GOLDRUSHPUBLICATIONS

     We have paused The Black Horse Newsletters to complete the third book in The Black Horse Trilogy. BEHIND EVERY FORTUNE LIES A CRIME will be published in early 2026. Following the first two books in the series, we will again be exposing the ever growing collection of crimes committed by John Magnier, Coolmore Stud and the wider racing and breeding industries.

     Magnier has just lost a putrid High Court action in Dublin he brought to try and force the owners of Barne Estate to sell him their imposing French Chateau-style mansion and 751 acre farm in County Tipperary for E15 million when another potential buyer had offered a much higher price.

     Magnier claimed he had an oral agreement sealed by a hand shake over supper at his splendid house on Coolmore Stud to buy the property and wanted the court to enforce the sale, but Judge Max Barrett ruled against all claims he made. The sale was never agreed and no contract was ever made, the judge said. It was an embarrassing drubbing, but one which Magnier thoroughly deserved considering the background to the case.

     Barne Estate was owned in trust by Richard Thomson-Moore, his sister Dr Alexandra McCullough and their spouses and children. Richard and his wife Anna decided in February 2023 to move to Australia which would afford their seriously disabled son Teddy a healthier life and to see more of Anna's mother who has been diagnosed with dementia.

     Magnier made the first moves when the farm was officially put on the market five months later, offering E10 million and E10.5 million in a linked stalking horse play. The higher bid was withdrawn and he proceeded with the E10 million offer which he eventually increased to E15 million and then E16.5 million.

     US construction magnate Maurice Regan, who founded his company J.T.Magen in 1992 after emigrating from Kerry to New York, has made substantial property investments in Ireland over the last thirty years including through the Mercantile Group and has developed Newtown Anner Stud near Clonmel in County Tipperary alongside similar farms in Kentucky and New York.

     Having become a very wealthy and influential figure in the tough environs of the New York business world, he is much more street wise than Magnier and 20 years younger. How ironic Magnier, who has hidden his true character for the past 40 years by avoiding personal media coverage, has now confirmed by his own hand that he's just an arrogant schoolyard bully from Cork. 

     Sale negotiations for Barne Estate ended when trustees accepted Regan's offer of E22.25 million and binding contracts were signed. Magnier had no signed contract so he threw a fit and instructed top law firm Arthur Cox to sue Barne Estate Ltd, Richard Thomson-Moore and the estate's trustees based in Jersey on behalf of himself, son John Paul Magnier and daughter Katherine Wachman. They really wanted the Barne Estate but only at their price.

​​​​​​     While awash with legal jargon and argument, the underlying theme in Magnier's case appeared to be that he must be right because he's John Magnier, an Irish billionaire who left school at 15 when his farmer father died suddenly, that this is an Irish court and he must be telling the truth because he said so. A few years ago that might well have won the day, but Ireland's judiciary is slowly changing for the better.

     As is usual for Magnier in these situations, he ordered his team to investigate Regan expecting to find dirt - he did the same in his legal fight over the stallion Rock of Gibraltar with Sir Alex Ferguson 22 years ago - which didn't impress Judge Barrett, not least because Regan wasn't even a party to the legal action. Regan gave evidence for the Barne Estate side and helped nail down Magnier's coffin.

     The only dirt was stuck to the Magnier team. Judge Barrett made extensive reference in his judgment to how evidence given at the trial by the plaintiff's key witnesses, principally Magnier himself, Eddie Irwin (his senior accountant) and Joe Holohan (his farm manager), changed "in material respects" from what they swore in initial affidavits which undermined their credibility.

     In other words, they lied as the case progressed in a concerted effort to counter the strong evidence put forward on behalf of  Barne Estate. 

     Anna Thomson-Moore made  a lasting impression when talking about her son Teddy, who needs constant care. She told the court: "On one of the calls Mr Stokes [estate agent] said to us, you know, Mr Magnier said 'I'll take you to court and I will tie this up for years in litigation and it will cost millions.'"

     And that's what Magnier did; costs are estimated to be at least E6 million with the trial alone lasting 19 days over two months. Anna Thomson-Moore said the delay in selling the property and the legal case had an enormous impact on their family life.  Magnier's representative said after Judge Barrett delivered his verdict that they took the case as a matter of principle. What principle was that - Magnier always wins?

     The truth is he is a nasty, vindictive and sad old man who already owns 11,000 acres in just Tipperary and countless mansions around the world. All is not lost. If the proposed sale of Barchester nursing homes in the UK goes through he will add another billion to his collection.

     ​Coolmore's great stallion Sadler's Wells, who died in 2011, has been stuffed and holds pride of place in their museum in Fethard. His son, Galileo, who became the world's best stallion in a glorious stud career, is currently being stuffed and will soon join Sadler's Wells. 

     John Magnier, who is 77, was metaphorically stuffed in the High Court. The best outcome to this sorry tale would be if, when he eventually passes, he is stuffed literally and put on display at Coolmore Stud, standing between Sadler's Wells and Galileo. What an attraction that would be; even Donald Trump would be jealous.

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TELL YOUR CHILDREN: You can have far more money than you will ever need and so much power it will corrupt you, and still make yourself the biggest fool in Ireland.

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William Jones - 21 September 2025​​​​​​