Three winners
UK soccer manager legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Harry Redknapp both struck gold at the Cheltenham Festival when their horses won three out of seven races at the National Hunt showpiece.
Sir Alex pocketed £275,000 ($350,310)
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex pocketed £275,000 ($350,310) while ex West Ham, Tottenham Hotspurs, and Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp won £67,500 ($85,981).
Cheltenham Racehorse took to X to share video footage of the two English soccer heavyweights celebrating their Thursday wins:
Sir Alex’s wins came when Monmiral chased down Kyntara to take the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle, while Protektorat claimed the Ryanair Chase event. Both horses were trained by Paul Nicholls.
Harry Redknapp’s win came as jockey Ben Jones, 24, rode the Ben Pauling-trained Shakem Up’Arry to victory in the TrustATrader Plate Handicap Chase.
Can’t keep winners down
While Redknapp and Sir Alex, especially, were serial winners in the English top flight, neither had previously won at the Cheltenham Festival.
I’ve finally had a winner here. Two in 40 minutes!”
The former Manchester United boss, who won 13 English Premier League titles, five FA Cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles, was overjoyed with his debut horse racing wins. “I’ve finally had a winner here. Two in 40 minutes! It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?”
In a day of soccer legends, Sir Alex, who was joined by former Red Devils and England captain Bryan Robson and ex-Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce, added the Cheltenham Festival was “special […] it’s like the Derby or the FA Cup final and I’ve waited a while to experience this.”
The United manager who famously led his team to an unprecedented treble of League, FA Cup, and Champion’s League in 1999, said he’d wanted to win at the Cheltenham Festival for around 20 years.
“A lot of people who buy horses have never had a winner, never mind here. It’s a feeling of elation.”
The former Old Trafford legend, however, said winning with his horses wasn’t the same as his soccer triumphs. Fergie said while soccer was his life “this is what I do for pleasure so it’s a different feeling.”
Redknapp, who was trophyless in his 18 years in the EPL but won Manager of the Season once and multiple Manager of the Month awards, was equally ecstatic about his horse’s victory. “He jumped for fun, what a performance. I’m so happy, it’s unbelievable!”
Gangsta granny and a great day
The always colorful Redknapp told Sky Sports that his grandmother got him into horse racing.
every week she’d get locked up in the police station in the east end of London”
“She was a bookie’s runner when she was young and every week she’d get locked up in the police station in the east end of London because betting was illegal in those days.” Redknapp added it was great to see fellow soccer boss Sir Alex win twice, and that it was “a great day.”
It was also a great day for a Betfair bettor who put £5 ($6.30) on the soccer legends’ three horses in a parlay called “The Gaffers Treble,” netting him £16,195 ($20,617).
