Michael Tabor

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This article is about the businessman and racehorse owner. For the member of the Black Panther Party, see Michael Tabor (activist).

Michael Tabor
Born (1941-10-28) 28 October 1941 (age 82)
London, England
Occupation(s)
Keeneland Mark of Distinction
(2002)

Michael Barry Tabor (born 28 October 1941) is a

racehorse owner. As a partner in Coolmore Stud, he is one of only four racehorse owners to have won both the Epsom Derby and the Kentucky Derby
.

Tabor has extensive business interests outside of horse racing, spanning hotels, property and entertainment. Tabor regularly appears on the Sunday Times Rich List of the richest people in Britain. According to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2019 his net worth was estimated at £629 million.[1]

Early life

Michael Tabor was brought up in

East Ham Grammar School, leaving when he was 15 to get a job in the local Co-op.[3] He was nearly a hairdresser, enrolling at the Morris School of Hairdressing in Piccadilly,[2] but instead turned to bookmaking. Tabor's father had for a time been in partnership with a bookmaker at Romford Greyhound Stadium[3] and Tabor himself became interested in gambling in his teens, spending Monday and Friday afternoons at Hendon's greyhound stadium in north London and regularly attending the track at White City.[2][5]

Horseracing

Tabor's first horse was Tornado Prince, bought for £2,850 in 1973 who went on to win seven races, including a novices’ hurdle at Ascot in 1974.

He bought several more, including Royal Derbi, trained, as was Tornado Prince, by Neville Callaghan in Newmarket.[2][6][7] Royal Derbi won the Irish Champion Hurdle in 1993.

In 1994 Tabor paid more than $400,000 for the promising two-year-old thoroughbred

J.P. McManus. Demi O'Byrne, the bloodstock adviser to Magnier, advised Tabor on his purchase and Magnier bought half of Thunder Gulch to stand at stud at Coolmore's Kentucky annexe at Ashford.[2][5][6]

His great successes as an owner, however, came in association with the expert Irish horsemen connected to the

2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.[8]

Tabor became the owner and co-owner of an extraordinary catalogue of some of the world's best racehorses, generally owning the Coolmore horses in a three-way partnership with Magnier and his wife Sue, and later with Derrick Smith, who became involved in the mid-2000s.

Prince Ahmed bin Salman.[9]

Tabor made an impact in America in May 1995 when Thunder Gulch won the Kentucky Derby and with Magnier and Smith they subsequently campaigned Breeders' Cup winners Mendelssohn (2017), Highland Reel (2016), Found (2015 Turf), Hootenanny (2014 Juvenile Turf), George Vancouver (2012 Juvenile Turf), St. Nicholas Abbey (2011 Turf), Wrote (2011 Juvenile Turf) and Man of Iron (2009 Marathon), as well as such American Grade 1 winners as Adieu, Treasure Beach, Together, Turbulent Descent, Havana, Minorette and Curvy. They have also owned several other Breeders' Cup winners and Grade 1 winners in partnerships.

Tabor was the co-owner of Galileo. In June 2020, Galileo sired his 85th Group 1 winner, breaking Danehill's world record and becoming the most successful source of Group 1 winners in thoroughbred history. In addition to his Derby winners, his notable offspring include Frankel, Nathaniel, Found, Churchill and Minding.

Tabor acknowledged the superiority of his Irish associates in their judgment of horses, telling The Independent: "I enjoy going round looking at the horses and I like to think I've got a fair idea. But I don't know a lot really and a little knowledge is dangerous." Discussing the economics of Coolmore's extremely successful breeding operation, Tabor said: "I get enormous pleasure out of the horses but, it goes without saying, that you're trying to make stallions. You need a stallion, maybe a stallion and a half, every year."[5]

Betting

Tabor gained a reputation as a shrewd, daring and successful gambler, whose actions could dramatically affect the odds being offered on a horse.

Ladbrokes in the 1980s they had to stop taking Tabor's bets.[12]

Bookmaking business

Tabor worked for commission agents and credit bookmakers before setting up in business for himself in 1968. He borrowed £30,000 from a financier to buy two bankrupt betting shops from Andrew Gordon, retaining the name Arthur Prince and expanding the business until he owned a chain of 114 shops. In 1995 he sold the business to Coral for a reported £27 million.[3][4][9] "There's an old saying I like," Tabor said, "which is that good punters make good bookmakers. I have found that to be very true."[2]

Other business interests

In May 2014 Tabor assumed 100% control of

Victor Chandler International
after Victor Chandler sold his interest in the firm.

His racing associations have also extended into other areas of business. With Magnier, Derrick Smith and J.P. McManus, Tabor is one of the co-owners of the luxury

Joe Lewis also own a large stake in the Mitchells & Butlers pub chain.[13][14][15]
This group of businessmen is also reported to have profited extensively from currency speculation.

In 2008 the company

Capital Radio and Classic FM. The move was backed with £375 million from Tabor.[13][20] The deal made Global Radio the largest radio group in the United Kingdom.[21]

Tabor's other business dealings include an investment in two London hotels[22] and a failed attempt in 1996 to buy West Ham United football club, whom he has supported since he was a boy.[3][10][23][24][25]

Personal life

Tabor divides his time between Monte Carlo, and Barbados.[13] He has been married, to Doreen, since 1975. They have a son, Ashley Tabor-King.[3][11]

References

  1. ^ "Sunday Times Rich List 2019: profiles 201-249".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Muscat, Julian. "Life's a gamble", Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder, 2 July 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cunningham, Peter. "The Cockney horse trader", The Observer, 23 March 1997. Link to article on InfoTrac National Newspapers Database (login required). Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  4. ^
    The Irish Independent
    , 17 June 2001. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d Edmondson, Richard. "Tabor harvests rich dividends of relentless journey", The Independent, 26 October 2000. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  6. ^ a b c "Owners: Michael Tabor" Archived 31 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, British Horseracing Authority. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  7. The Racing Post, 20 November 2007. Link to the article on The Free Library.
    Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Coolmore: the growth of an empire", the-racehorse.com, 26 April 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Owner Profile: Michael Tabor", Racehorseowner.com. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  10. ^ a b Reid, Jamie. "Tabor stakes claim to a football fortune: A former bookie wants to put £30 million into West Ham.", The Guardian, 31 January 1997. Link to article on InfoTrac National Newspapers Database (login required). Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  11. ^ a b Nevin, Charles. "The bookie's runners", The Guardian, 29 May 1997. Link to article on InfoTrac National Newspapers Database (login required). Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  12. ^
    The Racing Post, 14 September 2012. Link to article on TheFreeLibrary.com.
    Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  13. ^ a b c d Finch, Julia. "Revealed: the other two billionaires with a stake in Mitchells & Butlers", The Guardian, 13 December 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  14. ^ a b Finch, Julia. "Mitchells & Butlers: the giant pub company with no one to call 'time'", The Guardian, 18 September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  15. ^ a b Foster, Mike. "Rich List 2011: The financiers", Financial News, 9 May 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  16. The Irish Independent
    , 6 January 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  17. ^ Walsh, Dominic. "David Lloyd serves up second fortune with Pounds 200m sale plan", The Times, 29 November 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  18. ^ Quinn, James. "Bidders in chase for fitness chain reach home straight", The Daily Telegraph, 4 April 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  19. ^ Barriaux, Marianne. "David Lloyd fitness clubs sold for £925m", The Guardian, 4 June 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  20. ^ Andrews, Amanda and Kennedy, Siobhan. "Private backers of Global ready to put up cash for GCap bid", The Times, 19 March 2008.
  21. ^ Piasecka, Isabella. "Silent face of Global Radio emerges", Brand Republic, 8 April 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  22. ^ Reece, Damian. "Racehorse owner Tabor backs hotels deal"[dead link], The Independent, 22 June 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  23. ^ "West Ham say no to tax exile's Pounds 30m", The Guardian, 24 March 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  24. ^ Bose, Mihir. "Phantom bids failing to spook West Ham board", The Daily Telegraph, 24 March 2005. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  25. ^ "Tabor's warning for West Ham", The Independent, 31 January 1997. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
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