CALUM McCLURKIN: Forget all the top trainers and jockeys, leading owner JP McManus and his famous green and gold silks will be the dominant sight in the major spring festivals
For all the debate raging around which horses, trainers and jockeys will win what over the course of the jumps season, the prevailing image in the aftermath of a lot of the top-class races National Hunt fans will enjoy is likely to be the green and gold silks of JP McManus ruling the roost again.
The 73-year-old Irishman is in a position of unenviable strength and his dominant position was put into sharp focus when the weights for the Grand National were unveiled in Liverpool this week.
McManus owns each of the first three in the betting. Inothewayurthinkin, Iroko and defending champion I Am Maximus. They are all with different trainers but all have obvious leading chances. He has won the race three times.
Last year, I Am Maximus hosed up after showing a stunning turn of foot from the back of the last. Minella Times recorded a history-making success in 2021 when Rachael Blackmore was in the saddle and his first taste of Aintree glory was with Don’t Push It 2010.
Again, all three had different trainers. McManus has fingers in every pie and all the bases covered.
A fourth National victory could well be on the horizon. Outwith the top three in the market, Meetingofthewaters, Limerick Lace, Capodanno, Chantry House, Perceval Legallois and Fakir D’Oudairies all have high-class form that on their day could run well.
Paul Townend hails his victory in last year’s Grand National aboard I Am Maximus
McManus has become the dominant force in horseracing over the past 43 years
Rachael Blackmore wears green and gold after claiming Aintree glory in 2021 on Minella Times
Almost all of them are high enough in the handicap to run at Aintree. Let’s hope McManus brings enough alternative coloured caps if his whole squad run!
A top businessman has transferred that shrewdness into racing. He has an abundance of leading chances at the upcoming Cheltenham Festival. His first winner at the Festival was Mister Donovan in 1982 and he is the winning-most owner with 74 victories. More are destined to be on the way.
Just a fleeting glance at the ante-post markets suggests the 80-win mark is well within reach by the close of play this year.
Firstly, Majborough is an odds-on favourite in the Arkle, The New Lion and Kawaboomga are big players in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle, Jonbon is odds-on to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase, Fact To File will be a short-priced favourite if defecting to the Ryanair Chase, It’s On The Line is joint-favourite for the Hunters’ Chase and Dinoblue and Bioluminescence are the top two in the Mares’ Chase betting.
The Wallpark has an each-way chance in the Stayers’ Hurdle and there are a few others at bigger prices that could run well in the Grade One races.
Limerick Lace is another McManus-owned horse with decent prospects of National success
Avid golfer McManus with celebrity playing partners Gareth Bale and Rory McIlroy
All this before you dive into the handicaps. Keep an eye on the likes of Jeriko Du Reponet, Jagwar, Hasthing, Johnnywho, Puturhandstogether, Sa Majeste, Down Memory Lane, Waterford Whispers, Crebilly and McLaurey when they turn up for their respective handicap entries.
That is just a flavour of the vast array of options McManus has. Trainers like Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, Dan Skelton, Nicky Henderson, Gavin Cromwell, Joseph O’Brien, Jonjo O’Neill and Henry de Bromhead will all fancy their chances of success in the spring. Jockeys such as Mark Walsh, Nico de Boinville, Harry Skelton, Paul Townend, Keith Donoghue and Rachael Blackmore will feel likewise.
One thing that links all these brilliant operators is the fact JP McManus has some sort of association with all of them. There is no escaping the green and gold dominance.
