Michael Tabor

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Born: Oct. 28, 1941 in the East End of London
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco and Barbados
Family: wife Doreen; son Ashley is chief executive of the Global Talent Group, a music publishing, artist management and rights ownership business with a $10 million turnover
Professional Background: Tabor started out as a ladies’ hairdresser but decided the job was not for him and he left after two years to become a settling clerk in a betting shop. ... When he reached his mid-20s, he purchased two betting shops of his own in High Wycombe. ... These two shops grew into a chain of 113 under the Arthur Prince banner. On Sept. 29, 1995 he sold the entire chain to Coral ... He has since invested heavily in the leisure industry, in 2006 selling his Next Generation fitness clubs business at a $30 million profit ... He also has a sizeable stake in the Victor Chandler internet gaming business ... In the 2009 issue of The Sunday Times Rich List, Tabor was rated the 85th Richest Man in Britain with a fortune of around $750 million
Racing Background: It wasn’t until 1994 that he started increasing his stable and became a leading buyer at yearling sales throughout Europe and North America, mainly in partnership with John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud organization. Their association rapidly became such a force in European racing that they were able to challenge the dominance of the Maktoum family
Racing Career: Among the top performers that Tabor has owned or co-owned on either side of the Atlantic are Alexandrova, George Washington, Hold That Tiger, Landseer, Left Bank, Lion Heart, Mozart, Oratorio, Scat Daddy, Sophisticat, and Yonaguska.
Breeding/Racing Operation: His principal trainers are Aidan O’Brien, in Ireland, and Todd Pletcher in America. He also has horses in England with Simon Callaghan, Jeremy Noseda, Gerard Butler, Michael Bell, Peter Chapple-Hyam and Henry Cecil, in Ireland with David Wachman and in France with John Hammond and Richard Gibson ... Tabor’s first equine superstar was the Wayne Lukas-trained Thunder Gulch who won the 1995 Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes ... Entrepreneur provided him with his first European classic success in 1997. ... 1999 was a banner year for Tabor with 11 victories at the top level in Europe, most notably with Montjeu, who won the French and Irish Derbys and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe ... Montjeu continued his brilliant progress in 2000, winning in Ireland, France and England, but he was outshone by stablemate Giant’s Causeway, who won five consecutive Group 1 races in England and Ireland. Giant’s Causeway (owned in partnership with Susan Magnier) will be best remembered for his gallant runner-up effort in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic ... The 2001 season saw Tabor’s colors carried to a Breeders' Cup victory by Johannesburg in the Juvenile, while Milan won the St Leger. In partnership with Susan Magnier, he became champion owner in Britain for the first time ... In 2002, High Chaparral won the English and Irish Derbys along with the Breeders’ Cup Turf, then repeated in the 2003 Turf in a dead-heat. ... In 2005, Tabor was owner or part-owner of the winners of 10 European Group 1 races, including three of the five British classics. His best horse was a son of Montjeu, Hurricane Run, who was bought in June just before his Irish Derby and later notched a stunning success in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. ... Rags To Riches followed two Californian G1 triumphs with victory in the 2007 G1 Kentucky Oaks, before becoming the first member of her sex in over a century to lift the G1 Belmont Stakes ... Tabor was part of the unstoppable Aidan O'Brien bandwagon in 2008, sharing in most of his 23 Group 1 victories. He also teamed up with trainer David Wachman for three more wins in the highest company (two with Bushranger, one with Again) ... In the U.S., his biggest 2009 victories have been provided by Munnings, who has won twice in Grade 2 company, while Dunkirk went close in the Belmont Stakes, finishing runner-up to Summer Bird.