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MICHAEL HOURIGAN has announced retirement at the end of a glittering, 50-year career in horse-racing.
The Irish trainer and Limerick-native will hand in his license and bring the curtain down on a tenure that started way back in 1973.
In that time, he won three Irish Gold Cups and the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in 1995.
Explaining his decision to retire, the 77-year-old said: “It’s time.
“I’ve been working with horses since I was 14-years-old and I am 77 now.
“Now is the right time and I’m happy I’m going out on my own terms,
“I’m not being pushed out.”
The Limerick-native saddled his first winner in his native county in 1979, with Ramrajya.
His best season came in 2003/04, during which he claimed an astonishing 58 Irish National Hunt winners.
He revealed that his fondest memories came through Dorans Pride and Beef Or Salmon.
The former collected six Grade One victories, including the 1995 Stayers’ Hurdle with JP Broderick on board.
Beef Or Salmon won three Irish Gold Cups with Timmy Murphy (2003), Paul Carberry (2006), and Andrew McNamara (2007).
Hourigan explained: “Dorans Pride and Beef Or Salmon would be the highlight, but there were plenty of good horses in between too.
“I really couldn’t pick between them for the best moment.”
The Patrickswell man’s retirement prompted tributes aplenty on social media.
Andrew McNamara, the jockey who won the 2007 Irish Gold Cup with Beef Or Salmon, was amongst those to offer congratulations.
He said: “Well done to Michael Hourigan on a fantastic career, brilliant trainer.
“So good to ride for.
“Had a lovely time working with him for a couple years and got to ride some super horses such as Beef Or Salmon, Hi Cloy, Church Island, A New Story etc”
Leopardstown Race Course posted: “Wishing Michael Hourigan a happy and well deserved retirement.
“Michael enjoyed a fantastic career, with many great wins in Leopardstown, most notably with six-time Grade 1 winner Dorans Pride and three-time Irish Gold Cup champion Beef or Salmon.”
Ballinrobe Races said: “After over 50 years in racing, we extend our best wishes to trainer Michael Hourigan on his retirement.
“Starting his training career in 1973, Michael enjoyed a legendary career, with stable stars Dorans Pride and Beef Or Salmon leading the way.
“A special moment in history—Dorans Pride had his first win right here at Ballinrobe on April 19, 1993.
“Thank you, Michael, for the incredible memories and contributions to racing. Wishing you all the best from all the team at Ballinrobe.”
READING’S latest potential buyer is American businessman Robert Platek, owner of Italian club La Spezia and Portuguese side Casa Pia.
The League One club yesterday announced that they had entered a “period of exclusivity with a potential purchaser” and were hopeful of “a quick completion,” although declined to name them.
SunSport has learned that the buying group are led by Platek with support from long-time associate Nishant Tella, a former investment banker who is now a partner at Clean Slate Capital.
Platek is a serial investor in football and already owns Serie B club La Spezia and Lisbon club Casa Pia, who are currently sixth in the Portuguese top-flight.
The 60-year-old previously owned Danish club Soenderjysky, but sold them after just two years shortly after completing the £21million purchase of La Spezia in 2021.
La Spezia are currently third in Serie B pushing strongly for a return to the top flight after being relegated in a relegation play-off two years ago.
Platek is the fifth potential buyer to enter exclusive talks with Reading in the last 12 months following offers from former Wycombe owner Rob Couhig, ex-Reading chairman Roger Smee and two proposals involving property magnate Paul Taylor.
Significantly however, the proposed deal involves Platek buying the controlling stake of owner Dai Yongge, along with Reading’s stadium and training ground, keeping all of the club’s assets in one company.
Platek’s plans for Reading are unclear, but he has extensive experience in football, including in England. In addition to his personal investments in European football he is a partner at MSD Capital, the investment vehicle of technology billionaire Michael Dell.
MSD become significant players in English football and have lent tens of millions to several clubs including Southampton, Burnley, Derby and Sunderland over the last decade.
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Platek’s proposed purchase of Reading would be a personal venture with no links to MSD however, removing concerns over potential conflicts of interest.
Reading were put up for sale by Yongge in October 2023, but despite considerable interest have been unable to complete a sale. The club have informed the EFL about the potential buyers and are hopeful a sale can be completed quickly.
“Reading can confirm it has committed to a letter of intent with a potential purchaser of the club,” they said. “The parties will now enter a period of exclusivity to complete final due diligence and legally complete the transaction.
“Whilst timelines cannot be guaranteed, the structure of the deal should allow for a quick completion, which would be for the benefit of all concerned.
The club can confirm the agreed sale includes the transfer of Mr Dai’s shareholding in The Reading Football Club Limited, as well as the Select Car Leasing Stadium and Bearwood Park Training Facility.”
Fans’ group Sell Before We Dai have fought a long-running campaign pressuring Yongge to sell following frustration at the club’s financial problems, numerous transfer embargoes and late-payment of players leading to them being docked a total of 18 points by the EFL.
In a statement released on Monday however, the supporters sounded cautiously optimistic that Yongge’s eight-year ownership could be drawing to a close.
“The optimist in us may see today’s announcement as positive and welcome news,” a statement read.
“The tone of the [Reading] statement seems different to before and we all hope that a deal can be done soon. We’ve been here before with the Dais though. Until a sale is done our campaign continues.”
Reading are ninth in League One, three points off the play-off places, with new manager Noel Hunt doing an excellent job since replacing Ruben Selles, who left for Hull in December.
Reading and the EFL declined to comment.
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Lucknow, Feb 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister, Brajesh Pathak, on Tuesday said the Samajwadi Party (SP) will be wiped out completely in the coming days and people will never accept their "criminal activities"....
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The Dragon Ball series is the face of nostalgia in the anime community. Even if you haven’t watched a single episode of its expansive universe, any fan would know the iconic characters. From Goku to Frieza, Akira Toriyama has made some incredibly memorable characters. This popularity, however, was its curse. A series should end when […]
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