Challow Hurdle hero New Lion has been sold to JP McManus, with previous owner Darren Yates declaring his intention to retire from the race at the end of the season.
The six-year-old has won each of his four starts for Dan and Harry Skelton, with a debut victory in the Market Rasen bumper in the spring followed by a hat-trick of wins over hurdles.
He was hugely impressive when he successfully graduated at first class level from Newbury over the festive period, giving Yates and his wife Annaley their first taste of top success.
Yates invested huge sums in the purchase of racehorses, most notably spending £620,000 on Interconnected, who subsequently failed to win a race.
However, in a deal which appears to have been brokered by fellow owner Paul Byrne – who had previously sold several of his horses to McManus – Yates has decided to let go of his prized asset.
Detailing the reasons for the decision on Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast, he said: “At the start of the season, Annaley and I made the decision to consider stopping racing altogether.
“Different things in our lives, grandchildren – times change. But when I spoke to Dan (Skelton) about it, he said ‘look, for the first time ever, you’ve got a great team. You’ve got the likes of New Lion and Cherie d’Am You could sell them all at once, but you won’t get the value.
“I said ‘OK, I’m ready to go on’ and obviously that was a risk too, as the horse is only a day away from injury. I said to Dan: ‘Let’s try and make a target of trying to win a Grade One’ and he said he thought he it’s definitely achievable with the ammunition we have.”
Yates revealed that the decision to sell The New Lion to McManus had been in the making for some time and that he had gambled on it winning a rating of one to increase his value.
“I’ve been very loyal to Dan and he’s been amazing – him, Harry (Skelton) and the whole team. And if any of my horses have gone up for sale, you don’t really know where they’ve ended up,” continued Yates.
“This developed because Paul Byrne, who is a very good friend of mine from Ireland, really pestered me after The New Lion won at Chepstow. He loved the horse and asked me if I wanted to sell him, I said I would like to go ahead and see can we win Grade One He 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 they do, they never sell.
“Paul came to me again, because 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 man, he has a lot of trust with Paul and I said that this will be private between us if we agree.
“One of the things I asked Paul to discuss with JP was that Dan would continue with training and Harry with riding. JP, being a gentleman, said it wouldn’t be a problem for us to continue.
“Without Paul Byrne, the deal wouldn’t have happened. I wasn’t really interested in going up for sale and I like how it happened.”
While The New Lion will wear the green and gold silks of McManus going forward, Yates revealed he retains a ‘bonus interest’ in the son of Kayf Tara, who is expected to go straight to the Cheltenham Festival in March.
He added: “The deal suits JP a lot and it suits me a lot. Obviously I’m not going to get into it because JP wanted it to be kept secret, which is great for me, but it gives me an interest in horse movement as well, let’s call it bonus interest, depending on what they do in the future.
“I think JP was happy to do it and I was happy to do it. Even if I didn’t have a kicker, I’m not the type of person to sell a horse and want him to do badly – I” I desperately want him to win the Cheltenham.”
Yates still owns several other horses with Skelton, including the high-class mare Cherie d’Am, who travels to the Grade Two Trustatrader Hampton Novices’ Chase at Warwick on Saturday.
However, it looks like she too will be on the market at some stage, with Yates citing the treatment of the owners as one of the main factors in his decision to leave the sport.
“Since I sold The New Lion, I’ll be completely out for the rest of the season,” he said.
“The experience of the day is amazing and getting the first grade was amazing, but they are very short-lived when you look at all the other things you have to deal with in racing.
“I don’t think the owners are ever looked after properly. I would think I’m out, when I’m out.
“You spend your whole life looking for a horse like The New Lion, but I just don’t see the value in that – I’m not sure where the sport is going to end up.”
