Mullikin , a grade 1-winning son of Violence and a leading contender for this year's $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar, will stand the 2026 breeding season at WinStar Farm, near Versailles, Ky., it was announced Oct. 20. A stud fee will be announced after the Breeders' Cup. The 5-year-old will participate in WinStar's Dream Big program, which offers breeders the opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right.
"Mullikin has competed at the highest level for the last two years and is a gorgeous-looking horse from a world-class sire line (Sadler's Wells)," said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. "Our best stallions over the years all had speed. He fits the mold of what we want to place in the market: looks, speed, and pedigree."
Owned by WinStar Farm and trained by Rodolphe Brisset, Mullikin won last year's Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course by 5 3/4 lengths, earning a 110 Equibase Speed Figure. In the impressive victory, Mullikin established the lead from the start of the 7-furlong fixture and drew off powerfully in the lane to score by 5 3/4 lengths over grade 1 winner Gun Pilot . During a four-race win streak in 2024, Mullikin also captured the John A. Nerud Stakes (G2) in his graded stakes debut, running 7 furlongs in a blistering 1:20.54, just .50 off the track record set by Artax in 1999. His final clocking in the John A. Nerud was faster than 7-furlong times from grade 1-winning Violence sons Forte and Dr. Schivel .
Mullikin has run four triple-digit Beyers thus far, including a career-high 106 when finishing second to multiple grade 1 winner Book 'em Danno in this year's Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes (G2) at Saratoga. Additionally, Mullikin was beaten just a little more than a length by the likes of grade 1 winner and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)-bound Mindframe and multiple graded stakes winner and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1)-bound Nysos in a blanket finish in the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) in May. He was runner-up to multiple grade 1 winner and Breeders' Cup Classic contender Locked in the 2024 Cigar Mile Handicap (G2). Mullikin finished a game third to Straight No Chaser in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar, where he was ridden by Flavien Prat who has the mount in this year's renewal of the Sprint—Mullikin's final race.
On the board in 12 of 15 lifetime starts, his earnings thus far total $1,144,992. Mullikin was a $500,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase in 2021 by Maverick Racing out of the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. Bred in Kentucky by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding, Mullikin is out of the graded stakes-placed Congrats mare Tulira's Star, who was third in the 2014 Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga at 2.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
