Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson enjoyed the best moment of his time in horse racing with a win in the Bahrain International Trophy last week.
It was great to see a smile on Ferguson’s face again following his excellent win in the Bahrain International Trophy.
The former United boss landed a £500,000 prize after his horse Spirit Dancer, trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by Oisin Orr, crossed the line in first place.
A video of Ferguson and co-owner Ged Mason went viral showing the pair celebrating the win.
Ferguson’s love for horse racing stems back to his days as United manager and it controversially led to the Glazer takeover in 2005 when he had a fall out with John Magnier and JP McManus.
However, Ferguson’s involvement grew after his retirement from management in 2013.
“Last week we bought two horses, one from Ireland – a pointer – and one from France,” Ferguson told Gambling Zone. “John Hales is the man who has all the contacts. We depend on John and we’ve bought some very good horses on his recommendation.
“They don’t come cheap now. We paid £450,000 for the French horse and £200,000 for the Irish horse. That’s £650,000 and I had to write quite a large cheque. One of my sons said, ‘What are you doing?’
“My late wife would kill me if she was alive if she knew the amount of money involved!! I must say at the time when I started it was a big release for me.
“I never give instructions to trainers or jockeys. I never interfere with a trainer. I would never let anybody interfere when I was a manager so why should I interfere with people who know better in racing?”
Ferguson went on to add that the win in Bahrain was the greatest of his time in horse racing.
“That is the best no doubt, the best ever moment in racing for me,” he continued.
“100 yards out he looked like he was going to win but I didn’t want to count my chickens. I was just praying and he carried me over the line. The last thing I said to the jockey (Oisin Orr) was, ‘Remember he is a Frankel.’
“And he showed all the heart of a Frankel. Richard said to me that the trophy for the race looked like the FA Cup which he said I was used to picking up.”
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Not really the time to be celebrating seeing as it was his dispute with JP McManus’s over the Rock of Gibraltar that has us still stuck with the Glazers and won’t go down well with fans
😩