Norman Butler (polo)

In 1960 he bought Kilboy Castle in County Tipperary, Ireland.[1] As a thoroughbred breeder in 1972 he won the classic Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Irish St. Leger as well as the Pretty Polly Stakes with his horse Pidget, trained by Kevin Prendergast and ridden by the jockey T. P. Burns. His horses raced in Ireland, England and France. He also worked with Vincent O'Brien and Wally Swinburn among others.[2]

Norman Frank Paul Butler was born to Paul Butler[3][4] and Sarah Anne Josephine (née Rooney).[5] He attended Hodder preparatory school, Downside School and Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England. He later studied Modern Greats at Oriel College, Oxford University.[6]

In 1948 he married Pauline Winn, daughter of Lady Baillie and the Hon. Charles John Frederick Winn (son of Rowland Winn, 2nd Baron St Oswald), of Leeds Castle in Kent.[7] They had two children together.[8] They divorced in 1958.

From 1948 until 1960 he worked as a director in the Butler Paper and Butler Aviation companies, and Butler S.A. (South America).[9]

It was also during this time that he played polo in England, South America and the United States.[9]

In 1959 he married his second wife, the Hon. Penelope Dewar, daughter of Lord Forteviot, owner of Dewar Whiskies in Scotland.[10][11] They had three children together.[12] They divorced in 1977.

In 1981 he married his third wife Baroness Gabriella Gröger von Sontag, fashion editor of German Vogue, daughter of a German banker and Director of the Dresdner Bank.[6][9] They had one son together.[13]