Michelle Mone and husband Doug Barrowman’s horse, one of the favourites for this year’s Grand National, is at the centre of a British Horseracing Authority investigation following the news that £75m of assets owned by the couple have been “frozen or restrained” by a court order obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service.
The BHA has confirmed it is aware of the situation and whether Monbeg Genius, who would be a contender for Britain’s most famous steeplechase, is among the assets in question and consequently unable to run.
The horse is trained by Jonjo O’Neill and is currently standing at around 20-1 for the Grand National, which has a £500,000 first prize for the owner of the winning horse. The eight-year-old gelding was bought for £80,000 by Mone in November 2020, reportedly as a second wedding present for her husband.
The couple have recently been enduring scrutiny over their involvement with PPE Medpro, which was awarded government contracts worth £202m during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has also initiated proceedings to recover £122m, plus costs, from PPE Medpro after some of the equipment supplied fell below the required standard. The couple are strongly denying any wrongdoing.
Katie Gilmour is the host of Poles, Piaffe & Prosecco: the podcast for riders that love to train, laugh and drink prosecco! The podcast is free to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Katie is a Webby and ESMA award winning multi-media journalist with an equestrian focus. She hosts the podcast Poles, Piaffe & Prosecco, which is free to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Katie lives on her family farm in West Sussex with her husband, four children and an assortment of horses, ponies, dogs, cats and poultry.