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Billionaire businessmen hit the headlines over sale of Barne Estate that ended up in High Court
Legal conflicts between Maurice Regan and John Magnier have played out publicly. Photographs: Sam Boal/Collins The Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges memorably characterised the Falklands War as two bald men fighting over a comb.
From the cheap seats, it increasingly looks like the conflict betweenIt’s undoubtedly fascinating, maybe because it’s reassuring. Remove the wealth and the heart of it all seems to be that same primal urge at the centre of neighbours squabbling over a fence, or a stray “what are you looking at” in the pub. Like all peeing contests, it has taken on a momentum of its own, with no one backing down.
It’s hard not to suspect, though, that Magnier must wish he could turn the clock back. He has long been racing’s inscrutable Buddha. Rarely seen and even more rarely heard, the Coolmore supremo’s Trappist attitude to personal publicity simply made him even more of a figure of popular fascination. There’s hardly been a development in Irish racing for 50 years that hasn’t at least partly been credited to Magnier’s controlling hand.
His acumen became mythical.to the High Court, Magnier’s slip isn’t so much showing as flashing to the world in a voyeuristic can-can. Little details that emerged must have had him squirming, such as his son turning up with €50,000 in cash as a “showing of appreciation”. That it was in brown envelopes only confirmed every Irish business stereotype. Why is the State’s national equestrian sports body in financial trouble and what will happen to it?.
Irish business’s own Logan Roy figure was found to have lied in evidence. For someone used to colossal contracts, it seemed remarkable he went to court on a handshake deal. There didn’t appear to be anyone to urge caution, warning about what might come out in the courtroom wash. Maybe that’s inevitable with stupendous power and wealth, but it looked anything but sure-footed.
No doubt to Magnier’s dismay, that humiliation didn’t make the matter go away. Regan appeared to enjoy the High Court proceedings and shows no inclination to put a halt to the grudge match. He has lodged a High Court action against Magnier and Coolmore alleging breaches of competition law and the man who’d previously seemed happy with a low profile granted the Sunday Independent a 15,000-word interview over two weekends last month.
Barne Estate, Co Tipperary, was at the centre of last year's High Court case involving John Magnier and Maurice Regan. Photograph: Savills catalogue That it verged on the hagiographic was perhaps an inevitable result of the ‘get’.
Nevertheless, in parts it was impressively indiscreet. Regan was keen to present himself as the little guy sticking it to the Man. He gave himself altruistic motives for taking on the most powerful figure in world bloodstock, none of which could quite contradict suspicions that he’s simply relishing his rival’s frustration at being front and centre in so many headlines. The dominant player in any sector is almost automatically sure of as much resentment as fawning admiration.
Coolmore is the Real Madrid of the bloodstock world. On its own patch in Ireland, nothing happens without its position and interests being at the forefront of every decision. Magnier being taken on by a relative unknown is a novelty that has transfixed national attention in what some seem determined to paint as racing’s own weird morality tale. But just how ‘little guy’ can Regan be?
He seems keen to highlight supposedly unpromising beginnings, which is a regular ploy in the PR game. Even Magnier has used it, pointing out years ago how he’d left school at 15 to milk cows after his father died. But the school was the expensively private Glenstal Abbey, and his family was Munster racing aristocracy. Regan’s college experience in the 1980s was hardly unusual for anyone of the same vintage.
It stretches credulity to try to present himself as some Robin Hood-type figure sticking it to the sheriff of Tipperary. By popular repute, the softest part of Magnier is his teeth. But no ingenue gets to the top of theconstruction business. Regan is too unimaginably wealthy for 99 per cent of the world to comprehend.
It’s the kind of money that allows him to indulge in payback for slights of all kinds. Originally, it seems he wasn’t impressed by Magnier or his purchasing style.
However, ‘ruthless billionaire behaves ruthlessly’ is hardly a headline. It’s no surprise, either, that rich, powerful people flex their financial muscle for their own benefit. Waiting for some kind of egalitarian business perfection usually means waiting forever. Someone who’s so successfully navigated corporate New York can’t be under any such illusions.
Regan’s upcoming competition action – because Coolmore won’t let him use their stallions – looks a long shot. The idea that Magnier has some obligation to carry on business as usual with Regan’s Newtown Anner operation looks as substantial as claims about Coolmore horses getting preferential treatment at the start of races. Perfection is no more present behind starting stalls as anywhere else, although it’s a leap to suggest the system is rigged.
If the real point is the generation of headlines, then it’s working, all of which is great for rubberneckers and content providers alike. Unmasking the Magnier mystique makes for diverting copy. But trying to spin it into some allegorical angle is surely a stretch. You don’t have to be rich to recognise that if it walks and talks like a glorified peeing contest, then it probably is one.
In the circumstances, the prize-giving after Saturday’s Group Three Newtonanner Stud Stakes might be interesting should Aidan O’Brien’s emerge victorious. The regally bred filly looks the one to beat too having won her maiden at Leopardstown eight days ago. could go one better than last year when beaten a short head. Gerry Keane’s runner is 7lbs lower in the ratings now and has Nicola Burns’s 5lb claim at the foot of the weights.
Recent form must be forgiven but there might be a big effort in the outsider. Jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle ‘expected to make full recovery’ after being brought to hospitalMOST READKillarney sees ‘worst flooding in a lifetime’ with orange rain warning issued for DublinScramble to find new wedding venues as luxury hotel closes after norovirus outbreakCost of college: How much can you expect to pay for third-level education in Ireland?
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