Top horse owner ‘facing complete business collapse' with duty free empire at risk of falling
Sun Sport told you Leicester City chairman Aiyawatt "Top" Srivaddhanaprabha has left his role as chief executive of King Power with the company staring at "massive losses and potential failure".
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Top, 39, is now "group executive chairman" with his role switching to "determining the direction and setting the policy frameworks for business operations".
There are fears over what that means for 5000-1 Premier League winners Leicester City's future amid their current financial woes.
The Foxes have been relegated from the Premier League and face a likely points deduction in the EFL next term.
Top continues to have a large number of racehorses - including one called Straight Back Up - under the hugely successful King Power banner.
With names such as Fox Vardy, Fivethousandtoone, The Foxes and Dillydingdillydong, the horses have always paid homage to the Srivaddhanaprabhas and their King Power/Leicester association.
And, thanks to top class trainers such as Andrew Balding, the thoroughbreds have picked up some top prizes too.
King Power Racing Co Ltd has earned more than £5million over the past five years on the Flat.
Their best year was 2019 - the year after Top's father Khun Vichai and four others were killed in a helicopter crash at Leicester's stadium.
The operation had earnings of £2.4m that season thanks in part to Donjuan Triumphant's Group 1 Champions Sprint Stakes win at Ascot.
That was worth £330,000 and came on the back of other big-race successes including Shine So Bright's City Of York Stakes victory and Pivoine's £125,000 win in the John Smith's Cup.
But the money has dried up somewhat in subsequent seasons.
King Power horses
THE horses owned by King Power all have Leicester themes. Here are some of the more memorable to have run over the years.
Fox Vardy
Dillydingdillydong
Bielsa
Fivethousandtoone
The Foxes
Fantastic Fox
Fox Tal
Foxes Tales
Art Power
Happy Power
Teumessias Fox
Proud To Be Fox
Straight Back Up
Good Luck Fox
Come On Leicester
Fox Shinji
Earnings dropped by just shy of £350,000 from 2023 to 2024 despite the number of winners jumping from 27 to 29.
And though there is much of the Flat season still to go, King Power have had a 12 per cent strike rate this year - matching their lowest ever - with 13 winners at the time of writing.
That adds up to earnings of £417,109 - but with plenty still to play for over the coming months and with loads of the King Power horses having lots of entries.
King Power's flagbearers now look to be Group 2 hero Bellum Justum and The Foxes, both trained by Kingsclere handler Balding.
Bellum Justum landed a monster £830,000 win when he claimed the Nashville Derby in Kentucky last August.
He then won the Group 2 Betfred Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket in May this year - bringing home another £70,000.
While The Foxes' Group 2 Huxley Stakes win at Chester in May was worth just shy of £75,000.
The money is significant on its own but nothing compared to the situation the King Power company finds itself in.
King Power had a 30-year near-monopoly on duty free concessions in Thailand.
But, while aiming to renegotiate contracts at four of the country's major airports, want all rental fees to be waived.
That is expected to lead to losses of £450m-plus for the state-run Airports of Thailand, which rejected the opening offer from King Power.
Top's replacement Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said: "It's like a patient surviving on oxygen.
"The company's intention was to ask AOT to remove the oxygen because we can't cope anymore. This was the signal we sent.
"We're in a position where we're saying we can't manage, and we're asking AOT for help.
"We'll listen. If the conditions allow us to remain profitable, we'll stay. If not, and we can't make it work together, we'll accept that."
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