JUST A MONTH after Tiger Roll’s epic second Grand National triumph, Eddie O’Leary has stunned the racing world by revealing that the Aintree legend’s all-conquering owners Gigginstown House Stud will wind down what has become one of the sport’s most successful ownership entities over the next few years.
The scaling-back policy will begin with immediate effect, as O’Leary has confirmed the operation will not be restocking at the store sales.
Speaking on behalf of his brother Michael O’Leary, Eddie O’Leary said: “Michael’s children are now growing with their activities, leaving less and less time for racing last season and for the foreseeable future.
“We’ve just had our best season ever in terms of winners and it’s been an amazing year capped by Tiger Roll winning the Grand National for the second time last month.
“We have lots of young stock to be allocated among our trainers over the coming weeks and each of our trainers will receive their usual allocation of young point-to-pointers.”
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It is a blow of potentially seismic proportions for the industry in Ireland, not least for Gordon Elliott, who has been the most heavily reliant on the reigning champion owners following the 2016 split with Willie Mullins.
Breeders, vendors, sales companies and the point-to-point realm will also be seriously impacted by the impending loss of O’Leary’s ownership behemoth, which last season saw 225 individual horses grace the track for six trainers.
Micheal O’Leary added: “We wish to sincerely thank all our trainers and their teams for the enormous success we’ve enjoyed over the past decade, but as my children are growing into teenagers I’m spending more and more of my time at their activities and I have less and less time for National Hunt racing, a situation that will continue for the foreseeable future.
“I hope that by running down our string over an extended four or five-year period it will give our trainers ample time to replace our horses without disruption.”
When Tiger Roll emulated the legendary Red Rum by winning back-to-back Nationals on April 6, it was the third time in four years that the £1 million Aintree showpiece went O’Leary’s way following Rule The World’s 2016 success for Mouse Morris and David Mullins.
In 2006, Morris saddled War Of Attrition to claim a famous Cheltenham Gold Cup victory under Conor O’Dwyer. A decade later, the Gigginstown silks were again carried to glory in the sport’s blue riband event when Don Cossack won for Elliott and Bryan Cooper.
In securing nearly €4m in domestic prize-money last season, Gigginstown topped the owners’ championship in Ireland for a fifth time in succession and a seventh in all.
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Michael O'Leary stuns jump racing world with plan to wind down Gigginstown operation
JUST A MONTH after Tiger Roll’s epic second Grand National triumph, Eddie O’Leary has stunned the racing world by revealing that the Aintree legend’s all-conquering owners Gigginstown House Stud will wind down what has become one of the sport’s most successful ownership entities over the next few years.
The scaling-back policy will begin with immediate effect, as O’Leary has confirmed the operation will not be restocking at the store sales.
Speaking on behalf of his brother Michael O’Leary, Eddie O’Leary said: “Michael’s children are now growing with their activities, leaving less and less time for racing last season and for the foreseeable future.
“We’ve just had our best season ever in terms of winners and it’s been an amazing year capped by Tiger Roll winning the Grand National for the second time last month.
“We have lots of young stock to be allocated among our trainers over the coming weeks and each of our trainers will receive their usual allocation of young point-to-pointers.”
It is a blow of potentially seismic proportions for the industry in Ireland, not least for Gordon Elliott, who has been the most heavily reliant on the reigning champion owners following the 2016 split with Willie Mullins.
Breeders, vendors, sales companies and the point-to-point realm will also be seriously impacted by the impending loss of O’Leary’s ownership behemoth, which last season saw 225 individual horses grace the track for six trainers.
Micheal O’Leary added: “We wish to sincerely thank all our trainers and their teams for the enormous success we’ve enjoyed over the past decade, but as my children are growing into teenagers I’m spending more and more of my time at their activities and I have less and less time for National Hunt racing, a situation that will continue for the foreseeable future.
“I hope that by running down our string over an extended four or five-year period it will give our trainers ample time to replace our horses without disruption.”
When Tiger Roll emulated the legendary Red Rum by winning back-to-back Nationals on April 6, it was the third time in four years that the £1 million Aintree showpiece went O’Leary’s way following Rule The World’s 2016 success for Mouse Morris and David Mullins.
In 2006, Morris saddled War Of Attrition to claim a famous Cheltenham Gold Cup victory under Conor O’Dwyer. A decade later, the Gigginstown silks were again carried to glory in the sport’s blue riband event when Don Cossack won for Elliott and Bryan Cooper.
In securing nearly €4m in domestic prize-money last season, Gigginstown topped the owners’ championship in Ireland for a fifth time in succession and a seventh in all.
- David Jennings, for more visit the Racing Post
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Aintree Final Call Gordon Elliott Horse Racing Michael O'Leary Tiger Roll