Willie Mullins: suspended Supreme Racing got too big for one man to manage

Kemboy's dramatic suspension from racing – along with those in the same ownership as the Cheltenham Gold Cup favourite – may be explained by management becoming overwhelmed by the rapid growth of the Supreme Horse Racing Club, trainer Willie Mullins said on Wednesday.

Ireland’s champion trainer admitted at a media event that he was aware of grumblings within the camp before Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) froze Supreme's account on October 21. That intervention came after requests for paperwork relating to the ownership of horses were not sufficiently met.

Owners in the syndicate have claimed that horses, including Kemboy, who cannot race until the dispute is resolved, were oversold.

Kemboy: will make his eagerly anticipated return in the Savills ChaseCredit: Alain Barr

Supreme is listed as being run by Steve Massey and Jim Balfry, but Mullins, who trains 14 horses for the owners and remains hopeful the authorities can come to a swift resolution, said much of the onus for running the syndicates lay solely with Massey.

“Supreme Racing got very big," said Mullins. "I mean it's a very big operation for one person to manage. It just seems to be one man in charge and trying to operate the whole thing.

“I know he's had other complications away from racing, and that his wife was very sick during the year, so he possibly just needs a little bit of help sorting the whole thing out.

“There's a lot of paperwork involved and a lot to keep on top of. That all has to be resolved. There's a lot of paperwork that needs to be caught up on, that's my understanding on the whole thing.”

He added: “I'm paid up to date. I know a lot of the Supreme Racing people and they are a fantastic bunch – a keen bunch of owners. It has to be resolved quicker than how things are moving at the moment, but hopefully it will.

“The authorities have to do what they have to do but they are in contact with them all the time. A meeting took place last week and I understand some of the issues were resolved.

“There's another meeting scheduled for later this week which could be crucial and I'm hoping it will resolve a lot more issues if not all of them. It [the club] might be able to get back up and running. I'd be hoping for that.”

Listen Dear: was sold at Goffs UK for £38,000 last weekCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Asked if the suspension of Supreme’s account had come as a shock to him, Mullins added: "I knew there were differences of opinion about certain things. I thought they might be able to resolve it among themselves. Maybe it needs some outside help to resolve it.”

Supreme came under further fire for selling one of its star mares, Listen Dear, for £38,000 at Goffs UK last Thursday, the same day the news broke of the suspension.

Some owners are understood to be in the process of taking legal action, including seeking an injunction to prevent the nine-year-old racing, in an attempt to have the sale voided and stop funds being distributed to Supreme, who they claim sold the horse without their knowledge.

But Mullins is adamant there was nothing different about the selling process of Listen Dear compared to any other horse he had sold in the past.

Mullins said: “There's nothing different about Listen Dear than with any other owner. We sold a couple of other horses at that sale. When owners ring me up to sell a horse I sell it.

“My understanding is that, under the rules of the club, the majority dictates whether the mare is sold or not.

“There are horses in training sales every day of the week and normally the owner just tells the trainer to sell and that's what they do. There's a lot of red tape involved with selling a horse and we've to get vet's certs and all that sort of thing.

"The sales houses know the trainers well and they wouldn't know every individual owner and when they're dealing with every individual syndicate member it becomes a nightmare. The one point of contact is the trainer.”

Goffs UK: where Listen Dear was sold by the Supreme Horse Racing ClubCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

Listen Dear sold last week following a return to form when winning by eight lengths in Listed company at Limerick, and Mullins added: "Remember, that decision [to sell] was made before Listen Dear won. At that stage, everybody wanted out of her. There might have been a couple of guys who changed their minds after she won at Limerick. The decision was made before that run at Limerick, which was very much a last throw of the dice.”

Mullins will not be involved in any meetings between HRI and Supreme and remains concentrated on the training of their horses until instructed otherwise.

“Nothing has changed at the minute. I can only sit and wait and hope that the whole thing is resolved,” he said. “It's between Supreme and HRI to resolve it and, as far as I know, they're working towards a resolution all the time.

“My understanding is that they're trying to have a meeting before the end of the week. I just want to train them and do as I always do.”

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