Dan Skelton pays tribute to ‘great man’ John Hales

Dan Skelton hailed John Hales as “a great man for our sport and all horse sports” after the leading owner died at the age of 85.

Hales has seen several top-class National Hunt performers carry his colours over the past 40 years, from the popular grey One Man in the mid-1990s to the 2012 Grand National hero Neptune Collonges.

In more recent years, he has shared his ownership interests with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Peter Done and Ged Mason and less than two weeks ago was at Windsor to see the Skelton-trained Protektorat claim big-race honours in the Fleur De Lys Chase.

The same horse won last year’s Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in the Hales silks and having known the owner since his days as assistant to Paul Nicholls, the Alcester handler has memories he will cherish for a lifetime.

“He was a top, top man and it’s a very, very sad day,” he told the PA news agency.

“The Hales family have been unbelievable supporters of all horse sports – his contribution to showjumping shouldn’t ever be underestimated either.

“He was one of the first supporters out of the blocks for me when I started my career and he’s always supported Harry (Skelton) and my father (Nick Skelton) and Bridget (Andrews).

“He’s had all those great horses, but he’s got those great horses because people have wanted to do so well for him. He inspired people to do well and trusted people.

“Anthony Bromley bought the majority of horses and with the exception of One Man, myself and Paul have had lots of good horses for him and he trusts people to do their job.”

Reflecting on Protektorat’s success on the Berkshire Winter Million Weekend in mid-January, Skelton added: “John was there that day. He hasn’t been very well and it’s been a bit up and down for him recently, but he looked great at Windsor and we had an absolutely fantastic day.

“I wasn’t at Cheltenham last weekend but he was there with Paul, so right to the end he was there and hopefully enjoyed every moment.

“He was a great man for our sport and all horse sports. He will never be forgotten.”

Hales made his money through the Golden Bear Toys company he co-founded in 1979, which went on to produce products from major children’s shows such as Teletubbies, Basil Brush, Thomas the Tank Engine and In The Night Garden.

His first great equine star was One Man, whose big-race CV included the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury, two King George VI Chases and two Charlie Hall Chases.

Perhaps his biggest day came at the 1998 Cheltenham Festival, though, when after twice coming up short in the Gold Cup, he reduced Hales to tears by successfully dropping back in trip to lift the Queen Mother Champion Chase – one of three wins in the race for Hales along with Azertyuiop (2004) and Politologue (2020).

One Man was trained by the late Gordon Richards and his son Nicky has fond recollections of what was a brilliant time at his Greystoke yard in Cumbria.

Richards said: “It’s sad news. John was a good man who knew how to lose and knew how to win. He was a nice man and I’d never say anything bad about him.

“He’d had great success with the Teletubbies and all that and he decided he was going to get into racing. Father was introduced to him and recommended One Man to him, I think they went together and bought him at Arthur Stephenson’s sale and I suppose the rest is history.

“One Man was a proper, proper horse, wasn’t he? You don’t drop on them every day. He was a brilliant horse for everybody and it was great to have him up here.

“What the grey horse did was absolutely brilliant, for John and all his family and everybody at Greystoke.”

The majority of Hales’ best horses have been trained by 14-times champion Nicholls, with Azertyuiop, Politologue and Neptune Collonges joined by the likes of Noland, Al Ferof and Unioniste as the winners of major prizes.

Nicholls broke the news of the owner’s death on X, posting: “It is with great sadness to report that John Hales passed away last evening. A great man and a fantastic owner and friend for many people. Thoughts with his wife Pat and his wonderful family. He will be missed by so many in racing. RIP John.”

Daryl Jacob only rode Neptune Collonges once throughout his whole career but they combined to win the biggest race of them all.

He said: “First and foremost, John was a great horseman, he had a great eye for a horse and he was a real gentleman who loved his horses.

“I’ll always remember when I went into the paddock to ride Neptune, he said to me if the horse wasn’t enjoying it to pull him up straight away and that immediately took a lot of pressure off me.

“They are an incredible family, they had success in showjumping also, they love their horses and he will be a sad loss to racing.

“He gave me the opportunity to have the greatest day of my career in the Grand National and I’ll never forget that. It was a great day, I remember coming back in and giving him a high five, the smile he had that day I will never forget.

“When I retired, I got the most beautiful handwritten letter off him congratulating me on a wonderful career.

“It’s a huge shock having seen how much he enjoyed Protektorat winning at Windsor the other day. When you saw him at Cheltenham cheering them home with Sir Alex and Ged (Mason), you realise how much racing meant to them.”