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Gigginstown House Stud have announced that they will be winding down their racing operation "over an extended four or five-year period" and will not be buying any more stores or young horses.
The Michael O’Leary-owned operation, which was has captured the champion National Hunt owners title in Ireland on seven occasions, will continue to have its usual representation on the track over the coming seasons but will not be adding to its ranks in future.
In response to an enquiry from The Irish Field on Tuesday morning, Michael O'Leary said: "We wish to sincerely thank all our trainers and their teams for the enormous success we've enjoyed over the past decade but, as my children are growing into teenagers I am spending more and more of my time at their activities and I have less and less time for National Hunt racing, a situation that will continue for the foreseeable future. I hope that by running down our string over an extended four or five year period it will give our trainers ample time to replace our horses without disruption."
O'Leary's brother and racing manager Eddie added: "Michael is a big family man and his children are now growing up and, given his very extensive work commitments, he now wants to spend more time with his wife and family.
“As a result we are not going to be buying any more stores or young horses. We’ve just had the best season we have ever had in Ireland in terms of winners and it’s been an amazing year, capped by Tiger Roll winning the Grand National for the second time last month.
“We have lots of young stock to be allocated amongst our trainers over the coming weeks and each of our trainers will receive their usual allocation of young point-to-pointers. Each and every one of these horses will remain in the Gigginstown colours for the entirety of their career so hopefully we have many more great days to look forward to into the future," added Eddie O'Leary.
MULLINGAR BASE
Gigginstown House Stud, covering 1,000 acres at Delvin near Mullingar, Co Westmeath, is the residence of Michael O'Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, Europe's largest budget airline.
O'Leary started off with horses on the flat with David Wachman and Mick Halford, but he has rapidly become a major jumps owner with a string only rivalled by J.P. McManus. His principal trainer is Gordon Elliott but he also has a significant number of horses with Henry de Bromhead, Noel Meade and Joseph O'Brien.
The Gigginstown name first made headlines when War Of Attrition won the 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Don Cossack also won the Gold Cup for Gigginstown in 2015.
Rule The World gave Gigginstown a first Aintree National success in 2016, and Tiger Roll has won the latest two runnings of that race. They have won three of the last five Irish Grand Nationals.
The long list of top-class horses to carry the Gigginstown colours in recent years includes Last Instalment, Roi Du Mee, Sir Des Champs, Road To Respect, Samcro and Apple's Jade.
O'Leary's brother Eddie, based at nearby Lynn Lodge Stud in Mullingar, oversees the Gigginstown racing operation.
IS THIS GOOD OR BAD NEWS FOR RACING? MORE IN THE IRISH FIELD NEXT WEEKEND
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