Sir Alex is king of the turf…in more ways than one.
There are few people in the sporting world more accustomed to producing winners than Sir Alex Ferguson. But, even by the Scot's immaculate standards, the year of Rock of Gibraltar will stand out as a special era in a professional career defined by success.
It's 48 hours since a sunny September afternoon in the outskirts of Paris, where Ferguson watched another shrewd investment end three decades of horseracing history, and the 60-year-old, winner of seven Premiership titles, four FA Cups and one European Cup, still has a smile as wide as Bechers Brook.
With victory in the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp, Rock of Gibraltar finally fulfilled his well-publicised potential with a Group One record which is likely to stand for another 30 years. The defeat of Banks Hill in France gave the 'Rock' a seventh consecutive win at the highest level of the sport, eclipsing by one the record set by the legendary Mill Reef in 1971.
For Ferguson, the triumph marked the pinnacle of a remarkable run since the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt first made his mark on Group One racing at Longchamp 11 months earlier.
"It was a great day," recalls the proud Manchester United manager, his training kit back on and his focus already turned away from the racecourse and back to the pursuit of more football silverware. "I've been very lucky. I've experienced a lot of highs in my career, but for me this is a new and different type of success altogether."
The story of Rock of Gibraltar is yet another tale of a gamble which paid off handsomely for Ferguson. But ironically, his interest was first aroused after watching the horse, then owned by Sue Magnier, wife of Coolmore Stud supremo John, suffer the first defeat of his career when finishing sixth behind Landseer at Ascot.
"I first saw him at the Coventry Stakes," recalls Ferguson. "I thought he would have won the race by a distance if he could have got through the field, but he didn't manage it. I was commiserating with John Magnier afterwards because he was unlucky with that one, and he said to me then that Rock of Gibraltar was going to be a great horse.
"Two days later, he phoned me up and said: 'You liked the look of that horse, would you want a half share in it?' I said yes, and the deal was done."
Sir Alex had previously been involved in the ownership of a number of horses, including his first charge Queensland Star, named after a vessel his father worked on in the shipyards by the river Clyde, and his investment in Rock of Gibraltar was never intended as anything other than a break from the strain of high-profile management.
"Nobody knew how good Rock of Gibraltar was going to be, not John Magnier, not Aidan O'Brien and not me," he admits. "Sometimes by racing horses they improve, sometimes they go backwards. But John promised he'd get me a Group One race, as he thought we would have a chance at that level.
"We'd come second to Dubai Destination in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster but we were giving him four pounds, and afterwards we discussed the difficulties of winning a Group Two race with a handicap. We decided to send it to Group One, and John and Aidan chose the Grand Criterium."
The mile race at Longchamp in October 2001 was to prove the start of the colt's gallop into the record books. A three-length victory in France was followed by a win in the Dewhurst Stakes 13 days later, when Landseer was pipped in a finish so tight that Ferguson still believes his horse lost the race.
The ability of O'Brien's Ballydoyle yard to develop Rock of Gibraltar into a high-class racehorse came as no surprise to the United manager, who shares with O'Brien the quality of being at the very top of their respective sports. "I've been fortunate to work with some terrific trainers before but Aidan is exceptional," says Ferguson.
"He's such a young man and he seems to have a vision that's beyond his years in terms of how he looks at training aspects and how he deals with his staff. We get on very well and you can see in him what I was like as a young man - concentrated, demanding of himself and committed, totally committed. He reminds me a lot of myself.
"Aidan's had an awful time recently with coughing at the yard. There was a week when Rock of Gibraltar coughed a couple of times and when I went across to see the horse I wasn't allowed to touch him, which just shows you the meticulous detail which Aidan goes into over there. You can rest assured that the one place where they'll spare nothing at all is Ballydoyle."
Prior to the season, however, Rock of Gibraltar, among the racing press at least, was not seen as the prize asset of the Irish yard. O'Brien's two-year-old Hawk Wing was highly fancied for the Vodafone Derby and the 2000 Guineas, a race which Ferguson hardly expected to be involved in as the football season neared its conclusion last May.
But another inspired decision by Magnier and O'Brien was to give both the 'Rock' and the United boss their defining moments in racing.
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