John Hales: tributes, his hero horses and happy memories

Leading racehorse owner John Hales has died at the age of 85.

Hales, who made his money through the Golden Bear Toys company he co-founded in 1979, which went on to produce products from major children’s shows such as Teletubbies, Basil Brush, Thomas the Tank Engine and In The Night Garden, owned some champions of the turf.

Perhaps the best of them all was one of his first, the grey One Man, trained by the late Gordon Richards.

He won two King George VI Chases and reduced Hales to tears when, after several failures in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham, he dropped in trip to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1998.

Hales also won the Grand National with Neptune Collonges and secured further Champion Chase triumphs through Azertyuiop and Politologue.

He spoke with warmth and fondness about the victory of Neptune Collonges at Aintree in an edition of Racing TV's This Racing Life only this month, which you can watch above.

Hales and his family retired the 11-year-old grey on the sport after that success.

In recent years, Hales has shared his ownership interests with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Peter Done and Ged Mason, recently paying €740,000 between them for Caldwell Potter.

He is in training with Paul Nicholls and it was the former champion trainer who broke the news on social media that Hales had died.

Nicholls posted on X: “It is with great sadness to report that John Hales passed away last evening. A great man and a fantastic owner and friend for many people. Thoughts with his wife Pat and his wonderful family. He will be missed by so many in racing. RIP John.”

The multiple champion feels it would be a fitting tribute to Hales should Kalif Du Berlais win the Virgin Bet Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown on Saturday.

The pair enjoyed a fruitful partnership over the best part of 25 years, starting with Arkle and Champion Chase winner Azertyuiop, through the likes of Noland, Al Ferof and Politologue.

In recent years, Hales has owned many of his horses in a partnership which includes former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Ged Mason, with their three sets of silks alternating.

Kalif Du Berlais was supposed to be running in Ferguson’s red and white colours this weekend, but he will now sport Hales’ famous yellow and red.

Nicholls told the PA news agency: “I suggested to all the guys this morning that it would be a nice thing to do if he ran in John’s silks and they were all 100 per cent behind it, so that’s what we’ve done.

“It would be nice if Kalif could do the business. He’s a really smart horse and I’m sure John will be watching.

“There was never any doubt about him not running. Lisa (Hales’ daughter) said it’s what he would have wanted.

“So, he’s going to run, he’ll be in John’s colours and if he can win it would be fantastic, but John really has been a wonderful man.

“I wouldn’t be where I am now without him, he really helped me along the way and he was a great man.”

After enjoying initial success with Gordon and Nicky Richards, Hales teamed up with Nicholls and the pair recruited Azertyuiop, who would end up as part of a triumvirate of top-class two-mile chasers along with Well Chief and Moscow Flyer in a golden era.

“He started off with horses with Gordon and Nicky Richards and then he came down to us and we’ve had horses for him for about 25 years now. He was a fantastic man and a fantastic friend,” said Nicholls.

“Azertyuiop was the first good horse I had for him and I think I might have only had one other before him, but Anthony Bromley bought him Azertyuiop and obviously we had great success with him.

“John had showjumpers with his family and they were very successful at that, then one of the very first (race)horses he had was One Man, incredibly, which gave him the bug and then his family caught it too, especially Lisa, his daughter. She was heavily involved with the horses and looked after them all in the summer.

“He would never have had lots in training, maybe half a dozen a year. I actually think he’s got more this season than he’s ever had, split between myself and Dan (Skelton), but he’s had some amazingly good ones.”

A Grand National victory is the dream for many in National Hunt racing and it was no different for Nicholls and Hales, and together they achieved it with the help of Daryl Jacob and an 11-year-old grey.

“Of course, we’ll never forget that day at Aintree with Neptune Collonges. I don’t think we’d have ever topped that, just given the circumstances, the close finish (a nose) and with it being his last run,” said Nicholls.

“Neptune was very unlucky to be around in the same era as Kauto (Star) and Denman, otherwise he might have won a Gold Cup himself, but John enjoyed his trips to Ireland and he won a few big races over there for him at Leopardstown and Punchestown. He was a wonderful horse.

“We had a party at a hotel after the National and the next morning John was up and came to the village with us to parade Neptune. I think it was probably one of the proudest days of his life. He shared it all with his family and all of us.

“We had some wonderful memories together and we’ll remember him fondly.

“When you think about the likes of Al Ferof, Noland, Politologue, they were all very, very good horses – he put a lot into it, so he deserved his success.”

Dan Skelton hailed Hales as “a great man for our sport and all horse sports”.

“He was a top, top man and it’s a very, very sad day,” he told the PA news agency.

“The Hales family have been unbelievable supporters of all horse sports – his contribution to showjumping shouldn’t ever be underestimated either.

“He was one of the first supporters out of the blocks for me when I started my career and he’s always supported Harry (Skelton) and my father (Nick Skelton) and Bridget (Andrews).

“He’s had all those great horses, but he’s got those great horses because people have wanted to do so well for him. He inspired people to do well and trusted people.

“Anthony Bromley bought the majority of horses and with the exception of One Man, myself and Paul have had lots of good horses for him and he trusts people to do their job.”

Reflecting on Protektorat’s success on the Berkshire Winter Million Weekend in mid-January, Skelton added: “John was there that day. He hasn’t been very well and it’s been a bit up and down for him recently, but he looked great at Windsor and we had an absolutely fantastic day.

“I wasn’t at Cheltenham last weekend but he was there with Paul, so right to the end he was there and hopefully enjoyed every moment.

“He was a great man for our sport and all horse sports. He will never be forgotten.”

His first great equine star was One Man, whose big-race CV included the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, two King George VI Chases and two Charlie Hall Chases.

Perhaps his biggest day came at the 1998 Cheltenham Festival, though, when after twice coming up short in the Gold Cup, he reduced Hales to tears by successfully dropping back in trip to lift the Queen Mother Champion Chase – one of three wins in the race for Hales along with Azertyuiop (2004) and Politologue (2020).

One Man was trained by the late Gordon Richards and his son Nicky has fond recollections of what was a brilliant time at his Greystoke yard in Cumbria.

Richards said: “It’s sad news. John was a good man who knew how to lose and knew how to win. He was a nice man and I’d never say anything bad about him.

“He’d had great success with the Teletubbies and all that and he decided he was going to get into racing. Father was introduced to him and recommended One Man to him, I think they went together and bought him at Arthur Stephenson’s sale and I suppose the rest is history.

“One Man was a proper, proper horse, wasn’t he? You don’t drop on them every day. He was a brilliant horse for everybody and it was great to have him up here.

“What the grey horse did was absolutely brilliant, for John and all his family and everybody at Greystoke.”

The majority of Hales’ best horses have been trained by 14-times champion Nicholls, with Azertyuiop, Politologue and Neptune Collonges joined by the likes of Noland, Al Ferof and Unioniste as the winners of major prizes.

Nicholls broke the news of the owner’s death on X, posting: “It is with great sadness to report that John Hales passed away last evening. A great man and a fantastic owner and friend for many people. Thoughts with his wife Pat and his wonderful family. He will be missed by so many in racing. RIP John.”

Daryl Jacob only rode Neptune Collonges once throughout his whole career but they combined to win the biggest race of them all.

He said: “First and foremost, John was a great horseman, he had a great eye for a horse and he was a real gentleman who loved his horses.

“I’ll always remember when I went into the paddock to ride Neptune, he said to me if the horse wasn’t enjoying it to pull him up straight away and that immediately took a lot of pressure off me.

“They are an incredible family, they had success in showjumping also, they love their horses and he will be a sad loss to racing.

“He gave me the opportunity to have the greatest day of my career in the Grand National and I’ll never forget that. It was a great day, I remember coming back in and giving him a high five, the smile he had that day I will never forget.

“When I retired, I got the most beautiful handwritten letter off him congratulating me on a wonderful career.

“It’s a huge shock having seen how much he enjoyed Protektorat winning at Windsor the other day. When you saw him at Cheltenham cheering them home with Sir Alex and Ged (Mason), you realise how much racing meant to them.”

One Man was among the first racehorses the Hales family became involved with and while that may have been seen as amazing good fortune, he also provided them with the whole gamut of emotions that racing can put you through. Having won his first five novice chases, he was sent off favourite for the old Sun Alliance Chase in 1994 but was beaten by the third last and trailed home in ninth. He won the Hennessy the following season off a low mark but was a faller in the King George when favourite and that finished his season. The following campaign saw the King George run at Sandown and he won his first Grade One in style. But Cheltenham proved his stumbling block once more, failing to get up the hill in the Gold Cup. He won the King George at its rightful home of Kempton the following season but again fell short in the Gold Cup and many felt he was destined not to win at the Festival. That was until he had just his second ever run over two miles in the 1998 Champion Chase when, under late substitute Brian Harding, he dominated in winning by four lengths. Sadly, One Man suffered a fatal fall in his next run at Aintree.

Neptune Collonges looked to face a stiff task under a big weight on ground that was quicker than ideal as he enjoyed his career swansong in the 2012 Grand National. Ridden by Daryl Jacob for the very first time in his lengthy career, Neptune Collonges worked his way into the history books by beating Sunnyhillboy by a nose, not surprisingly the shortest winning distance in the race’s long history. While everybody in racing dreams of a National win, Neptune Collonges was far from a one-race horse. Despite being around in the era of illustrious stablemates Kauto Star and Denman, he managed to win a Punchestown Gold Cup and an Irish Hennessy too. Since his retirement, Neptune Collonges has made a number of star turns at Grand National promotional events and is a regular visitor to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital ahead of the big race.

It should have been no surprise to anyone that Politologue went on to achieve what he did given he ran in a Grade One on just his second outing for Nicholls in the Challow Hurdle. Fences were always going to bring out the best in him, though. He was a Grade Two winner as a novice but the following year he had the misfortunate of having to take on Altior, who was unbeatable at the time. He did top Min in the Melling Chase at Aintree, though. In 2019, he gave Altior a huge scare in the Champion Chase but the following year, with his great rival a late absentee, he was best placed to take advantage of a lacklustre run from odds-on favourite Defi Du Seuil, making all the running. He added the Tingle Creek the following season.

When Azertyuiop first joined Nicholls, the discussion mainly concentrated on his eyecatching name but he ensured that did not last long. He won the Kingwell Hurdle on his debut for the yard, beating a previous Champion Hurdler in Hors La Loi III, but it was over fences he came into his own. Unbeaten in his novice season when he won the Arkle by 11 lengths, talk soon turned to the challenge of taking on Moscow Flyer and Well Chief, the standard setters in the two-mile division. Moscow Flyer famously came out on top at Sandown in a thrilling Tingle Creek but when Jessica Harrington’s defending champion unseated four from home in the Queen Mother, Azertyuiop took full advantage. He went on to have further battles in what was a golden era of two-milers but he also ran a huge race in the 2004 King George when beaten less than four lengths by Kicking King.

Protektorat, owned in a partnership with former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson among others, will be remembered for providing Hales with his last major winner. However, he had already achieved plenty before that victory at Windsor in the Fleur De Lys Chase. He won a Grade One at Aintree as a novice, returned to Merseyside to win the now defunct Many Clouds Chase and also landed the Betfair Chase in 2022. Perhaps his best performance, though, came last March when he powered up the hill to beat Envoi Allen in the Ryanair Chase to seal a famous double for his owners, as just 40 minutes earlier they had won the Pertemps Final with Monmiral.