Does Sir Alex Ferguson have a horse at Cheltenham? Legendary Manchester United boss ‘loves’ horse racing and owns several top stallions

Football icon Sir Alex Ferguson is a huge horse racing fan, owning several stallions, and will be at Cheltenham Festival this week.

The Scotsman is better known for being the most successful manager in history, winning 50 trophies, including 38 with Manchester United, but he has a second love, horse racing.

Cheltenham Festival is the biggest jump racing event of the year and attracts hundreds of thousands of punters.

The festival includes 28 jump races and takes place over four days and you can follow all the action live on talkSPORT.

But are any of Sir Alex‘s horses racing this year or will the Scotsman just be watching and enjoying the action?

Does Sir Alex Ferguson have any horses at Cheltenham this year?

In the words of ex-Man United centre-back Gary Pallister, Sir Alex Ferguson ‘loves’ horse racing.

It is his second major passion behind football and he can often be seen up and down the country watching his prized possessions.

And this week will be no exception as the United legend will have THREE horses in action across the festival.

In the Cheltenham Gold Cup – the biggest and most famous race – Protektorat will look to earn Sir Alex a win.

The Gold Cup also comes with a cool £625,000 prize pot, which would be a nice bonus on top of Sir Alex’s retirement package.

Protektorat is in great form and won the Grade One Betfair Chase at Haydock in November and starts the Gold Cup at 14/1.

Ferguson also has two other horses that have contrasting chances of winning their respective races.

Hermes Allen, unbeaten in his last three, starts the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle on Wednesday as the second favourite at 11/4.

Meanwhile, Hitman is also running for the former United boss on Thursday in the Ryanair Chase.

However, this horse is much more of an outsider at 22/1.

Clan Des Obeaux would have almost certainly been involved as well but is currently recovering from a suspensory tendon injury.

So it could turn into an excellent week for Sir Alex, but even if it doesn’t, he just loves horse racing.

Speaking to Cheltenham Racing, former United striker Dwight Yorke revealed just how seriously Ferguson takes Cheltenham.

He said: “I have been to Cheltenham Festival a few times. Sir Alex Ferguson was always keen on it, though, it was about the only time you’d see him outside his comfort zone and it was something he’d get excited for.

“It’s no secret he loves the sport, he has a few horses himself, and it’s a sport close to his heart. You could tell because he always had his phone in his jacket, the phone would go off and he would go on it.”