RACING officially saw the end of an era when a top owner sold all his remaining horses for £1.9million after deciding to suddenly quit the sport.
Legendary trainer Paul Nicholls was left reeling when Cheltenham Festival-winning owner Chris Giles said he wanted out.
The duo had enjoyed a massively profitable partnership over the years, which included Stay Away Fay’s Albert Bartlett win in 2023.
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But the millionaire businessman – who also owned former King George winner Silviniaco Conti and Tingle Creek hero Greaneteen – announced in June he was selling up due to work commitments and having a young family.
Nearly all of the horses he had up for auction at the Goffs Sale in Doncaster were trained by Nicholls.
And the Ditcheat handler cobbled together his existing owners, among them Sir Alex Ferguson, to stump up the cash to buy the horses and keep them at his yard.
That included the world-record £660,000 purchase of unbeaten potential superstar Regent’s Stroll.
The former Manchester United boss was part of the group that laid out the whopping sum for the five-year-old gelding, who is 2-2 in bumpers.
A further ten former Giles horses consigned to Mill House Stud went under the hammer – and combined sold for just under £2m.
Stay Away Fay was another massive earner, going for £325,000.
While former Scottish Champion Hurdle winner Rubaud was snapped up for £200,000.
Histrionic, who won a point-to-point but has failed to impress in three bumpers, went for £120,000.
Nicholls said he was gutted when Giles told him he was quitting – but was delighted others had the cash to keep the horses with him.
He told the Racing Post: “To start with I was a bit disappointed it happened in the first place as I’ve always counted Chris as a good friend and good owner.
“I’ve said to him since, ‘Are you sure you really want to be doing this, particularly with horses like Regent’s Stroll, who could be the best you’ve ever owned?’
“Chris wanted to go down this route and you have to respect what he’s done.
“It was my job to put people together and get the horses bought, which is what we’ve done. Everyone’s been so supportive.
“You don’t want to see horses that you’ve brought along going out of the stable.
“Megan Walsh, who looks after Stay Away Fay, has been so upset he was going. She rides him every single day.
“I’ve just texted her to say he’s coming back.”
While Mill House Stud’s Juliet Minton said: “All thanks to Chris Giles for entrusting us with his horses.
“They’ve been with us a couple of weeks and arrived looking great.
“You never get a draft of horses like that as they’ve got their futures in front of them.
“Hopefully we’ll see Chris’ colours back on the racecourse before too long because we hate losing people like him from the game.”
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