More Fame And Glory For Fehily

A flurry of jockey retirements in the last few months started with Noel Fehily, who announced his intention to step down after victory aboard Eglantine Du Seuil (Fr) at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Nine days later he set the seal on a career spanning 20 years and more than 1,300 winners with one final salute for Harry Fry on his young prospect Get In The Queue (GB), who landed the Goffs UK Spring Sale Bumper at Newbury.

And it will be at the Goffs UK Spring Sale next week in which Fehily makes a first appearance in his new guise as vendor when, through Ballincurrig House Stud, his Hagg Hill Farm will offer a homebred daughter of Fame And Glory (GB) and a pinhooked gelding by Muhtathir (GB).

From riding such luminaries as Champion Chase hero Special Tiara (GB), Champion Hurdlers Rock On Ruby (Ire) and Buveur d'Air (Fr), and top-class chaser Silviniaco Conti (Fr), Fehily will be aiming both to breed and produce horses of similarly high calibre and will be aided in this quest by his wife Natasha.

When the TDN arrives at Hagg Hill Farm in Wiltshire, it's clear that actual retirement is the farthest thing from Fehily's mind. A licensed jockey no more, he is still putting his supreme riding skills to good use and is eventually tracked down by Natasha in a vast lunge ring, in which he is breaking in a filly for Harry Fry, the young trainer with whom he forged such a successful partnership.

The Fehilys met while both working for Charlie Mann, Noel's first major job after arriving in Lambourn from Ireland, and Natasha now plays an all-round part in their fledgling venture, from riding, preparing horses for sale and foaling mares.

“We have a few for breaking and pre-training, and we're prepping a few for the sales, just trying to keep busy,” says Fehily with some understatement as he heads in from the busy yard and paddocks surrounding his house for a quick coffee break.

To the tasks already being undertaken, it would be no surprise if the Fehilys added sales consigning to their repertoire before too long.

“Yeah, we'll see how it goes,” he says. “I've known Michael Moore [of Ballincurrig House Stud] for years. I am just kind of just trying things out at the moment to see how it goes. We have got a bunch of five or six 2-year-olds. Then we've got six or seven yearlings, so we will see.”

His two offerings at Doncaster should both appeal to potential buyers in different ways. The filly (lot 202) is a daughter of the Irish Derby winner Fame And Glory (GB), whose stock was just starting to rise in National Hunt circles when he died in February 2017. Moreover, the 3-year-old is the first foal of the Grade 2-winning hurdler Highland Retreat (GB) (Exit To Nowhere), who was ridden by Fehily in five of her seven victories.

The French-bred gelding (lot 172) is a son of Haras du Mezeray's versatile Muhtahir (GB), whose high-class jumpers include Quel Destin (Fr) and Pacha Du Polder (Fr), while 5-year-old Envoi Allen (Fr) won the G1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper for Cheveley Park Stud and Gordon Elliott.

Fehily says. “I bought the gelding as a yearling at Arqana and the filly was the first foal we bred here. There are only two Muhtathirs in the book, so hopefully he makes out alright. Luckily, the sire has gone and won the Cheltenham Bumper this year.”

The breeding side of the game is one the Fehilys are keen to embrace and they have already assembled a clutch of elite mares, including Miss Country (Fr) (Country Reel), the dam of G1 Ryanair Chase winner Frodon (Fr) (Nickname {Fr}). The 12-year-old mare is owned in partnership with Jared Sullivan and has a yearling by Kapgarde (Fr) as well as a Kayf Tara (GB) colt foal on the ground.

“We've got six broodmares so hopefully they will produce something decent. They are a nice bunch of mares: Bitofapuzzle (GB), she was a Grade 1 winner, and Highland Retreat was a Grade 2 winner. The dream would be to produce a Gold Cup winner somewhere along the way, just like everyone else,” says Fehily.

There's been no shortage of top-class jump jockeys who have gone on to carve successful second careers as Flat and National Hunt consignors and pinhookers, such as Franny Woods, Mark Dwyer, Norman Williamson and Charlie Swan. While Fehily is tentatively following their example, he is in no rush to reach beyond the jumping division at present, despite an earlier foray into the breeze-up scene.

He says, “I wouldn't mind having a go at buying a foal, or buying something off the Flat as well, but not now. Number one, we haven't got the time. Two, we are just trying to get what we are doing started out first. I did do a couple breeze-up horses at one stage when I got in injured. I broke my leg one year and bought a couple of yearlings and breezed them. We didn't really have a clue what we were doing but it was a bit of fun and they all won. But we'll stick to what we know at the moment, which is the National Hunt side, and we'll see how that goes.”