The Cheltenham Festival has produced no shortage of larger-than-life characters over its long and storied history, but few have made an impression quite like Rich Ricci. For those keeping up with horse racing today, the Nebraska-born millionaire needs little introduction.
His wife Susannah’s baby pink and fluorescent green polka-dot silks have become one of the most recognisable sights in the sport, and the winners they have adorned over the past two decades read like a who’s who of National Hunt royalty.
From Nebraska to Barclays
Richard Thomas Ricci was born in 1964 in Nebraska, a state not exactly synonymous with jump racing. After earning a finance degree from Creighton University, he embarked on a banking career that took him to the very top of the industry, eventually becoming Chief Executive of Barclays’ Corporate and Investment Banking division.
He received a £44 million bonus in 2011, was caught up in the Libor scandal fallout, and ultimately left the bank as a new management structure took over, reportedly walking away with close to £20 million from share sales alone.
Falling in love with Irish racing
Ricci’s entry into racing came around 2005, and it did not take long for him to find his people. Despite settling in England, he was drawn instinctively towards Ireland and the Willie Mullins operation in County Carlow.
The two men struck up an immediate rapport, with Ricci famously telling Mullins early on that he wasn’t sure why he wasn’t already champion trainer. Mullins replied that he simply didn’t have the ammunition. Ricci offered to provide it. The partnership that followed became one of the most dominant owner-trainer alliances the sport has ever seen.
Turning the Festival pink
If there is one week of the year that belongs to Rich Ricci, it is Cheltenham Festival week. His string have amassed over 20 winners at the meeting, with the 2016 renewal standing out as the defining statement of his ownership.
On the opening day alone, Douvan won the Arkle, Annie Power claimed the Champion Hurdle and Vroum Vroum Mag took the Mares’ Hurdle. The bookmakers reportedly lost £10 million that afternoon.
The horses who have carried those pink and green colours into the winners’ enclosure represent a remarkable collection of talent. Faugheen won the 2015 Champion Hurdle in a display of breathtaking power. Annie Power did the same 12 months later.
Douvan was unbeaten in 14 races before injury struck, and many who watched him win the 2016 Arkle believe he was one of the most gifted two-mile chasers ever to look through a bridle. Vautour won three Festival races before his tragic death, and Min kept the winners’ enclosure pink for years after that golden generation had moved on.
The name, the hat, the personality
Part of what makes Ricci such a compelling figure is that he wears his personality as conspicuously as he wears his bespoke three-piece suits and trademark fedoras. When a newspaper ran the headline “Who’s the fat cat in the hat?”, he did not flinch. He named one of his racehorses Fatcatinthehat.
He has described himself as “the maddest f***er on the planet.” Yet those who know him speak of a man genuinely passionate about the sport and deeply loyal to the people around him. His relationship with Mullins has endured for two decades, built not just on shared success but on mutual respect.
What makes the Rich Ricci story so compelling is just how fully a man from the American Midwest has embedded himself into the fabric of British and Irish jump racing. The Cheltenham Festival, with its roaring crowds and traditions dating back to the 19th century, is about as far from Nebraska as it is possible to imagine.
Yet Ricci has not merely participated in it. He has shaped it, funded it and, on more than a few occasions, utterly dominated it.
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