MORNING SPORTSFANS!!!
As we move towards the end of the season, it has been a terrific week for the syndicate with patience paying off at Southwell for the owners of Hell Hound as he produces an impressive win.
Hurricane Pat finishes his season off in style with getting a win at Chepstow and Major Fortune surpasses Love Envoi’s record winning number for the syndicate!
over 100 crossies in one place
– can you imagine?!!!
On Saturday 21st March myself and my family flew to Ireland where we had a Crossey reunion, the last one we had was well over twenty years ago, this time there were over 100 Crossies all under one roof – can you imagine?!!!
David with his family in Ireland
It was great to catch up with all the family, especially my own parents, sisters and their kids with some of the cousins meeting for the first time – it is very rare that you get to meet all your family’s nephews, new cousins and all at the same time.
There was no special occasion, just a flying visit before traveling back to England first thing on Sunday morning, as myself, Rebecca, Jack and Safiya were then heading off for eleven days to Lanzarote for a well overdue holiday first thing on Monday morning.
When we first arrived, it wasn’t a great start as the weather was horrendous plus Jack and ‘Mother Bear’ Rebecca were being so sick that we had to call the Doctor – despite the bad luck both got better after a day or two as did the weather. After which, we had an amazing holiday and quality time with the family, especially with them being so young at a great age – Jack is now five and Saffie is two and a half, they are brilliant fun.
Whenever we competed in races I didn’t give an inch as I know I am getting slower and they are getting quicker! Great fun was had and I can’t wait for the next one.
I hope you enjoy our family video below:
Press play to watch the Crossey family holiday video!
HELL HOUND AT SOUTHWELL
Patience Rewarded! The owners of HELL HOUND had to show a huge amount of patience waiting for their horse to recover from injury but on Wednesday at Southwell everything came good. With Conor O’Farrell in the saddle he won impressively on his second start over fences. Conor said he jumped superbly but gave him the feel of a horse still seeking confidence in himself which saw him run in snatches. However when pulled out wide by Conor approaching the fourth last fence he really got racing and galloped right through the line to outstay his rivals over this extended three mile trip.
We could not be more thrilled for the owners and such was the manner of victory there is a genuine prospect of more to come. Our thanks go to trainer Neil Mulholland and his team for doing a super job preparing the horse for this race. Hell Hound loves spring ground so we’ll see him again in a few weeks time.
As a good trainer once told me “Without setbacks there are no comebacks”
Press play to watch HELL HOUND's winners video
FROST MOON AT SOUTHWELL
Dan Skelton assured the owners of FROST MOON that she had progressed nicely since her December bumper debut. This proved to be the case as she ran a very solid race finishing fourth at Southwell with Tristan Durrell in the saddle.
The field led by ‘odds on’ favorite Queens Charm didn’t go very quick in the first mile but Tristan had a nice position just behind the leader. Unfortunately Queens Charm started to falter exiting the back straight which in turn left Frost Moon caught in a pocket turning for home. Switched wide Frost Moon ran on gamely but showed signs of greenness when coming under pressure. Tristan said “all she does is gallop, she’ll improve with this experience under her belt and will be better suited to jumping hurdles over a longer trip next season”
We would hope to run Frost Moon in another spring bumper but there is every prospect of her making a lovely novice hurdler with a summer to mature on her back. Reasons to be optimistic.
FROST MOON's owners at Southwell
HURRICANE PAT AT CHEPSTOW
On Thursday Noel was at Chepstow early in the day in order to walk the track, he wanted to be sure it was safe ground for HURRICANE PAT to run. Noel thought the ground would ride on the soft side of good, the track was in beautiful condition so there would be no excuses.
Hurricane’s jockey Freddie Mitchell said there was no pace, so he would bounce out to make his own gallop and keep out of trouble. Sent off the 2/9 favourite Freddie said there was never a moment of worry despite hitting the second flight. Hurricane Pat sauntered home by 7L and 25L to record our 28th winner of the season.
It’s been a tremendous season with three wins including a Listed event, 2nd in a Grade 2 and only beaten 6 lengths at The Cheltenham Festival but now is the time for Hurricane Pat to take a well deserved holiday. Next season it’s likely he’ll jump a fence, he could be a very exciting novice chaser.
Press play to watch HURRICANE PAT's winning video!
TAHMURAS AT NEWTON ABBOT
On Saturday I headed down to Newton Abbot for Tahmuras with a nice bunch of owners, as Tahmuras was running in the feature handicap chase.
On his previous start with first-time blinkers, he ran a mighty race at Windsor, the question going into the race yesterday was, will the blinkers work again? In the early part of the race it definitely looked like we were in a nice position and he was travelling away good, however he made a mistake at the last fence with a circuit to go and looked like he downed tools from there.
Coming back as well, the jockey dismounted, as he thought Tahmuras might not have been quite right but when he came back he appeared fine – we’ll see how he is this morning.
TAHMURAS' owners
MAJOR FORTUNE AND SKI LODGE AT HAYDOCK
Up at Haydock Mark Ball was due to look after the owners but unfortunately he was taken ill and we hope everything is going to be okay with Mark – we will let you guys know how he is when we find out in due course.
We didn’t have any NFR representative but all the owners did a great job, particularly Craig Williams who got plenty of pictures and videos for all the owners who couldn’t attend.
Ski Lodge, with first-time cheek pieces traveled much better and looked like the winner for a lot of the way through the race but the real question mark was what he was going to find in the later stages of the race.
Turning in it looked like it was going to be a one two between Major Fortune and Ski Lodge but from the back and two out and particularly going to the last Ski Lodge weakened and ended up finishing fourth, which was disappointing yet again from him.
It looks like he’s just not staying the trip which doesn’t really make sense and it is a bit of a head scratcher. We’ll have a good chat with the team moving forward to see what we will do next. You have to remember he is a heavy ground winner at Haydock so it’s one of those that we just don’t have the answers to yet.
On the other side of things we had Major Fortune, my God, what a star he’s been. He traveled through the race lovely. He got to the front plenty early for him but he is a horse that, when he hits the front, he doesn’t do a whole pile and Harry confirmed he didn’t really want to get after him but he kept at it well, which was something he hasn’t done before being in front that long – this is definitely a new string to his bow, and we’re very very proud of this horse.
That is now his eighth win, a record for any Noel Fehily syndicate horse, surpassing Love Envoi’s record of seven.
He also won off a mark of 122, which he’s never done before, and that is by far his career-best performance from him. Maybe he is like a fine wine and getting better with age.
Absolutely chuffed for all his owners – they’ve been on a journey with him. After his second hurdle race, it looked like we should retire him, we gave him 10 months off the track and hoped some doctor green and a change of scenery did the trick and they haven’t looked back.
A well-deserved eighth career win for all his owners with more to come🕺🕺🕺
Press play to watch MAJOR FORTUNE winning at Haydock!
JUMP HORSES FOR SALE
1 share remaining in gidge
This is a beautiful filly we never thought we’d get the opportunity to buy, but when the chance came up we moved quickly.
She is 50% GBB registered and a half-sister to Crambo – we’re delighted to have her on the team.
Trainer: Fergal O’Brien
10% share = £5,500
Press play to watch the video on GIDGE!
GOFFS AINTREE & TATTERSALLS CHELTENHAM SALES
Myself and Noel will be going shopping at the Aintree on Thursday after racing.
Buying the right horses at the right price is becoming the hardest bit of our game.
As a trainer, Jockey or in our case Syndicate Managers we need a strong team of young horses coming through each season or you quickly get left behind so we’re currently doing the ‘hard yards’ watching video, checking form, talking with trainers, making a list of horses we aim to potentially buy and agreeing a max bid for each horse. It’s a lot of work but it needs to be done properly.
We’ll be sure to let you know about any purchases we make immediately after each sale date.
Busy but exciting times ahead.
Next week…
Next week we have plenty to look forward to with Aintree just around the corner, beforehand though we have a massive day today with Helnwein racing in a £65K race at Pumpton, where he will wear cheek pieces for the first time.
Noel and his family have made the trip over to Ireland as we have a runner, Jackie Hobbs in a grade one at Fairyhouse and I can’t wait to watch that – this is the level where we want to be competing at and it is brilliant to have a runner in a Grade 1.
On Tuesday I am heading up to Liverpool for a couple of rounds of golf with owners Paul Bocking (Major Fortune and Jackie Hobbs), Tony Glennon (Claim Du Brizais) and Ian Cooper (Midnight Jukebox), we are playing at the famous Formby Golf Course which is going to be fantastic.
On the Wednesday morning it will be another early start for our second round of golf where we will be joined by the one and only snooker legend ‘John Parrot’, John comes and meets us every year for our annual ‘pre-Aintree’ golf game.
It will be very much back to business on Wednesday afternoon however, where myself and Noel will be attending Aintree racecourse to view thirty horses from the sales which will be taking place on Thursday after the last race.
Throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday we will be having runners on all three days at the Aintree Festival with some very exciting ones to go to foot, which we will report on as the week unfolds, another exciting week as the season draws to a close with there are still some very big races to be run.
Sunday 5th April
Helnwein, Plumpton
Jackie Hobbs, Fairyhouse
Tuesday 7th April
Adonedeal, Exeter
Thursday 9th April
Ryan’s Rocket, Aintree
Friday 10th April
Baron Noir, Aintree
Saturday 11th April
Ace Of Spades, Aintree
Mr Hope Street, Aintree
Casual Observer, Chepstow
Delta Blues Belle, Chepstow
Diary Dates
Punchestown Festival Owners’ Trip – 27th April–1st May
Owners Golf Day at Newbury | 8th June
Owners Day at Hagg Hill | 1st AugustPUNCHESTOWN FESTIVAL TRIP DETAILS
https://www.michaelhope.co.uk/products/club-shops/noel-fehily/noel-fehily