The loss of one of the biggest owners in the game is arguably the first truly significant setback for National Hunt racing since its bandwagon started to roll in the mid-80s
Too big, some said of Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown Stud racing operation. Too powerful, too all-pervasive, a threat to the spectacle and the competitiveness of the game. Well, over the course of the next five years, we will all come to discover what an O’Leary-less jumping game looks like and his detractors may well end up concluding that you need to be careful what you wish for.
Few who follows the sport closely, in Ireland above all, will not have seen several races over the last couple of years which looked a little … odd. When four or five horses in the same colours are the only ones still competitive from the home turn, it is tempting to wonder when racing turned into a team event.
Related: Michael O’Leary announces shock decision to quit horse racing
York 1.50 Fujaira Prince 2.25 Reputation 3.00 Yafta (nap) 3.35 Sand Share (nb) 4.05 The Night Watch 4.35 Bomb Proof 5.05 Past Master
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