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Monday May 11 2026
Manhattan Boy - the story of a selling plater
Horses for Courses
Horses for Courses is an old adage in racing, and rarely has it been more true than in the case of Manhattan Boy, synonymous with Plumpton during the early nineties. But unlike some of racing’s better known course specialists, Manhattan Boy made his name at the base of racing’s pyramid of excellence.
Seasoned racegoers can regale the 8 Cheltenham winners of Bradbury Star, Red Rum’s unique record around Aintree, Istabraq’s 10 at Leopardstown. Somewhat less will recall the 16 victories around Plumpton for a moderate selling plater, for whom the form suffix CD became a badge of honour.
Back in the late eighties and nineties, the Sussex and Kent jumps tracks were not known for quality fare. With the exception of the National Spirit Hurdle, Plumpton, Fontwell and Folkestone catered for horses of moderate ability. Selling Hurdles were commonplace, and in an era before the advent of a formal summer jumps season, ground conditions at the outset of the season in August and September left plenty to be desired by today’s demanding standards.
Manhattan Boy thrived in all conditions, running on hard or heavy, over 2 – 2m 4f. His over 70 races stand testament to a robust physique, a keen appetite to win and an easy ride that made him a natural for conditionals to cut their teeth on.
In trainer John Ffitch-Heyes, he found something of a kindred spirit. A former music promoter and entrepreneur, Ffitch-Heyes was a colourful addition to the racing scene that might have walked out of the pages of a Dick Francis, or had a walk-on part in Minder. In fact, the long list of previous careers did indeed include acting. And for a self-publicist of this nature, a winning machine like Manhattan Boy put him and the old racecourse gallops at Lewes where he trained, on the map.
Debut over hurdles
The story begins on the flat as a three year old, when this son of a pairing between Oats and Into Harbour opened his account on debut in middle distances at Nottingham and Catterick consecutively.
Manhattan Boy is the only successful jumps offspring of his dam Into Harbour, although Oats sired 1994 Champion Hurdle winner Flakey Dove and 1995 Gold Cup victor Master Oats. Manhattan Boy’s talent was sadly on a different spectrum.
A career over obstacles began in typical fashion, running mid-division behind a Peter Scudamore ridden winner at Exeter in August 1987. This however was merely a taster, for next time out on home turf, just a half hour hack from home, he ran out a 12l winner of the Streat Selling Hurdle at Plumpton on August 15th ‘86. It was one of 11 runs that season that resulted in four victories, each at Plumpton, each ridden by Ffitch-Heyes’ daughter Penny, who totted up six winners on the gelding before she left the scene in 1989.
The following season’s campaign began again at Plumpton in August, where the same pairing justified 9/4 favouritism on a card built for favourite backers with five winning jollies all afternoon. A 12l victory was followed by a winning return to Plumpton on 9 of the subsequent 12 races in mid-October, on two of these occasions beaten by no more than a cumulative 5l.
The 88-89 season could so easily have been a tour de force. Back to back Plumpton sellers in late November and December, 3 weeks apart, were followed by a half length second at Lingfield, so nearly the stage for a first win beyond Plumpton.
"No bid"
The compact gelding, not quite standing 16hh, had a curtailed season the following autumn with just three runs. Starting off as intended with a length win at home in late August, he ran down the field in handicap company two months later, not to be seen till the following autumn, when on his first race back, uncharacteristically, he fell.
What followed was Manhattan Boy’s version of an “annus horibilis”. He wasn’t to regain winning ways until 14 races later in November 1991, a Plumpton seller, when ridden by Adrian Maguire, another rider who was to build a strong rapport, with 4 victories.
And so it continued, Manhatton Boy claiming his territory at Plumpton to the delight of Sussex spectators, none of whom dared claim the horse or raise a bid in the post-race auction for fear of incurring the wrath of Ffitch-Heyes. He bowed out finally when a distant 7th of 8 runners in a seller in September 94, predictably at Plumpton.
His career record is remarkable by today’s standards, insofar as he was a very resilient horse, robust in physique although not large, but with the heart of a lion. In an era when jump racing is Sussex was underpinned by the successful Findon yard of the great Josh Gifford, Manhattan Boy gave succour to the wealth of smaller handlers each trying to make his mark by proving it could be done with moderate horses.
Ffitch-Heyes never trained horses of any great quality, but he was consistently among the winners for several years, until HMRC caught up with him, and he received a suspended sentence for perjury in 1998 from which the training business never recovered. He sold the gallops at Lewes in 2002.
