The sport of kings has attracted many famous faces from the world of sport over the years.
But while some simply love a day out at the races, others have taken their interest a step further and dabbled in ownership.
There are lots of top level sports athletes that have a love of the horses, be it Sir Alex Ferguson, Michael Owen, Joey Barton and even former Irish out-half Ronan O’Gara. I’m sure ROG will be having a bet on the irish grand national 2023 betting.
Everyone remembers Sir Alex Ferguson’s most famous horse The Rock of Gibraltar, which brought down John Magnier and JP McManus connection with Manchester United.
The two entered a bitter dispute with Sir Alex Ferguson, as detailed by Sam Wallace of The Independent, over the ownership rights of The Rock of Gibraltar. At the same time, they collectively owned 30 percent of Manchester United shares pre-Glazer.
Michael Owen has stables in the North of England which many other names on this list utilise for their own horses. Former Munster & Irish out-half Ronan O’Gara has said numerous of times that he would have loved to have done what Michael Owen did and open his own stables. But I’m sure ROG has had his shares in different horses at different points.
The former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is famous for his love of horses, he once joked that himself and Sir Alex Ferguson would be watching the end of a race before then head out to manage their respective clubs in a 3pm kick-off.
Redknapp has suffered equine tragedy in the form of two horses dying, with Arry’s Orse succumbing to a heart attack and Bygones in Brid sustaining a fatal injury on a hurdle at Taunton.
Niall Quinn couldn’t be further entrenched in the horse racing game if he tried.
His father would take him to events as a boy, and he’s married to the niece of 10-time Irish champion flat jockey Johnny Roe.
Quinn has had horses are named after Irish sporting legends such as Alex Higgins (Hopping Higgins) and Michelle Smith de Bruin (Goldengirl Michelle).
World Cup-winning Frenchman Antoine Griezmann is another footballer with a real passion for the race track.
Introduced to racing by his father Alain, his venture into ownership was spearheaded by his No 1 runner Natsukashi.
In 2018, his horse Tornibush, trained near Lyon by Philippe Decouz, won four races at Longchamp in 2018.
It’s a sport that the athletes love and use to their mind away from their pressures..