Category: Owners

Founded in 2000, Gigginstown House Stud is situated in Delvin, near Mullingar, County Westmeath in central Ireland. The operation is owned by businessman Michael O’Leary – best known outside racing as the CEO of budget airline group Ryanair – and his brother, Eddie, acts as racing manager. In a quarter of a century, the now familiar maroon and white colours have become synonymous with National Hunt racing on both sides of the Irish Sea, not least at the Cheltenham Festival.

Of course, to the wider public said colours are most recognisable as those carried by Tiger Roll who, in 2019, became the first horse since Red Rum, in 1974, to win back-to-back renewals of the Grand National. However, it should not be forgotten that Tiger Roll, who was retired from racing in March 2022, remains one of just three horses to have won five or more races at the Cheltenham Festival. For the record, the others were Quevega, who won the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle six years running between 2009 and 2014, and the legendary Golden Miller, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup five years running between 1932 and 1936.

Tiger Roll won the Triumph Hurdle in 2014, the National Hunt Challenge Cup in 2017 and the Glenfarclas Chase three times, in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Indeed, the Cross Country Course at Prestbury Park has proved a happy hunting ground for Gigginstown House Stud with Rivage D’Or (2015) and Delta Work (2022, 2023) also successful in the Glenfarclas Chase, for a total of six wins in that race alone. Gigginstown has also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, with War Of Attrition in 2006 and Don Cossack in 2016, with other notable Grade 1 victories for the likes of Weapon’s Amnesty, First Lieutenant, Very Wood, Doni Poli, Apple’s Jade and Samcro, among others, down the years.

Patricia Thompson and her late husband, David, purchased Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, Suffolk, out of receivership, in 1975. Down the years, their distinctive red, white and blue colours have been carried to victory in dozens of Group 1 races on the Flat, by the likes of Pivotal, Medicean, Russian Rhythm, Integral, and Inspiral.

David Thompson sadly died on December 29, 2020, aged 84, after a short illness, but prior to his death the pair had rekindled their interest in National Hunt racing. Way back in 1993/94, the Thompsons had briefly, and unsuccessfully, campaigned their Britannia Handicap runner-up Just You Dare over hurdles for Martin Pipe. This time around, though, they invested heavily in some ‘serious’ National Hunt horses, which were sent into training in Ireland and would make a significant impact at the Cheltenham Festival.

A Plus Tard, for example, won the Centenary Novices’ Handicap Chase for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore in 2019 and three years later, in 2022, made history for his trailblazing jockey when justifying favouritism in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Likewise, Envoi Allen won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper in 2019 and the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle in 2020, when trained by Gordon Elliott and, following his transfer to Henry de Bromhead, returned to Prestbury Park to win the Festival Trophy, a.k.a. the Ryanair Chase, in 2023.

Indeed, Envoi Allen was the third consecutive winner of the Festival Trophy for Cheveley Park Stud, with Allaho, trained by Willie Mullins, having won back-to-back renewals in 2021 and 2022. Mullins also saddled Sir Gerhard to win the Weatherbys Champion Bumper in 2021 and the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle in 2022, having already won the former race with Ferny Hollow in 2020. Henry de Bromhead, too, won the Triumph Hurdle with Quilixios in 2021.

J.P. McManus, or John Patrick McManus to give him his full name, is one of the richest people in Ireland, with an estimated net worth of over €2 billion. He is also the predominant owner in National Hunt racing and, at the time of writing, leads the 2024/25 Jump Owners Championship with 43 winners from 203 runners, at a strike rate of 21%, and nearly £634,000 in prize money.

McManus is also, by the proverbial country mile, the most successful owner in the history of the Cheltenham Festival. By his own admission, McManus was drawn into horse racing by gambling and his success in the betting ring led him to be dubbed ‘The Sundance Kid’ by Scottish sports journalist Hugh McIlvanney. His first Cheltenham Festival winner, Mister Donovan, trained by Edward O’Grady, in the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle, came back in 1982, but his distinctive green and gold colours have since been carried to victory at the March showpiece on another 77 occasions.

Indeed, McManus is the most successful owner in the history of the Champion Hurdle, with

nine winners, including Istabraq (1998, 1999 and 2000) and Buveur D’Air (2017 and 2018). In 2017, Buveur D’Air and My Tent Or Yours completed a one-two for McManus in the two-mile hurdling championship, thereby making him the first owner in the history of the Cheltenham Festival to reach the landmark of 50 winners.

Of the other feature races, the Queen Mother Champion Chase remains a notable omission from his CV, but McManus has won the Stayers’ Hurdle three times, with Baracouda (2002 and 2003) and More Of That (2014) and the Cheltenham Gold Cup once, with Synchronised (2012). Nevertheless, with a band of exciting, young steeplechasers at his disposal, including Fact To File, Inothewayurthinkin and Corbetts Cross, to name but three, further Festival successes are surely just a matter of time.