The road to success is often riddled with many ups and downs. Countless footnotes and pits stop that form the journey and in hindsight become very important ingredients of your saga.
Sheamus Mills, one of the fastest rising stars of the blood horse universe has one such epic to tell, however, looking at him we have all the reasons to believe that even after spending all these years in the sport performing various roles and succeeding, he is just getting started. Starting off with the glorious Vanuatu Betting Scholarship. Sheamus has shuffled between various responsibilities and amassed a huge wealth of knowledge about almost every aspect of the game. From reading and picking future champions to study and analyzing hardcore data and numbers to gage performances. Sheamus has his hand in all those aspects.
We had to ask him about his future plans and his review of the recently concluded, for Gold Coast Yearling sale, where It was again one of the top purchasers.
Q: Written Tycoon-Karuta Queen filly (Lot 434) secured a top price from you. What attracted you to this filly in particular? Have you inspected the horse earlier? Do you know the vendor? What are the plans for this yearling? Where will she go and who will be training her? Will you be able to disclose who this purchase was for?
A: I found this filly near impossible to fault. She had an amazing walk and did not tire one bit in 7 or more days of busy parading. She coped with the wholesale process better than any horse I have seen and even as she entered the ring did so with such confidence. The first time I saw her was a week before the sale. I don't think I have bought a horse from Strawberry Hill before but they generally have a strong draft of well-bred horses so it's not easy. The filly will be broken in at Kolora Lodge and then will head to Tony McEvoy's stables to start the next phase of her education. I bought her for 2 long-standing clients who have become friends over the past few years.
Q: Which other horses did you buy at the sale and of the others which are the one you are most pleased about?
A: I love the Sebring x Tigress Lily filly that we bought from Widden Stud. She looks more of a 1000 Guineas type than a 2YO in my opinion and thought she was good buying given a lot of buyers at that sale are looking for ready-made racehorses. She has a great presence about her - confident in the way she carries herself and a lovely big walk.
Q: Which sales will you be attending during the season?
A: I will be heading to all major yearling, weanling and broodmare sales this year so the tour basically goes - Karaka - Sydney Classic - Melbourne - Adelaide - Sydney Easter then Inglis Sydney weanling and broodmare sales plus the Chairman's sale - Magic Millions weanling and broodmare sales and then the Melbourne Great Southern sale.
Q: How do you plan your purchases?
A: I first shortlist the catalogue for pedigrees that I like. I then try and see those horses multiple times - hopefully, 4 or 5 times by the time I get my shortlist right down to the ones I want to buy. From there it’s luck of the draw from the order they walk into the ring and the budget you are working with to see what you end up buying.
Q: How has the success of Vow and Declare affected you? Have you been asked to secure any potential Melbourne Cup-winning stayers?
A: Hasn't changed much for me. Had plenty of congratulations from people I admire and respect which is great. From a business point of view, these things just frank the opinions you have and you hope you are on the right track. There aren't many breeders looking to produce potential Melbourne Cup horses so it’s no great surprise for me. I am thinking the breeder of Vow And Declare might want to have another crack at it. She's in foal to American Pharoah who might fit that bill.