Challow Hurdle hero The New Lion has been sold to JP McManus, with previous owner Darren Yates declaring his intention to retire from racing at the end of the season.
The six-year-old has won each of his four starts for Dan and Harry Skelton, with a maiden victory in a Market Rasen bumper in the spring followed by a hat-trick of wins over hurdles.
He was hugely impressive when he successfully graduated to Grade One level at Newbury over the festive period, giving Yates and his wife Annaley their first taste of high-level success.
Yates has invested huge sums in buying racehorses, notably spending £620,000 on Interconnected, who has failed to win a race since.
However, in a deal which appears to have been brokered by fellow owner Paul Byrne – who has previously sold a number of his own horses to McManus – Yates has decided to let his prized asset go.
Detailing the reasoning behind the decision on Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast, he said: “At the beginning of the season, Annaley and I made a decision really that we were thinking about walking away from racing altogether.
“Different things in our lives, grandkids – times change. But when I talked to Dan (Skelton) about it, he said ‘look, for one, you’ve got a great team. The New Lion and Cherie d’Am You could sell them all now in a spread, but you’re not going to get the value.’
The New Lion
“I said ‘OK, I’m ready to hit’, and obviously it was a risk too, as a horse is only a day away from injury. I said to Dan ‘Let’s try and aim to try and win a Grade One’ and he said he thought it was certainly doable with the ammunition we have.’
Yates revealed that the decision to sell The New Lion to McManus had been in the works for some time and that he gambled on him winning a Grade One to maximize his value.
“I was very loyal to Dan and he was amazing – him, Harry (Skelton) and the whole team. And if any of my horses went to the sales, you don’t really know where they end up,” continued Yates. .
“It came about because Paul Byrne, who is a very good friend of mine from Ireland, really spoiled me after The New Lion won at Chepstow. He loved the horse and asked if I would like to sell it, I said I would. I wanted to go on and see if we can get a point One said it was a big risk and I said it was my risk.
“What I know from racing myself is that you can’t buy a good horse like this – they just don’t exist. Or if there are, they never come up for sale.
“Paul came back to me as he really believed in the horse, as I did, and I think from what I can see, he has an amazing relationship with JP. I think JP is a very private person, there’s a lot of trust there with Paul and I said this would be private between us if we made a deal.
“One of the things I asked Paul to talk to JP about was that Dan would continue to train and Harry would continue to drive. JP, as a gentleman, said that wouldn’t be a problem moving forward.
“Without Paul Byrne, the deal wouldn’t have happened. I wasn’t really interested in going into sales and I like the way it turned out.”
While New Lion will carry McManus’ green and gold silks going forward, Yates revealed he retains a “bonus interest” in his son Kayf Tara, who is expected to go straight to the Cheltenham Festival in March.
He added: “The deal suits JP very well and I’m very comfortable with it. I’m obviously not going to get into it because JP wanted to keep it private, which is great for me, but it gives me an interest in the movement of the horse forward also let’s call it bonus, depending on what he does in the future.
“I think JP was happy to do that and I was happy to do it. Even if I didn’t have a kick, I’m not the type of person who would sell a horse and want it to do badly. I’m desperate for him to win at Cheltenham ».
Yates still has several other horses with Skelton, including the mare Cherie d’Am, who leaves for the Grade Two Trustatrader Hampton Novices’ Chase at Warwick on Saturday.
However, she too looks set to go on the market at some point, with Yates citing the treatment of the owners as one of the major factors in his decision to leave the sport.
“Because I sold The New Lion, by the end of the season I’ll be completely out,” he said.
“The experience of the day is amazing and winning a Grade One was amazing, but it’s very short-lived when you look at all the other things you have to endure in racing.
“I think the owners are never looked after properly. I would think that once I’m out, I’m out.
“You spend a lifetime looking for a horse like The New Lion, but I don’t see the value in that – I’m not sure where the sport will end up.”
2025-01-05 13:45:00
