Page 72 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

chairman, had called me one day to say, ‘You should take a day off.’
‘I’m all right,’ I replied.
But I was at the stage where Cathy was saying, ‘You’re going to kill yourself.’ At home, after
work, I would be on the phone until 9 o’clock at night and thinking about football every minute.

I bought my first horse in 1996. On our 30th anniversary we went to Cheltenham, where I first met
that fantastic man, John Mulhern, the Irish trainer, for lunch. That night I joined them in London for
dinner. Inevitably I found myself saying to Cathy in the aftermath, ‘Do you fancy buying a horse? I
think it’ll be a release for me.’
‘Where did you get that one from?’ she said. ‘Alex – the problem with you is that you’ll want to
buy every bloody horse.’
But it did open this release valve for me. Instead of stagnating in my office or burning time in

endless telephone conversations, I could switch my thoughts to the Turf. It was a welcome distraction
from the gruelling business of football – and that’s why I threw myself into it, to enable me to escape
the obsession with my job. Winning two Grade 1 races with What A Friend has been a highlight. The
Lexus Chase and the Aintree Bowl. The day before the Aintree race, we had been beaten by Bayern
Munich in the Champions League. One minute my head was on the floor. The next day I was winning a
Grade 1 race at Liverpool.

My first horse, Queensland Star, was named after a ship my dad worked on and helped to build.
Trainers have told me of owners who’ve never had a winner. I’ve had 60 or 70 and I now have
shares in around 30 horses. I’m very keen on the Highclere Syndicate: Harry Herbert, who runs it, is a
great personality and a fine salesman. You know exactly what’s happening with the horses, with
information every day.
Rock of Gibraltar was a wonderful horse; he became the first in the northern hemisphere to win
seven consecutive Group 1 races, beating Mill Reef’s record. He ran in my colours under an

agreement I had with the Coolmore racing operation in Ireland. My understanding was that I had a half
share in the ownership of the horse; theirs was that I would be entitled to half the prize money. But it
was resolved. The matter was closed when we reached a settlement agreeing that there had been a
misunderstanding on both sides.
Obviously there was a potential clash between my racing interests and the ownership of the club,
and when a man stood up at the AGM and insisted I resign there was awkwardness for me. I have to

say that at no point was I sidetracked from my duties as manager of Manchester United. I have an
excellent family lawyer in Les Dalgarno and he managed the process on my behalf. It didn’t affect my
love of racing and I am on good terms now with John Magnier, the leading figure at Coolmore.
Racing taught me to switch off, along with reading books and buying wine. That side of my life
developed really from 1997, when I hit that wall and realised I needed to do something else to divert
my thoughts from football. Learning about wine also helped in that respect. I started buying with Frank
Cohen, a big collector of contemporary art and a neighbour of mine. When Frank went abroad for a

while, I started buying on my own.
I could never call myself an expert but I’m not bad. I know the good years and the good wines. I
can taste a wine and recognise some of its properties.
My studies took me to Bordeaux and the champagne region, but generally it was through reading
that I extended my knowledge, and through conversations with dealers and experts over lunch or
dinner. It was exciting. I had dinner with wine writer and TV presenter Oz Clarke and the wine

merchant John Armit. Corney & Barrow wine bars put on great lunches. These men would hold
conversations about grapes and years that I couldn’t hope to follow, but I was always enthralled. I