Point Blank – JP McManus: The Last Great Racing Man
A Racing Man to His Core – But Never a Fair One
JP McManus isn’t just a racehorse owner. He is racing. The green and gold silks aren’t just a set of colours; they are an institution. For decades, he has been at the heart of the sport—controlling markets, shaping races, and playing a game nobody else was even qualified to enter.
But something has changed. The patience that defined his greatest coups is gone. His operation isn’t moving like it once did. The money still flows, the horses are still there, but the long-term plotting—the careful, ruthless strategy—is fading.
And it’s not a coincidence.
The Shift: A Legacy in Motion
For years, JP’s greatest weapon was time. Horses were campaigned with an almost surgical level of patience. Marks were protected, targets were set months—sometimes years—in advance, and when the day came, the market knew it. The best bets in racing weren’t whispers from tipsters; they were the ones where McManus had quietly loaded up.
That’s different now. There’s less waiting, more going for races on the day. The operation is moving with urgency—not the usual measured patience that made his betting coups legendary.
In racing, nothing changes by accident. Those watching closely can see the shift. The game he dominated for decades is no longer being played with the same steady hand.
The Glackin Report: A Window Into a Different Kind of Power
The Glackin Report wasn’t about racing. It wasn’t about stopping horses or market manipulation. It was about money. And when it comes to JP McManus, money is the real story—because it’s what made him untouchable in the first place.
In 2001, Irish tax authorities commissioned the Glackin Report to examine the offshore financial networks used by McManus and others to shield their wealth from domestic tax laws. It painted a picture of a man whose fortune didn’t just come from racing but from a level of financial maneuvering that made him impossible to pin down.
Swiss accounts, Luxembourg structures, Giltspur Scientific Holdings—McManus was playing a bigger game than just horses.
He wasn’t just skirting tax laws—he was engineering a financial empire designed to keep his fortune out of reach.
The report didn’t lead to any charges, because how could it? McManus was always a step ahead.
If you understand how he handled his money, you understand why he was so powerful in racing.
Because the real story of JP McManus isn’t just the green and gold silks, the Cheltenham winners, or the perfectly-timed gambles. It’s that he built an empire so strong that even when the government investigated him, he walked away untouched.
The Glackin Report wasn’t a reckoning. It was proof that he couldn’t be reckoned with.
The Gambler, Not the Bookmaker
JP McManus wasn’t a great bookmaker. He didn’t make his fortune by taking bets—he made it by placing them when he already knew the result. His edge wasn’t in running a book, it was in making sure he was only betting when he couldn’t lose.
He didn’t gamble against racing—he dictated it.
He didn’t need to balance a book—he made sure the book was already beaten before the bets were struck.
He didn’t take chances—he created certainties.
His fortune wasn’t built on risk. It was built on certainty. And that’s why the game will never see another operator like him.
The Next Generation – A Hollow Legacy
When the day comes that JP steps back fully, the McManus racing empire will still exist—but it won’t be the same.
His sons aren’t up to it. They don’t have the mind, the instincts, or the gambler’s edge to keep it running. They will inherit the horses, the money, and the influence—but not the ability.
McManus didn’t just spend money—he knew how to spend it. The next generation doesn’t. Without JP, the operation will become just another set of colours. The winners will dry up, the market moves will lose their weight, and the green and gold will fade into just another ownership group.
Racing Without JP – The End of an Era
JP McManus is still here. But the operation isn’t what it was. The last big plays are being made, and when they stop, racing will never see another man like him again.
There was a time when nothing happened in Irish racing without JP knowing about it first. Now, decisions are being made that don’t bear his fingerprints. The mind that built an empire, that stayed ten steps ahead of the sport, is no longer dictating every move.
The tributes will come one day, but let’s not rewrite history. He played the game dirty. He bent the sport to his will. He got away with it all because he was too powerful to stop.
Racing will miss the man, but not the operation. Without JP, the green and gold will just be another set of colours.