Horse Racing - Cheltenham Festival - Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Britain - March 14, 2024 Owners John Hales and Alex Ferguson, trainer Dan Skelton and jockey Harry Skelton celebrate with Protektorat after winning the 14:50 Ryanair Chase Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
CHELTENHAM, England (Reuters) - Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson celebrated his first Cheltenham Festival winner as a co-owner on Thursday and then completed a double 40 minutes later before old rival Harry Redknapp denied him the treble.
The Scot was in the winners' enclosure after Monmiral, a 25-1 shot ridden by Harry Cobden and trained by Paul Nicholls, chased down Kyntara to win the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle.
"Well that was fantastic... It’s my first winner here, John (Hales, co-owner) is the master, he chooses the horses and we back him all the way," he told ITV Racing.
Protektorat, at 17-2, then beat favourite Envoi Allen and jockey Rachael Blackmore to win the Ryanair Chase on day three of the Festival that culminates with the Gold Cup on Friday.
"I've waited 20 years and now had two winners in 40 minutes," said Ferguson.
The 82-year-old was joined at the Prestbury Park racecourse by former United captain Bryan Robson and ex-Premier League manager Sam Allardyce, who celebrated the win together.
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Redknapp then watched his horse Shakem Up'Arry -- named after the regular shout of a fan behind the West Ham dugout when he was boss there -- beat Ferguson's Il Ridoto in the Plate Handicap Chase.
"My nan got me into racing, she was a bookies runner back in the day," Redknapp told ITV Racing.
"She'd get locked up in Poplar Police Station in the East End of London, because it was illegal in those days. I love the horses, I love the Festival, I love the people. It means so much."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Toby Davis)
