THE Ger Lyons-trained Mustajeer has been sold by owner David Spratt to continue his racing career in Australia.

A six-year-old by Medicean, Mustajeer was originally trained by Barry Hills and then Owen Burrows for owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum. The horse had won just one of his first seven races when he was sold at the Newmarket July Sales in 2017 for 50,000gns to Spratt’s Gaelic Bloodstock.

Mustajeer started his Irish career on a mark of 91 but that soared to 111 following his success in the Listed Finale Stakes at Naas last November. This season he has chased home the likes of Magical (twice), Master Of Reality and Twilight Payment in stakes races.

Now a controlling interest in the horse has been bought privately by Australian Bloodstock. “We have bought him as we feel he is a genuine top-five and winning chance for the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup,” Australian Bloodstock’s Luke Murrell told justhorseracing.com.au.

“Those Irish horses are the best stayers in the world and I have loved some of the things he has done this year.”

Mustajeer will have his next start in the £1 million Ebor at York next Saturday. “The Ebor was one of the best rating races last year and he ran an unlucky fourth,” Murrell said. “This year’s Ebor will be stronger than some of the Group 1 races in Europe so it will be a proper race and even better than last year.”

New trainer

Leading NSW trainer Kris Lees will prepare Mustajeer for his Australian campaign. Australian Bloodstock is no stranger to spring success in Australia. The syndicate confirmed its rise when the German-trained Protectionist won the Melbourne Cup in 2014.

Japanese-bred horses Tosen Stardom and Brave Smash have added Australian Group 1 trophies to the collection.

The syndicate also owns David Menusier’s recent German Group 1 winner Danceteria as well as Shraaoh, winner of this year’s Sydney Cup for trainer Chris Waller.

One horse unlikely to return to Australia this year is Godolphin’s Benbatl – with targets in Canada and America mooted.

Saeed bin Suroor’s globetrotter won a Group 1 in Australia last year before having a crack at Winx in the Cox Plate. He ultimately came off second best in that encounter, and has been given plenty of time to get over those exertions.

“After he went to Australia, we gave him a break because he’d had a hard season,” said Bin Suroor. “He’d run in Dubai, England, Germany and Australia.

“He’s back in training, and we’ll start looking for races for him in September time. He could start off in England – but there are races abroad for him in Europe. We’ll keep all his options open, but I don’t think we’ll take him back out to Australia this year. We might have some others for Australia this year.

“I think it’s more likely we’ll look at Canada or America for him. We’ll see how he is going – so far he is moving well, looks healthy and is working really nicely.”