The Curragh racecourse authorities are to monitor developments ahead of next weekend's Guineas festival to see if extra security will have to be put in place to cope with any possible threat of action by angry Manchester United supporters.
There has been considerable anger from football fans in Britain towards both John Magnier and JP McManus after their well-publicised share deal with the prospective new owner of Manchester United, Malcolm Glazer.
However, a report in yesterday's trade paper the Racing Post suggested some Irish fans could take action against horses and property owned by Magnier and McManus in this country and the Curragh meeting was a possible target.
Magnier is expected to field a strong team, including the Aidan O'Brien-trained pair Footstepsinthesand and Virginia Waters, who won the equivalent classics at Newmarket recently.
"It's a difficult one to evaluate at this stage but if we feel it is necessary we will take precautions," said the Curragh manager, Paul Hensey.
"We will monitor the situation over the next few days but it is certainly possible that we will put on extra security. If there is a situation we will deal with it."
The sensational report also suggested the grass and all-weather gallops at the Ballydoyle stables owned by Magnier could be targeted and there could be interruptions to travel arrangements for O'Brien-trained horses racing abroad.
Similar speculation after the share purchase by Magnier and McManus last year was, however, well wide of the mark in Ireland. The only racecourse protest came at a lowly Hereford meeting in February of 2004.
Meanwhile, the former Manchester United player Denis Law said yesterday he would be concerned for the future of the club if the takeover bid by Glazer succeeded.
Speaking in Derry at a function organised by Meningitis UK, at which details of a 540-mile marathon fundraising walk from Derry to London later this year were announced, Law said if the takeover went ahead, the new owner should do nothing to undermine the position of team boss Alex Ferguson.
"I honestly don't know the ins and outs of what is happening. I know the process has been going on for over a year now. You just feel, you wonder just why these people want to come in.
"I'm sure Malcolm Glazer doesn't know a great deal about our football.
"Takeover bids like this are always unsettling for everybody associated with the club but once it's all sorted out and we get back to the basics of playing football, then the people who know the game will carry on and this will soon be forgotten.
"In terms of the fans, I'm with them and always have been and always will be. They are the lifeblood of the club. Too often they are shoved to one side but without them the club would be nowhere.
"Without the fans the club is nothing."
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