Family tradition. That’s what sustains Ballinacurra Stud, a Darley client since 2002, and one that punches well above its weight with some eye-poppingly good results at the foal sales. Michael Mullins, the man who laid the foundations for the County Limerick stud’s successes, sadly died before the stud’s breakout sales at Goffs in 2022 when the family foals by Blue Point and Ghaiyyath sold for €200,000 and €145,000.
Mullins’ sons David and George, along with cousin Denis McCarthy, have taken up the mantle at Ballinacurra Stud. “We’ve been bringing foals to the sales for the past 20 years,” says David, 34, “always working off a small number of mares and usually targeting the first-season sires.
Thankfully we’ve had a bit of success lately. Our father Michael passed away three years ago. There was huge emotion after the Blue Point and Ghaiyyath foals sold. We weren’t expecting those results and there was even more significance to it all given Dad would have done all the matings for those mares.”
The Ballinacurra philosophy is a simple one. The young men are not interested in reinventing the wheel. By supporting younger sires and selling their stock, by and large, as foals, Ballinacurra Stud has carved out a niche. Plans are afoot to refine the operation even further by bolstering the small broodmare band.
“We try to buy a new mare every year,” says Denis, 33. “It’s important to keep the broodmare band as fresh as you can and keep new blood coming through. We bought a nice filly by Ten Sovereigns at Goffs earlier in the year for €29,000. She’s in foal to Modern Games. Hopefully he’ll be a very nice foal to be bringing to the sales next year. “We keep six or seven mares between us. We’ve two in foal to Camelot and then others in foal to Native Trail, Modern Games, Dark Angel and Kodi Bear. Modern Games could be very interesting.
To win five G1s all over the world, you have to be a very good racehorse. He has a pedigree as well, being a high-class son of Dubawi and out of a New Approach mare, so we’re pretty excited about him.
“It’s a similar story with Native Trail. We like to send a mare or two to Kildangan Stud every year because they are so good to us. Native Trail looked to be one of the best of the first-season sires coming through so that’s another exciting one.”
George is the baby of the trio at 31. He spends his mornings milking cattle while David is a full-time electrical engineer and Denis works for Bord Bia, the Irish food board. It’s an all-singing all-dancing operation and one that wouldn’t thrive if the love that was instilled by Michael wasn’t there.
“Given we all have full-time employment, it allows us to take certain gambles,” George explains. “Now, it can be an expensive and stressful hobby at times, but we wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. Dad had a great eye and he bought all of the mares that we got the touches out of, so there’s a certain level of responsibility carrying on the mantle – we all felt that, especially in the first couple of years.”
David adds: “Growing up, the whole year would have been geared towards the foal sales, and the conversations around the kitchen table revolved around that.
“It’s something we’d very much like to keep going. Dad lived and breathed the game so it’s been bred into us. It would have been great to share those big moments with him.”
