Jockey has his say on JP McManus new purchase they are 'very much looking forward to'
The Limerick businessman splashed the cash to buy the Cheltenham Festival favourite
The Skeltons are "very much looking forward" to the future of The New Lion after the star novice hurdler was purchased by JP McManus.
The Limerick businessman splashed the cash to buy the recent Challow Hurdle winner, who is the current favourite for the Turners Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
McManus is reported to have spent £1million on the Dan Skelton-trained six-year-old, who had been owned by English businessman Darren Yates.
READ MORE:The reason JP McManus had to spend big on The New Lion ahead of the Cheltenham Festival
READ MORE:Owner explains decision to sell Cheltenham Festival favourite to JP McManus
The New Lion has won each of his four starts for Dan and Harry Skelton, with a debut victory in a Market Rasen bumper in the spring followed by a hat-trick of wins over hurdles.
His former owner had insisted the horse was not for sale unless "a really silly offer" came along following his Grade 1 win at Newbury, but decided to let go of his prized asset once the offer came in from McManus.
Explaining his decision on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, Yates said: “This developed because Paul Byrne, who is a very good friend of mine from Ireland, he was really badgering me after The New Lion won at Chepstow. He loved the horse and asked if I would like to sell him, I said I’d like to continue and see if we can win a Grade One. He said that was a big risk and I said it was my risk.
“What I do know from being in racing myself is you can’t buy a good horse like this – they just don’t exist. Or if they do exist, they never come up for sale.
“Paul came to me again, as he really believed in the horse, as I did, and I think from what I see, he has an amazing relationship with JP. I think JP is a very private man, there’s a lot of trust there with Paul and I said this would be private between us if we do a deal.
“One of the things I asked Paul to speak to JP about was that Dan would carry on training and that Harry would carry on riding. JP, as a gentleman, said that wouldn’t be a problem moving forward.
“Without Paul Byrne, the deal wouldn’t have happened. I wasn’t really interested in going to the sales and I like the way it’s happened.”
Harry is excited for what the future holds for The New Lion, admitting that the Turners is the most likely race for him at Cheltenham in March.
He said in his Star Sports blog: "We’re delighted that we’re going to keep him in the yard after Darren’s [Yates] decision to sell him.
"We’re very much looking forward to his future and hopefully he is lucky for JP [McManus].
"He did everything that we hoped he would do at Newbury. We could never have dreamed he would do it as impressively as he did but myself and Dan always believed in him and we always thought he had the makings of a Grade 1 horse, so it was great to realise that belief in the Challow.
"He’ll head to Cheltenham now and he’ll probably have entries in both the Supreme and the Turners, with stepping up to three miles for the Albert Bartlett less likely. We’ll see what suits him best, but it looks like the 2m5f race is his most likely destination at this stage."
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