Sir Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp had some excellent battles in the dugouts during their football careers. The pair are now renewing that rivalry in horse racing as owners, with both men having success recently at the Cheltenham Festival.
Great to see Sir Alex Ferguson at Cheltenham this morning! pic.twitter.com/8L7kMgu07B
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) March 14, 2024
Ferguson had two winners on day three of the meeting at Cheltenham, with Monmiral and Protektorat winning the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle and Ryanair Chase respectively. Later that afternoon, Shakem Up’Arry landed the Plate Handicap Chase for Redknapp.
Aintree Has Been a Successful Meeting for Ferguson
As a former Manchester United manager, Ferguson has been involved in big sporting occasions in Liverpool. He has also had success as a horse racing owner in the city. In 2021, he recorded a treble on day one of the Grand National Meeting.
Ferguson will be hoping to better Redknapp at Aintree once again this year. The latter’s best hope comes in the Topham Handicap Chase with Shakem Up’Arry, who is 10/1 in the betting on racing market.
Protektorat is likely to be Ferguson’s leading hope goes into this year’s Grand National Meeting. The Ryanair Chase winner will come across many of his rivals from Cheltenham in the Aintree Bowl. It will be his second appearance in the race as he finished fourth in it in 2022.
Ferguson does not have an entry in this year’s Grand National, the feature race of the meeting at the Merseyside racecourse. However, along with some of his partners in the sport, they have been busy adding to their stable over the last 12 months, so he could make a purchase ahead of the marathon contest.
Corach Rambler Returns to Defend His Crown in World’s Most Famous Steeplechase
This year’s Grand National will include a maximum field of 34 runners and one of those will be the defending champion Corach Rambler. Lucinda Russell’s chaser prevailed in the race by just over two lengths in 2023 ahead of Vanillier and Gaillard Du Mesnil respectively.
Russell will be delighted with Corach Rambler’s final preparation run before Aintree. The Scottish-based horse finished third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup behind Galopin Des Champs and Gerri Colombe.
This year will be tougher for the former winner as he has been handed 11lb more weight on his back by the official handicapper. He is seeking his first success of the season on what will be his fourth start.
https://twitter.com/CheltenhamRaces/status/1767967598510047539?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The 2024 Cheltenham Gold Cup is expected to include a strong contingent from Ireland. Willie Mullins was the leading trainer at this year’s Cheltenham Festival and he has a strong hand in the race, including with I Am Maximus, Meetingofthewaters and Mr Incredible.
Leading Irish trainers Martin Brassil and Gavin Cromwell are also expected to be represented by Panda Boy and Vanillier respectively. The former finished second in a valuable handicap chase at Leopardstown back in December, while the latter was the runner-up in the Grand National in 2023.
This year’s Grand National Meeting takes place between 11-13 April and all three days are broadcast live on ITV Racing.
