Sir Alex Ferguson paid £650,000 on two purchases which late wife Cathy 'would have gone mad' over

Sir Alex Ferguson has previously admitted his late wife Cathy would not have approved of the way in which he spent £650,000.

Over the past decade or so, the legendary former Manchester United manager has been heavily involved in horse racing. In fact, Ferguson has has 32 racehorses, as well as a stud operation in Hemel Hempstead.

That very same operation bred the horse Spirit Dancer, which landed the Bahrain International Trophy and gave the 13-time Premier League winner his "best moment in racing".

But the Scot claimed that his late wife Cathy, who sadly passed away in October 2023, would have "gone mad" with two of his purchases, which totalled £650,000.

Speaking to Gambling Zone in November 2023, he said: "Last week we bought two horses, one from Ireland - a pointer - and one from France.

"John Hales is the man who has all the contacts. We depend on John and we’ve bought some very good horses on his recommendation."

"They don’t come cheap now," Ferguson added. "We paid £450,000 for the French horse and £200,000 for the Irish horse. That’s £650,000 and I had to write quite a large cheque. One of my sons said, ‘What are you doing?’

"My late wife would have gone mad at me if she was alive if she knew the amount of money involved! I must say at the time when I started it was a big release for me.

"I never give instructions to trainers or jockeys. I never interfere with a trainer. I would never let anybody interfere when I was a manager so why should I interfere with people who know better in racing."

The couple met in 1966 and had three children: eldest Mark, and twins Darren and Jason.

Image credit: Getty

Ferguson's retirement in 2013 came after Cathy's twin sister Bridget passed away.

Last year, Ferguson admitted that he sometimes still misses the United job. "Yeah, I miss it sometimes," he told the BBC. "I think the first year after retirement, I went to the European final and I said to [his late wife] Cathy: 'This is what I miss -- big games, the European games.'

"So then I went to most of the European finals because I find something I can relate to, something I would liked to have done every day. Because these are the big events that United should always be involved in."