Will Kinsey looking to the future with the rejuvenated Stormy Ireland

When Will Kinsey and his two partners in Future Bloodstock paid £75,000 for Stormy Ireland at a Goffs UK online sale in January, they imagined it would only be when they offered her foals at auction that they would start to see a serious return on investment.

In fact, with the mare's extraordinary renaissance back at the Willie Mullins yard, she managed to earn €100,000 in prize-money in just over three months.

Stormy Ireland, a daughter of Motivator, had won several Graded hurdles in a previous stint with Mullins and finished second in Cheltenham's mares' hurdle but seemed to have lost her way after former owner Jared Sullivan switched her to Paul Nicholls' stable at the start of last season.

She fitted Kinsey's criteria — and budget — pretty nicely.

"The company Future Bloodstock was established to buy nice broodmares in foal, in order to try to run a business of breeding stock and selling, maybe leasing the fillies, so the first we bought was Limini, in foal to Australia," he says.

"We probably bought her at a good price [for €75,000] and then we found that every in-foal mare we went to try to buy after that was making way too much money, so we changed tack and bought some store fillies.

"We own a sister to Monkfish and a sister to Allaho, so when we bought Stormy we were again looking for something that had a pedigree, a race record. She probably lacked an inch in size but, in my opinion, all the other boxes she had ticked.

Will Kinsey (left) was initially looking for just a broodmare prospectCredit: Tattersalls Ireland

"I said we could always try to put size on the mare and we also don't have to try to breed a Gold Cup horse, we might try to breed a Champion Hurdle horse!"

Stormy Ireland made her comeback in a Grade 2 at Fairyhouse last month but there was even better to come at Punchestown when she spreadeagled the field in the Grade 1 Mares Champion Hurdle, beating a cast that included her stablemate and narrow Cheltenham runner-up Concertista by upwards of seven lengths.

"We thought if she runs to anything like the level she has been then she could go to Cheltenham - people are paying way more money for other horses to go," says Kinsey. "So we sent her back to Willie's and thought if she retained any ability she would pick up a bit of prize-money.

"We were not going to be covering her for a few months, and if she did no good, then we would cover her straight away. What she's done is obviously beyond our expectations but it's been amazing."

Kinsey explains that the reason the team sent her back to the Mullins yard was fairly simple.

"Firstly, we thought that he knew her better than anybody else and we'd see if we can get her back, and secondly she was going to go to Ireland because if she ran no good she was going to be covered by an Irish stallion. I do that with a lot of my maiden mares," he says.

"It was nothing against Paul or anybody else; other English trainers asked me if they could have her, but sending her to Willie's was just the obvious thing to do.

"We gave her a little break for a few weeks at home, let Willie take his time. A change of scene is as good as a rest, but I think she's a stronger mare than when he previously had her, so maybe a change of routine going to Paul's built something on her. She's gone back to Willie's and it's all worked out."

Stormy Ireland has remained in training at Closutton and breeding plans have been put on hold for this year at least, as she is likely to be seen in action again during the summer.

"We won't cover her this year, we'll maybe cover her next year," says Kinsey. "We've just left it to Willie and said, 'You tell us, you know her better than anybody else'. The guy's a master.

"He looked at France as well, there was the Prix la Barka, but I think Willie is leaning towards a Flat campaign. His record with National Hunt types going on to the Flat is brilliant and we're more than happy to go with whatever he thinks."

Future Bloodstock, which Cheshire-based buyer, breeder and consignor Kinsey has created with Ross Alberto and Dave Greenway, still has just the one active broodmare in Mullins' 2016 Cheltenham mares' novice winner Limini, who produced her Australia filly and has since been covered by Nathaniel.

The Mahler sibling to top novice chaser Monkfish, bought for just €25,000 at Goffs last summer, could be the next to be seen.

"She's called Fishcake and was with Nicky Henderson," says Kinsey.

"She's back home and going back to Nicky's. He did the work with her and could have run her, but she's only a four-year-old filly. Hopefully she'll win a race or two.

"We've formed the FB Racing Club, which the horses will run under and hopefully we'll get some outsiders in to enjoy it."

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