Rich Ricci sells Willie Mullins’ star Vauban to Austrlia for over £1million as new owners set Melbourne Cup target

WILLIE MULLINS' two-time Melbourne Cup runner Vauban will stay in Australia after his owner, Rich Ricci, sold him to Australian Bloodstock for £1.02million.

The six-year-old will be trained by the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott partnership with a third Melbourne Cup in mind.

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Following Vauban's second Melbourne Cup flop, a return to Ireland was expected, and Mullins even mentioned he might be aimed at the Stayers' Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

Instead, he won't be coming home at all. Despite having been up the betting in both his tilts at the 'race that stops a nation', Vauban has failed to perform Down Under.

Australian Bloodstock's Jamie Lovett told the Nick Luck Daily podcast: "He was an obvious horse for down here and we had the opportunity to team up with Gai and Adrian and he's not one that is hard to identify.

"I've always been very forgiving of any horse that comes down and doesn't always perform off the aircraft as it's not easy to do.

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"We're just hoping we can have him return to the form he showed in the northern hemisphere last season and we're excited to see what lies ahead.

"Willie placed him beautifully up there last season and he's a high-quality horse, but he arrives here as a Group 2 winner.

"So even in the handicaps, he could show up in a number of races in the Sydney autumn, and then the Melbourne Cup is the goal.

"He's had two tries at it, so he's going have to defy history third time around, but we feel very confident he's the right horse."

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Vauban has won eight of his 21 starts. Five of these were on the flat and three over hurdles.

Last flat season he came an impressive second in the Irish St Leger behind Aidan O'Brien's star stayer Kyprios.

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