How John Magnier Transformed Horse Racing and Built an Empire Born on February 10th 1948, 77-year-old John Magnier is an Irish business magnate with extensive interests inside and outside of the horse racing industry. Magnier was born in Fermoy, County Cork and is the eldest son of Thomas Magnier. He eventually moved to County Tipperary and helped to transform Coolmore Stud into the multi-billion pound operation it is today. A fully international company nowadays, they have stud operations in the US and Australia, as well as the main operation in Ireland. Magnier once owned a 28.9 per cent share in Manchester United, before selling to the football club’s current owner Malcom Glazer in 2005. There was also a high-profile fallout with manager Alex Ferguson over bloodstock rights for Rock Of Gibraltar. The Irishman also had a go at politics and became a senator in the Irish parliament for over two years between April 1987 and November 1989 and he has a substantial property portfolio. Notable horses The Coolmore team took the wise decision to focus on the Northern Dancer bloodline and Saddler’s Wells was a major coup for them. He went on to win the Irish 2000 Guineas and the Eclipse, but we wouldn’t see his full impact until starting his second career as a stallion. Galileo is a similar case but he’s more widely considered as an exceptional racehorse, winning the Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Stakes. Defeats in the Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup followed, but his genuineness is a trait for which his progeny are well known for. City Of Troy is one of Coolmore’s more recent successes and there is huge excitement about what he can go on to achieve at stud. He was an impressive winner of the Derby in 2024 and he also went on to win the Eclipse and the Juddmonte International. Magnier’s horses run under his wife’s name and they hold the record for Epsom Derby wins with 12, as well 10 Oaks victories, 11 2000 Guineas successes and eight in the 1000 Guineas. The Irish equivalents have also been good to them, with 48 successes across the four races. Did you know? Magnier’s wife Susan is the daughter of the great Vincent O’Brien, who handled the likes of El Gran Senor and Nijinsky. Some of the couple’s children have followed him into the racing business, with MV Magnier becoming a key figure within the Coolmore operation. A young John Magnier had to leave school at 15 in order to take care of the family estate after the death of his father. That early exposure to business clearly did him no harm, as he has had many successful ventures over the years in both horse racing and property. Coolmore’s Sadler’s Wells was champion sire in Britain and Ireland in 14 of the 15 years between 1990 and 2004 and much of their modern day success has been built from him and his son Galileo, sire of over 100 individual Group or Grade 1 winners.
