Sir Alex Ferguson ‘in good position’ to land massive Cheltenham payday as Man Utd icon says ‘he’ll surprise people’

SIR Alex Ferguson says he is in a ‘good position’ to land another huge racing payday at Cheltenham Festival.

And he highlighted one horse he thinks ‘will surprise people’ with a massive showing.

Sir Alex has been in sensational form with his horses and more huge cheques could be heading his way at CheltenhamX

The Manchester United legend pocketed just under £1million last weekend thanks to Spirit Dancer’s sensational win in Saudi Arabia.

Sir Alex broke a rib celebrating the seven-year-old’s £500,000 victory in Bahrain a few months before that.

But now he will be hoping to plunder the riches on offer in Britain – and specifically this month’s Cheltenham Festival.

Sir Alex, who owns a number of his horses with good friend and multi-millionaire businessman Ged Mason, is setting his sights firmly on jump racing’s biggest meeting.

And there’s every chance he could walk away another £400,000 better off thanks to his star-studded squad set to hit Prestbury Park.

One of the races Sir Alex is throwing two darts at is Thursday’s Ryanair Chase.

The Paul Nicholls-trained Hitman and Dan Skelton-trained Protektorat will battle it out for the £211,013 first-place prize.

They are 25-1 and 20-1 chances respectively but could spring a shock against the top Irish raiders.

While that is the richest prize on offer, it looks like his best chance may come in the County Hurdle with L’Eau Du Sud.

Co-owned with Mason and cuddly toy tycoons John and Lisa Hales, the six-year-old is a 14-1 chance for the 2m1f handicap hurdle worth £56,270 to the winner.

And he will go there on the back of a two-length defeat to the hugely progressive JP McManus-owned Iberico Lord at Newbury last month.

Sir Alex’s Sonigino has two entries and could go for the Coral Cup on Wednesday, March 13, or the Martin Pipe Handicap – the final race on the final day of the Festival.

Trained by Nicholls, Sonigino is 16-1 for the Martin Pipe and 20s for the Coral Cup.

He last won at Aintree in December when scooping a £26,000 pot in a handicap hurdle and victory in either of the two races at Cheltenham is worth £39,020 and £56,270 respectively.

Monmiral will target the fiercely competitive Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle hoping to have slipped under the radar of the handicapper.

A quiet fourth-placed finish was just the job last time out and victory in the final is worth £56,270.

Then there’s Il Ridoto.

He can go down as one of the unluckiest losers of the season after losing an absolute thriller to Fugitif at Cheltenham in December.

Bryony Frost attempted to make all that day and put in a monumental effort only to be denied in the final stride.

Il Ridoto is a 20-1 chance for the Plate Handicap Chase on the Thursday of the Festival and victory brings with it a cheque for £67,524.

It means Sir Alex is looking at a maximum payout of well over £400,000.

But it’s only one of those the Old Trafford icon is looking at as a joker in the pack.

He told Thoroughbred Daily News: “I think Hitman will do well.

“I just feel that he seems to die in the last couple of fences over three miles, but he’s back running over two miles and four furlongs.

“He might just surprise people.”

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