Tabor, Michael B., Smith, Derrick and Magnier, John

Tabor moved into racing in a big way in the mid-1990s after selling his 114-shop betting company, Prince Arthur, in Great Britain to rival Coral. He succeeded Robert Sangster as a partner in the Coolmore Stud business. Tabor made a splash in America in May 1995 when Thunder Gulch, acquired in a private sale the previous fall, won the Kentucky Derby.

Smith is an Englishman who worked for the British bookmakers, Ladbrokes, before leaving in 1988 to go into business on his own, and he became very successful in property and currency trading. Among the horses he has owned in partnership with Tabor are Lion Heart, Pomeroy, Sense of Style and Chapel Royal. He has been a partner in top horses George Washington and Hurricane Run, winner of Irish Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

John Magnier, is the managing partner of Coolmore Stud, the world's largest breeding operation, which is based in Ireland.