Sir Alex Ferguson: among the winners again with Caldwell Potter
Sir Alex Ferguson: among the winners again with Caldwell Potter
Sir Alex Ferguson lifted another trophy at Cheltenham on Thursday with a horse branded a transfer ‘flop’.
The legendary former Manchester United manager has assembled a high quality team of racehorses since he retired from the Premier League.
With pals Ged Mason, Peter Done and the late John Hales he enjoyed his first Cheltenham Festival successes with Monmiral and Protektorat 12 months ago.
Hales died aged 85 at the end of January having been the driving force in the recruitment of Caldwell Potter.
The Grade 1-winner from Ireland was put up for sale in February last year and Hales was determined to buy him for the group who secured the grey for £620,000, a record for a jumps horse at public auction.
[
Queen of Cheltenham Rachael Blackmore comes in from the cold to ride first 2025 winner](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/cheltenham-festival-rachael-blackmore-win-34855082)
He won his first start for his new owners in December but after suffering defeats at Cheltenham and Windsor, he was being written off as a top prospect.
He proved the critics wrong on day three of the Cheltenham Festival when, contesting a handicap for the first time, he made all the running to triumph under Harry Cobden.
In the process he secured a 50th Cheltenham Festival victory for trainer Paul Nicholls, a success his daughter ITV pundit Megan Nicholls admitted she hadn’t expected.
“I’m absolutely buzzing. To get Dad’s 50th winner for John Hales will mean an awful lot to him. After all the chat it makes Dad look like a total genius, doesn’t it?
“I just didn’t trust him on what we’d seen so far but I’m very happy to trust what he did today.”
Paul Nicholls said: “I don’t take no notice of what they say. The reason John bought this horse is he lost Hermes Allen. He wanted someone to replace Hermes.
“John put his money where his mouth was and bought him. It’s irrelevant what they cost they are all treated the same. He just needed a bit of patience.”