Michael O’Leary, whose Gigginstown Stud racing operation has enjoyed immense success in National Hunt racing for nearly 20 years, shocked the industry on both sides of the Irish Sea on Tuesday when the announcement that he will withdraw his huge investment from racing over the course of the next five years.
O’Leary’s purple and white colours have become a familiar sight at all the major jumping festivals, at times to such a point that three or four horses in O’Leary’s silks have arrived at the final fence in a Grade One race with the outcome between them.
Since enjoying his first Graded win in February 2002, O’Leary, a high-profile figure in his day job as the chief executive of Ryanair, has invested huge sums into racing, mainly via the purchase of racing stock but also through sponsorship of events such as the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Initially, his money was spread around between a wide range of Irish trainers but after falling out with Willie Mullins, Ireland’s champion trainer, in a row about fees, an increasing number of O’Leary’s horses have been trained by Gordon Elliott, including the dual Grand National winner, Tiger Roll.
Irish racing as a whole will find it difficult, if not impossible, to replace O’Leary’s annual investment in the sport, which has been credited with a major role in Ireland’s resurgence at the Cheltenham Festival in recent seasons. For Elliott, it could prove to be a disaster.
“Michael is a big family man and his children are now growing up and, given his very extensive work commitments, he now wants to spend more time with his wife and family,” Eddie O’Leary, the owner’s brother and racing manager, said on Tuesday.
“As a result, we are not going to be buying any more stores or young horses. We’ve just had the best season we have ever had in Ireland 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 amongst our trainers over the coming weeks and each of our trainers will receive their usual allocation of young point-to-pointers. Each and every one of these horses will remain in the Gigginstown colours for the entirety of their career so hopefully we have many more great days to look forward to in the future.”