This year's G2 Lonsdale Cup winner Vauban (Fri) will continue his racing career in Australia after being purchased by Australian Bloodstock in partnership with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott for a reported transfer fee of around A$2 million (€1.23 million). The news was confirmed on Wednesday by Jamie Lovett of Australian Bloodstock.
Vauban, previously trained by Willie Mullins, was due to return to Ireland to prepare for a run in the G1 Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, the scene of his first major success for Mullins and owner Affluent Ricci when he won the G1 Triumph Hurdle 2022.
However, following his reported sale, the son of Galiway (GB) will now have to sit out for a while before training with Waterhouse and Bott ahead of a possible third G1 Melbourne Cup appearance in 2025. When sent off he finished only fourteenth last year, he was the favorite and then returned to Flemington to finish eleventh in the final edition, which was won by Knight's Choice (Aus) (Extreme Choice {Aus}).
Vauban begins his modern career in Australia as a winner of five of his 13 starts on the flats and a three-time winner in the hurdles. Before joining Mullins he had enjoyed success at Listed level on the Flat in France and also counted the Copper Horse Handicap at Royal Ascot last year among his major racing victories for that stable, while on his last appearance in Europe he finished second behind Star Stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Irish St Leger at the Curragh.
Copy article link
