John Patrick McManus (born 10 March 1951) is an Irish businessman and racehorse owner. His career lasted from the 1980s to the 2010s. He was one of the biggest shareholders of

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, until his stake was bought out by Malcolm Glazer in 2005.

Early life

McManus was born in

Limerick, Ireland Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 c ...

, on 10 March 1951. He began his career at a

plant hire Equipment rental, also called plant hire in some countries (in the UK for instance), is a service industry providing machinery, equipment and tools of all kinds and sizes (from earthmoving to powered access, from power generation to hand-held ...

firm.

Racehorse ownership

His first horse was

Cill Dara Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

, named after

the county ''The County'' ( is, Héraðið) is a 2019 Icelandic Melodrama#Film, melodrama directed by Grímur Hákonarson. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Cast * Arndís Hrönn Egi ...

in Ireland. McManus's first Cheltenham Festival winner was a horse called Mister Donovan in 1982. Former champion jockey

Jonjo O'Neill John Joseph "Jonjo" O'Neill (born 13 April 1952) is an Irish National Hunt racehorse trainer and former jockey. He is a native of Castletownroche, County Cork in Ireland. Based at the Jackdaws Castle training establishment in England. O'Neill ...

trains some of his horses at the Jackdaws Castle facility, which McManus owns. McManus's horse

Don't Push It Don't Push It is a Grand National-winning thoroughbred racehorse in England. Debut Don't Push It began his career on 5 December 2004 at Warwick in a National Hunt flat race, finishing third. 2005–06 season His first full season began at ...

, ridden by McCoy and trained by O'Neill, won the 2010

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

Steeplechase. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

McManus won the Grand National for a second time with his horse

Minella Times Minella Times (foaled 4 March 2013) is a retired Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. In 2021, he won the Grand National under Rachael Blackmore, becoming the first horse ridden by a female jockey to win the ...

, ridden by

Rachael Blackmore Rachael Blackmore (born 11 July 1989) is an Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. In 2021, she became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in the 182-year history of the race. She also became the first woman to be lea ...

and trained by

Henry De Bromhead Henry de Bromhead (born 28 October 1972) is an Irish horse trainer who specialises in training horses for National Hunt racing. He has trained a number of Grade 1 winners including Sizing John and Honeysuckle, and is based at stables in Knockeen, ...

2010s awards

In 2012, McManus's horse Synchronised won the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

. Synchronised went on to run in the 2012

John Smiths John Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, produces beers including John Smith's, the highest selling bitter in the United Kingdom since the mid-1990s. The majority of John Smith's sales are of the nitrogenated Extra Smooth p ...

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

with champion jockey

Tony McCoy Sir Anthony Peter McCoy (born 4 May 1974), commonly known as AP McCoy or Tony McCoy, is a Northern Irish former National Hunt horse racing jockey. Based in Ireland and the UK, McCoy rode a record 4,358 winners, and was Champion Jockey a reco ...

on 14 April 2012. Synchronised threw McCoy on the way to the starting area; after being caught and veterinary checks were performed, Synchronised was re-entered. However, he fell at

Becher's Brook Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four other occasions du ...

and sadly broke two legs and had to be put down. McManus had his 50th Cheltenham festival winner when Buveur d'Air won the 2017 Champion Hurdle.

Personal life

McManus is married to Noreen McManus, and has three children and four grandchildren. In 2006, he built a €20 million residence next to Martinstown Stud. In 2013, he completed a €150 million home in Barbados. McManus has been known for donating multiple times. In July 2012, McManus donated over €1 million to the Daughters of Charity foundation. In 2020, he donated equipment to the University Hospital, Dooradoyle, during the 2019–22 Coronavirus pandemic. In 2012, McManus won $17.4 million gambling in the United States, of which $5.2 million was retained as

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

by the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

(IRS). In 2016, ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' reported that he was seeking a refund of the tax on the basis of the United States'

double taxation treaty A tax treaty, also called double tax agreement (DTA) or double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA), is an agreement between two countries to avoid or mitigate double taxation. Such treaties may cover a range of taxes including income taxes, inheritance ...

with Ireland; the IRS stated that McManus was a self-confessed tax exile out of Ireland and therefore – despite McManus's sworn affidavits to the contrary – not a

legal resident Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one ...

of Ireland in 2012. In July 2022, the sixth JP McManus Pro-Am golf tournament was held at

Adare Manor Adare Manor is a manor house located on the banks of the River Maigue in the village of Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, the former seat of the Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. The present house was built in the early 19th century, though reta ...

, the first since 2010.

Health

McManus was diagnosed with cancer in late 2008 and after receiving treatment in the United States, he was said to have recovered well.

Glackin Report

In 1991, an Irish company law inspector, solicitor John Glackin, was appointed by the Irish Government to investigate complicated dealings involving

Dermot Desmond Dermot Desmond (born 14 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and financier. He is estimated to be worth €2.04 billion and is ranked by the ''Sunday Independent'' as the ninth-richest person in Ireland. Early life and education Desmond was b ...

and the purchase and sale of the former Johnston Mooney and O'Brien site in

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the city. Th ...

, Dublin, to

Telecom Éireann Telecom Éireann (; meaning "Telecommunications of Ireland") was an Irish state-owned telecommunications company that operated from 1983 to 1999. Prior to then a telephone and postal service was provided by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs ...

. While Desmond represented himself as an intermediary in the sale, Glackin's report said Desmond, businessman JP McManus and

John Magnier John Magnier (born 10 February 1948; also known as "The Boss") is an Irish business magnate. He is Ireland's leading thoroughbred stud owner and has extensive business interests outside the horse-breeding industry. Magnier has also been a Senat ...

were beneficiaries of the sale. Desmond strenuously disputed Glackin's findings. According to the Glackin Report, Hoddle Investments (the vehicle through which the deal was handled) executed two contracts with Telecom Éireann for the sale of the Johnston Mooney & O'Brien site for an aggregate price of £9.4 million, on 7 May 1990. Glackin concluded that McManus had lent £1.5 million to Chestvale to purchase the site from the liquidator in August 1989. McManus made the investment through an AIB account in Jersey in the name of J&N McMahon. Whether this account was to the benefit of John and Noreen McManus was not confirmed as AIB refused to break client confidentiality. The report concluded that McManus was a beneficiary of the sale of the site to Telecom Éireann, and received £500,000 in cash from the transaction, which Dermot Desmond had stored in a tennis holdall in his safe. At paragraph 5.4.4 of the report, Glackin concludes that: No criminal charges were made against McManus or the other principals involved resulting from the findings of the Glackin Report.

References

External links

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Not So ‘Sporting’ Limerick?
{{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, J. P. Irish racehorse owners and breeders Irish gamblers Irish philanthropists Irish expatriates in Switzerland Manchester United F.C. directors and chairmen 1951 births 20th-century Irish businesspeople 21st-century Irish businesspeople Living people People from Limerick (city) Irish businesspeople