MORNING SPORTSFANS!!!
Morning team!!!
The countdown is on with just over a week to go until the Cheltenham Festival, it has been another busy week at the ranch with a morning on the gallops at Harry Fry’s and runners the length and breadth of the country.
Owners make a quick break to Tenerife!
Sergeant Fury – happy retirement!
the gang takes to Tenerife!
Denise Stratford, Sarah Bryan, Phil Bryan and Kevin stratford
The photo above landed in one of the group chats last Saturday – firm proof that our owners do occasionally take a break from racing! Four of them unexpectedly bumped into each other whilst on holiday in Tenerife, a well-deserved few days of sunshine and relaxation instead of studying racecards was had.
Fully “refreshed,” they’re now back recharged and ready for Cheltenham Festival – the form study can safely resume!
A caricature of ACE OF SPADES at Cheltenham Festival
Phil Lewis, owner of Ace Of Spades said, “He wins, fact… head in his chest, smoking a cigar, whilst winking at the camera as he passes the line!”
morning on the gallops at harry fry’s
I sat on Recite A Poem who is in good form. She did two canters, the first nice and steady where she was very relaxed and settled. In the second canter she was bucking and kicking, always a great sign that a horse is feeling well, she took me up nicely and gave me a lovely feel.
This filly has grown a huge amount since we purchased her. We absolutely love her and think Harry has done a fantastic job. Since we purchased her she has grown and really strengthened up.
Recite A Poem will be ready to run in a bumper in the second half of March and we hold her in high regard.
RECITE A POEM's gallops morning video
STAR WALKING's gallops morning video
Casual Observer is back on track 💥🏇
On Wednesday Noel headed North to Bangor, where Casual Observer was making his seasonal debut after a year off the track. His owners have been very patient with him so it was lovely to get him back out and started again.
Casual Observer jumped brilliantly and settled well as he can race sometimes with the chuck out. With a mile to go you could see Casual got a tired but Paul kept grabbing hold of him to refill the tank and as a consequence he got his 2nd wind and came home well to finish 2nd.
Paul felt Casual gave him a really nice ride and reported back that the fences helped him relax into the race which is very encouraging going forward.
The next possible target for him is a 0–120 Novice Handicap Chase at Wetherby on 17th March.
CASUAL OBSERVER and his owners
a new chapter for sergeant fury
At the beginning of October Sergeant Fury unfortunately sustained a fracture to his long pastern whilst going up the gallops, as a result of his injury he was rushed to the veterinary hospital for surgery, which consisted of a fixation involving six pins. The good news is that after five months of box rest back at Hagg Hill, he has recovered well and can start ridden work again in early March.
Sergeant Fury has been an absolute superstar, running ten times, three of those were wins, with five places other occasions. He has given his owners some fantastic days out – being a model of consistency throughout.
While we had hoped he might return to the track after discussions between Noel, myself and all of his owners we felt the kindest decision was to find him a loving new home for life. He has been a wonderful horse for his owners and has provided us with many great memories.
Natasha, who does a fantastic job at rehoming some of our horses has found Sergeant Fury a beautiful home in Dorset with a wonderful family who also have Melk Abbey and a few other syndicate horses. Sergeant will now be a horse for their daughter with plans for hunting, fun rides and a bit of everything – a perfect next chapter for him.
Happy retirement SERGEANT FURY - press play on the video above!
ski lodge at wetherby
On Thursday myself, owner Craig Williams and ‘The Governor’ Pete Jones headed off for the long journey to Wetherby where we had Ski Lodge and Queenofthejukebox running.
First up was Ski Lodge over fences. Last time out at Ffos Las he had a mother and father of a fall, so it was lovely to get him back on track.
He looked like he travelled away nicely through the race and jumped great under Tom Bellamy, however when the pace quickened as they started to turn into the straight he was a bit once paced & from the back of two out he did not see out his race and by the time they jumped the last he was barely in a canter crossing the finish line.
Clearly not his running, despite him looking fit clean limbed and not blowing hard after the race. It is a little bit of a head scratcher so we’ll have to see what comes out in the washing. When a horse doesn’t run to form there is usually a reason. Going forward we’ll see if anything comes up before we make any plans with him.
SKI LODGE's owners
QUEENOFTHEJUKEBOX at wetherby
Next up was Queenofthejukebox, a mare who had lots of troubles earlier this season where she was suffering from chronic stomach ulcers. It was a step back in the right direction last time out over two miles where she finished seventh at Kempton.
Very pleasingly it was another positive step forward with her at Wetherby where she ran a lovely race under the hands of Sean Bowen to finish second, just getting run out of it towards the finish. We feel with this run under her belt it will do her confidence the world of good & now we can maybe press the pace a little bit more the next day.
Bearing this in mind, the race at Wetherby on Thursday would not have been the right day to do that, we wanted to see another step in the right direction which we certainly got.
No-one likes finishing second but there were no excuses this time and we feel this was a big step forward from where we were a couple of runs ago. A great day was had with all the owners -as always it was great to catch up with everyone.
QUEENOFTHEJUKEBOX's owners
kamsinas at doncaster
Noel Fehily made the long four hour trek up to Doncaster where we had one of our stable stalwarts Kamsinas running in the three mile hurdle race in which he finished second in this race last year and we were going up there hoping we would go one better.
Kamsinas hasn’t been very well handicapped since winning his last race, therefore we put the talented 5lb claimer Fern O’Brien on board to hopefully give him some chance of getting back into the winning tread.
On the day a number of runners were pulled out due to the very soft/heavy ground, despite this we left Kamsinas in so he could take a chance as it ended up being a £25,000 race with only five runners in it.
From the early stages in the race Kamsinas didn’t look like he was enjoying the ground, he looked like he was moving into the race half okay but deep down we knew Fern wasn’t holding onto a huge pile and we got left behind up the straight.
Kamsinas probably would have finished fourth but he took a tired fall at the last – luckily Kamsinas and Fern got up absolutely fine and both walked away to fight another day. As Noel pointed out after the race three miles on that ground is probably far enough for him and he is probably better over two and a half miles on that type of ground.
A good team of owners were in attendance, as always a great bunch and the main thing was the horse and rider were safe and sound.
KAMSINAS in the parade ring at Doncaster on Saturday
Next week…
Thursday 5th March
Mr Hope Street, Haydock
Adonedeal, Haydock
Friday 6th March
Adonedeal, Exeter
Major Fortune, Exeter
Saturday 7th March
Millstatt Abbey, Sandown
Mr Hope Street, Sandown
Diary Dates
GOLF TRIP DETAILs
PUNCHESTOWN FESTIVAL TRIP DETAILS
https://www.michaelhope.co.uk/products/club-shops/noel-fehily/noel-fehily
For all your printing, packaging and graphic design enquiries please contact www.olivepg.co.uk
2026 Racing Calendar
Featuring a stunning selection of syndicate member horses, in race and training scenarios.
The calendar features one month to view and includes race meeting information and highlights the key races each month.
Think outside the box.
Realise the potential of your business and experience unmatched quality, efficency and reliability with our packaging solutions.
Official sponsors of Noel Fehily Racing