McManus buys Flagship Uberalles

Top two-mile chaser Flagship Uberalles has been purchased by leading Irish owner JP McManus, it emerged today.

The multiple Grade One-winning nine-year-old, who beat Native Upmanship by three lengths to take the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham last March, will remain in training with trainer Philip Hobbs.

But he is unlikely to make his debut in the colours made favourite by Istabraq until this year’s Champion Chase.

McManus told the Racing Post: “Flagship Uberalles is a good horse that came on the market and will hopefully represent us in the Champion Chase. Everybody likes a nice horse.

“We hope he strengthens our team and he will stay with his current stable.”

Flagship Uberalles had previously carried the colours stars and stripes silks of Michael Krysztofiak and his wife Elizabeth Gutner.

Explaining their decision to sell, American Krysztofiak said: “A lot of it came down to the amount of travelling we had to do. The last trip we made to the Tingle Creek was especially tiresome. An opportunity occurred to sell the horse and we decided to take it.”

Hobbs is the third trainer to have enjoyed high-profile success with the horse, and Krysztofiak went on: “We have had a lot of success with Flagship, but we have been brow-beaten by some hostile press coverage, and that has taken a lot of the joy and fun out of it.”

William Hill make Flagship Uberalles a 7-1 chance to retain his two-mile crown in March.