Monbeg Genius, owned by Doug Barrowman and Michelle Mone, was withdrawn from the race at the final announcement stage on Tuesday, ahead of next month’s Grand National. The prospect of an unwelcome sideshow was over.
Monbeg Genius was reportedly bought by Mone in November 2020 for £80,000 as a second wedding gift to her husband and is officially owned by Barrowman Racing Ltd. The couple have been under intense media scrutiny and most recently by the National Crime Agency (NCA) over their links to PPE Medpro. The company was awarded government contracts worth £202m during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the government has launched proceedings to recover £122m plus costs after some equipment was said to be below expected standards.
The couple have strongly denied any wrongdoing, with Barrowman saying: “Michelle and I were hung out to dry to divert attention from the government’s incompetence in handling the procurement of personal protective equipment.” [a] Period of national emergency. “
Monbeg Genius was one of the favorites for the National when the weight class was announced in February and he performed well for Aintree in the Coral Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury in early December, finishing 10 lengths third name. However, he struggled in his subsequent two starts at Kelso and earlier this month at the Cheltenham Festival, with his record hovering around 40-1 before being eliminated on Tuesday morning.
The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is investigating Monbeg Genius’s eligibility ahead of his race at Kelso on March 2 after it was revealed that Barrowmans £75m of assets have been “frozen or restricted” by the Crown in a court order obtained by the prosecution. However, it was later confirmed that the eight-year-old gelding was not among the assets listed in the court order.
Tuesday’s “abandonment” phase is the final phase before the five-day nationals are announced on April 8. Monbeg Genius was one of 17 horses withdrawn from the race, along with Hewick, winner of the King George Stakes at Kempton on Boxing Day and an original heavyweight.
This year’s national competition will be held on April 13, and the upper limit of participants will be limited to 34 horses from the previous 40 for the first time. Only six of the horses currently guaranteed to compete are trained in the UK, with top Irish trainer Willie Mullins training in the UK. and Gordon Elliott each have 10 entries in the top 34.
Last year’s successful Corach Rambler went 5-1 to give Lucinda Russell her third national title in the last seven starts.
