Hales, who made his money through the Golden Bear Toys company he co-founded in 1979, which went on to produce products from major children’s shows such as Teletubbies, Basil Brush, Thomas the Tank Engine and In The Night Garden, owned some champions of the turf.

Perhaps the best of them all was one of his first, the grey One Man, trained by the late Gordon Richards.

He won two King George VI Chases and reduced Hales to tears when, after several failures in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham, he dropped in trip to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 1998.

Hales also won the Grand National with Neptune Collonges and secured further Champion Chase triumphs through Azertyuiop and Politologue.

In recent years, Hales has shared his ownership interests with the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Peter Done and Ged Mason, recently paying €740,000 between them for Caldwell Potter.

He is in training with Paul Nicholls and it was the former champion trainer who broke the news on social media that Hales had died.

Nicholls posted on X: “It is with great sadness to report that John Hales passed away last evening. A great man and a fantastic owner and friend for many people. Thoughts with his wife Pat and his wonderful family. He will be missed by so many in racing. RIP John.”

Mike Vince tribute

The sad news of the passing of John Hales comes just days after he led the celebrations after Protektorat had won the Fleur de Lys Chase at Windsor – and for more than a quarter of a century saw him at the top table of jump racing ownership.

The famous yellow and red colours first came to the fore with the brilliant front running steeplechaser One Man – a King George and Champion Chase winner when trained by Gordon Richards in the 90s, but he scaled even greater heights with horses trained by Paul Nicholls.

The crowning moment came with the closest Grand National result in history as Neptune Collonges got up on the line in 2012 under Daryl Jacob and with the likes of Azertyioup and Politologue he was to claim Queen Mother Champion Chase glory.

John Hales was always in a special place in his visits to Aintree – even though it brought back memories of the loss of One Man – thrilled that Neptune was part of the annual cherished visit by the jockeys during National week to the Alder Hay Childrens Hospital, and then in the Parade of Champions afterwards, when he could make 2012 feel like yesterday.

Hales had made his money through his company that had the licence to make Teletubbies, was able to invest in his passion – most recently alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, Peter Done and Ged Mason – a quartet who found themselves in the hallowed winners enclosure thanks to Protektorat at the 2024 Festival.

Cheltenham in March won’t be the same without him. His passion for jump races was matched by his love of his family – only too well aware how much pleasure his horses gave him.

Racing will miss a generous, kind and warm hearted man- but the record of success he had with his horses will be a fitting memory.

Five star performers for owner John Hales

Some superstars of the National Hunt sphere triumphed in the famous John Hales colours. We pick out five of the best.

1) ONE MAN (Gordon Richards)

One Man was among the first racehorses the Hales family became involved with and while that may have been seen as amazing good fortune, he also provided them with the whole gamut of emotions that racing can put you through. Having won his first five novice chases, he was sent off favourite for the old Sun Alliance Chase in 1994 but was beaten by the third last and trailed home in ninth. He won the Hennessy the following season off a low mark but was a faller in the King George when favourite and that finished his season. The following campaign saw the King George run at Sandown and he won his first Grade One in style. But Cheltenham proved his stumbling block once more, failing to get up the hill in the Gold Cup. He won the King George at its rightful home of Kempton the following season but again fell short in the Gold Cup and many felt he was destined not to win at the Festival. That was until he had just his second ever run over two miles in the 1998 Champion Chase when, under late substitute Brian Harding, he dominated in winning by four lengths. Sadly, One Man suffered a fatal fall in his next run at Aintree.

2) NEPTUNE COLLONGES (Paul Nicholls)

Neptune Collonges looked to face a stiff task under a big weight on ground that was quicker than ideal as he enjoyed his career swansong in the 2012 Grand National. Ridden by Daryl Jacob for the very first time in his lengthy career, Neptune Collonges worked his way into the history books by beating Sunnyhillboy by a nose, not surprisingly the shortest winning distance in the race’s long history. While everybody in racing dreams of a National win, Neptune Collonges was far from a one-race horse. Despite being around in the era of illustrious stablemates Kauto Star and Denman, he managed to win a Punchestown Gold Cup and an Irish Hennessy too. Since his retirement, Neptune Collonges has made a number of star turns at Grand National promotional events and is a regular visitor to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital ahead of the big race.

3) POLITOLOGUE (Paul Nicholls)

It should have been no surprise to anyone that Politologue went on to achieve what he did given he ran in a Grade One on just his second outing for Nicholls in the Challow Hurdle. Fences were always going to bring out the best in him, though. He was a Grade Two winner as a novice but the following year he had the misfortunate of having to take on Altior, who was unbeatable at the time. He did top Min in the Melling Chase at Aintree, though. In 2019, he gave Altior a huge scare in the Champion Chase but the following year, with his great rival a late absentee, he was best placed to take advantage of a lacklustre run from odds-on favourite Defi Du Seuil, making all the running. He added the Tingle Creek the following season.

4) AZERTYUIOP (Paul Nicholls)

When Azertyuiop first joined Nicholls, the discussion mainly concentrated on his eyecatching name but he ensured that did not last long. He won the Kingwell Hurdle on his debut for the yard, beating a previous Champion Hurdler in Hors La Loi III, but it was over fences he came into his own. Unbeaten in his novice season when he won the Arkle by 11 lengths, talk soon turned to the challenge of taking on Moscow Flyer and Well Chief, the standard setters in the two-mile division. Moscow Flyer famously came out on top at Sandown in a thrilling Tingle Creek but when Jessica Harrington’s defending champion unseated four from home in the Queen Mother, Azertyuiop took full advantage. He went on to have further battles in what was a golden era of two-milers but he also ran a huge race in the 2004 King George when beaten less than four lengths by Kicking King.

5) PROTEKTORAT (Dan Skelton)

Protektorat, owned in a partnership with former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson among others, will be remembered for providing Hales with his last major winner. However, he had already achieved plenty before that victory at Windsor in the Fleur De Lys Chase. He won a Grade One at Aintree as a novice, returned to Merseyside to win the now defunct Many Clouds Chase and also landed the Betfair Chase in 2022. Perhaps his best performance, though, came last March when he powered up the hill to beat Envoi Allen in the Ryanair Chase to seal a famous double for his owners, as just 40 minutes earlier they had won the Pertemps Final with Monmiral.