Willie Mullins and Gigginstown back together after six-year split

Six years after one of the most high-profile break-ups in Irish racing history, Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud and Willie Mullins are back together again.

Gigginstown's racing manager Eddie O'Leary told the Racing Post on Monday that they will have a small team of horses at Closutton for the forthcoming jumps season.

Among them is Shanbally Kid, an impressive winner of a Clonmel bumper when trained by Richard O'Brien who was bought for £190,000 by Mullins and Harold Kirk at the Tattersalls horses-in-training sale at Cheltenham in April.

"It's a long road that doesn't turn!" Eddie O'Leary said when he was asked about the decision to once again have horses in the care of Ireland's champion trainer.

"We've always been very, very friendly with Willie and that never changed over the last few years. We're thrilled to have a couple of horses back with him. Shanbally Kid will be one of them and there are a few others as well, including two stores from the Derby and Land Rover sales."

He added: "You'd have to be impressed by what Shanbally Kid did at Clonmel. He looked very, very good there. He powered through the race and, if you forget his first run at Thurles when he might not have been right, you would like to think he could be a very nice horse."

Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud withdrew all their horses from the Willie Mullins yard in a row over training feesCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

It was six years ago this month, September 28, 2016, when Gigginstown withdrew all their horses from the Mullins yard in a row over training fees.

A statement released by the owners at the time stated: "As Gigginstown House Stud has been unable to reach agreement with Willie Mullins on an increase in training fees, we have agreed – with considerable regret – to move the Gigginstown horses to alternative trainers for the coming 2016-17 season.

"Gigginstown wishes to sincerely thank Willie and all the team at Closutton for the many Grade 1 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."

That agreement has obviously been reached six years on and Mullins can now once again add Gigginstown to his list of powerful owners who helped him celebrate a remarkable ten winners at last season's Cheltenham Festival.

He said: "We're delighted to renew acquaintances with Gigginstown and to train horses for them once again. We've been very lucky with them over the years and hopefully we will be lucky again."

Sir Des Champs being led back in by Michael (right) and Eddie O'Leary (back left) after winning the Jewson Novices' Chase in 2012 for Willie MullinsCredit: Edward Whitaker

The first big winner Gigginstown and Mullins celebrated together was Sir Des Champs in the 2011 Martin Pipe at Cheltenham and he went on to win the Jewson Novices' Chase at the festival the following year.

They combined for 17 Grade 1 victories over a five-year period, the most recent of those being Apple's Jade in the 2016 AES Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle at Punchestown before the mare was transferred to Gordon Elliott.

Other big earners for Gigginstown and Mullins during their previous relationship were Outlander, Don Poli and Valseur Lido.

Back in the summer of 2019, Eddie O'Leary stunned the racing world by revealing that Gigginstown would be winding down their racing operation as Michael's children were growing up and their various activities would leave him with less time for racing.

While Gigginstown's string is not expected to return to previous numbers, it looks like they are not ready to leave the stage just yet.

Eddie O'Leary said: "We bought a few bumper horses and got a couple at the store sales so it will be a small and select approach going forward."

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