Horse’s exit removes prospect of unwanted sideshowOnly six British horses out of 34 currently guaranteed run
The prospect of unwanted sideshow at next month’s Grand National ended on Tuesday when Monbeg Genius, the horse owned by Doug Barrowman and Michelle Mone, was taken out of the race at the latest declaration stage.
Monbeg Genius was reportedly bought by Mone for £80,000 as a second wedding present for her husband in November 2020 and is officially owned by Barrowman Racing Ltd. The couple have been the subject of intense media scrutiny, and more recently an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA), over their links to the company PPE Medpro. The firm was awarded government contracts worth £202m during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the government has initiated proceedings to recover £122m, plus costs, after some of the equipment is said to have fallen below the expected standard.
