The staggering statistics that show JP McManus' importance to Irish jump racing

For jump racing fans, trainers and jockeys, imagining Irish national hunt racing without JP McManus is a difficult and scary prospect.

Since buying his first horse, Cill Dara, in 1976, the Limerick man's green and gold silks have become synonymous with the sport.

And if anything the 73-year-old's passion and investment in the sport continues to grow every year.

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Take, for example, the upcoming Christmas racing period, when many punters will be glued to their televisions.

In the opening race of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival, McManus currently has four horses entered in a maiden hurdle.

One of those horses, Kainsbourg, was bought for €355,000 from France and is in training with Gordon Elliott.

Two other horses - Kawaboomga and Kaid D'authie - were also bought from France and are in training with Willie Mullins.

Although the latter-named horses were bought privately, they most likely commanded six-figure sums.

Furthermore, the Joseph O'Brien-trained Dont Tell Jack, McManus' other representative in the maiden hurdle, would have been a costly purchase from the Irish point-to-point field.

In this sense, it is easy to estimate that McManus shelled out over €1,000,000 on these four horses, the majority of whom, in all likelihood, will not come close to repaying their purchase fees.

This example only barely scratches the surface, though, of McManus' continued bolstering of the sport.

Whereas other big-spending owners often confine their horses to a single yard or a couple of select trainers, McManus spreads his riches to a remarkable degree.

Over the past year, he has had runners with 47 different Irish trainers. In a sport increasingly dominated by powerhouse yards like Mullins and Elliott, McManus always tries to look after the smaller operations.

It is not the case that the smaller yards get given the crumbs, either.

Spillane's Tower, a horse bred by JP's wife Noreen, was sent to Cork trainer Jimmy Mangan, who has little over ten horses in training, a few years ago and is currently a leading fancy for this season's Cheltenham Gold Cup.

McManus likes to take care of his own, particularly Limerick-based trainers, including Enda Bolger, Charles Byrnes, Eric McNamara, Augustine Leahy, Michael Hourigan and Paul Flynn.

For the former bookmaker, the sport is a passion rather than a profitable enterprise. While his horses running in Ireland have won over €12 million in prize money over the past five years, McManus' outlay for this success would dwarf this figure.

But what state would the game be in without McManus' investment?

In 2023, there were 17,371 runners across all the Irish jump racing fixtures, with McManus' runners accounting for 743.

This equates to 4.3% of the runners, which seems relatively low considering his green and gold colours are such a familiar sight on the racecourse.

But McManus' 743 runners in 2023 was three times more than the second-most leading owner in Gigginstown House Stud. That's a big hole to fill.

And while the bigger yards, such as Mullins, Elliott and de Bromhead, have strong relations with many big owners, the smaller yards will perhaps feel the pinch of McManus' absence the most.

Trainer Enda Bolger, who has enjoyed much success with McManus over the years, recently said: “JP has the biggest heart in the world. There are so many people in the racing world who have benefited from his support.

"But what this man does behind the scenes and in other sports, is unbelievable.

"He is an astonishing human being. I have never heard another man say anything negative about JP. There is not a better man in the world."

And did we mention JP's sponsorship of many races throughout the Irish calendar or his investment in British jump racing? Whatever way you spin it, the Limerick man will leave a hell of a legacy.

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