all weather saucer. The poor feckers are dizzy after a gallop.
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I remember touring his father Paddy's premises in 1988/1989 season.
He had a 2 to 3 furlong all weather saucer.
He had 35 or 36 in his stable at the time and about 30 of them were entered up for the following 10 days.
WP is doing much the same but on a larger scale it seems.
WP also stresses the improvement of his horses when fed Red Mills special low starch high fibre feed mix. He fed it to shy feeders/ horses prone to digestive upsets first and extended to all his stable after seeing the improvement in the first group. Tom Hogan feeds the same mix and his stable improvement is apparent ( admittedly with fewer numbers)
M C Pipe spent his time stealing his rivals feed and getting it analysed ( according to himself). There may be something to it.
 
Mullins doesn't have a bad horse in the yard. That's the starting point in understanding his success and dominance. They are either shipped out or break down but by the time they get to the track, he knows exactly what he has. It must have broken his heart last year to have one of Potts' bumper horses who couldn't move out of the way. Not like Mullins to keep him but he had to as for Potts. Every trainer has bad horses, Elliott, Meade etc. Yet Mullins has none.

Then he has the owners. It's a slick operation on that front and plenty working on the ground persuading owners in. I'd be surprised if ruby didn't have something to do with Wylie moving horses to his two yards.

Then there is the buyer. Kirk has a good eye for horses and they don't always buy expensive. They've done well with their Brightwells purchases around the €80-100k mark.

Finally, there is the team. He has half the extended family working for him and some very loyal staff. There's just no messing about with the operation.

Add it all together and he dominates. People complain about the Coolmore domination but Mullins is more dominant over the jumps. I don't mind though. As long as he has no 115 rated horses he won't be running against Presenting Beara!!
 
Even Patrick is doing a University degree in Equine Business. Will be a top trainer himself. No messing about whatsoever.
 
Cantoris said:
Mullins doesn't have a bad horse in the yard. That's the starting point in understanding his success and dominance. They are either shipped out or break down but by the time they get to the track, he knows exactly what he has. It must have broken his heart last year to have one of Potts' bumper horses who couldn't move out of the way. Not like Mullins to keep him but he had to as for Potts. Every trainer has bad horses, Elliott, Meade etc. Yet Mullins has none.

Then he has the owners. It's a slick operation on that front and plenty working on the ground persuading owners in. I'd be surprised if ruby didn't have something to do with Wylie moving horses to his two yards.

Then there is the buyer. Kirk has a good eye for horses and they don't always buy expensive. They've done well with their Brightwells purchases around the €80-100k mark.

Finally, there is the team. He has half the extended family working for him and some very loyal staff. There's just no messing about with the operation.

Add it all together and he dominates. People complain about the Coolmore domination but Mullins is more dominant over the jumps. I don't mind though. As long as he has no 115 rated horses he won't be running against Presenting Beara!!
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Yes, but who's the drug dealer??:ninja:

Only joking.......great post Cantoris
 
Lot of good reasons why he is so successful and can't hurt either that he has two of the best jockeys riding for him.

As for Irish NH racing I no longer follow it. Only interested in top level racing in the main and it has become so one sided in Ireland. especially in the novice events, that it is no longer interesting as a betting medium. Would rather wait for some of those horses to come to the UK and find good prices in the markets.
 
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brendanr said:
Lot of good reasons why he is so successful and can't hurt either that he has two of the best jockeys riding for him.
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And its a virtuous circle; Ruby doesn't move back full time unless the operation and the owners are making it very much worth it for him.

Wasn't there some talk of Mullins setting up a satellite yard in Britain?
 
sunybay said:
Interesting also he is entering more horses in England

The man is a genius.
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I agree he is a genius

Still not sold on the fact that he is going to have more runners in the UK. Can't think of too many this season.

Look at all his entries for the Morgiana this past weekend and no entries in Fighting Fifth for any of his runners
 
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Like I said , this man will eclipse Vincent OBrien as Ireland's greatest ever, and what doesn't he have that Vicent does? Ok three nationals on the trottt but nothing to say Willie can't achieve or better that feet, would be nice for JP to send him some national types
 
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Typically if somebody is so superior to their opposition in sport, it is because there is a barrier to entry or they are cheating.

All of the guff written above about superior training facilities, superior intelligence, superior hard work, superior feed and superior jockeys strikes me as horseshit.

There are plenty of wealthy owners out there who have not been as lucky as Mullins' owners. But maybe there is a barrier to entry to the higher echelons of the training ranks that I am not aware of?
 
Bar the Bull said:
There are plenty of wealthy owners out there who have not been as lucky as Mullins' owners.
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Can you call Mullins' owners lucky? They have a lot of expensive horses that don't make the track too. Look at Gigginstown. They have Samain and Un Atout on the sidelines and I'm sure there are more. Ricci has Pont Alexandre on the sidelines and a few others have recently appeared that have been off for a year or two. And those are the ones that come back. None of them are cheap horses and they do have a lot of turnover.

In my mind, luck is with your buyer. Can't argue with the results Eddie O'Leary produces, or Kirk/Mullins. Compare that to Potts and JP.
 
Friends of mine had one mare, sold the first filly and colt, kept the following fillies, sold the colts. One buyer, who has association with Mullins, who bought a colt and sold for very healthy profit, tried to buy year younger full sister. More than once.My friends refuse to sell. Owner tells Mullins, Mullins sends head lad to look at the filly, Mullins' takes filly on free lease.
That says an awful lot about the guy to me. My friends are so made up they can hardly contain themselves, but obviously trying to be cool about it!
 
I've watched Irish Jumps racing for over 20 years, and Mullins career has been defined by steady and relentless improvement. From his days faming bumpers, through to Florida Pearl, and now his current dominance, there's never been a 'great leap forward', just a smooth upward curve of ever-increasing quantity of quality.

Success breeds success, and whilst his owners aren't short of a bob or two, his buying policy - particularly in France of late - has been astute; several of his inmates more than re-paying their price-tags. However he does it, I'm sure it's legit; at least insofar as his training methods are concerned.

Four years ago, many were fretting about Noel Meade's apparent dominance of Irish Jumping. The same concerns were expressed about Michael Dickinson, then MC Pipe, then PF Nicholls, and now Nicky Henderson.

These are not the droids you're looking for.
 
Hamm said:
Not at all saying you're wrong but what makes you say this?
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The reasons previously given, and the fact that all trainers are moody to a degree, when it comes to runnig horses entirely on their merits every time they run.
 
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