GOOD MORNING SPORTSFANS!!
Laffer Curve at Hexham.
A lovely welcome for all owners at Hagg Hill.
Ascending Star makes his handicap debut at Sandown, showing a great attitude to finish third.
A first for Michael and Niamh, both making their debuts in the ring.
LAFFER CURVE AT HEXHAM
On Sunday 21st June Laffer Curve headed north to Hexham to run for the second time over fences, taking on short priced favourite Passengerontheship in the 2m 4f handicap chase.
We knew he would be fairly tough to beat haven won his last 3 races but we went there full of optimism off the back of a good 2nd on chasing debut at Worcester in a mares chase. From the moment Harry jumped off though, she never looked to be travelling and was backing off her fences whilst jumping marginally to the right. Not ideal as she never looked happy which could have been down to the track or off the back of quite recent run last, which we will never know but in the end Harry looked after her and pulled her up after 2 out.
Clearly it wasn’t her day and wasn’t within 10lbs of what she showed at Worcester the time before but that main thing is she’s ok so we will draw a line through it and freshen her up for another day. Possibly on a flatter more conventional course like Worcester again or Uttoxeter with the option of maybe going back over hurdles, we will see what Dan comes up with. Mark Ball was up there with the owners who all had a great day despite the outcome and look forward to another day with a true representation of her abilities.
Team LAFFER CURVE at Hexham
OWNERS VISITING HAGG HILL
Over the past two weeks we’ve had a number of owners down at Noel’s to see their horses and it was great to see Gary Jones come down to meet his legend of a horse Major Fortune. Gary is a right old character and normally every time Major runs he likes to position himself right on the winning line where you can always see him jumping up and down like an absolute lunatic but rightly so. It was great to have him down to not only see Major but to also meet his new purchase Gidge ,who is of particular interest to Gary, as it turns out he was given the nickname Gidge at college so seemed it appropriate that he purchased a share in her.
Gary and Gidge
On Tuesday Mark and Jane came down to see some of their team of horses but even more pleasingly they didn’t come empty handed as they brought this cake for the Hagg Hill team to enjoy. The weather was delightful so a slice of cake was well enjoyed in the sunshine.
Thank you Jane & Mark for the wonderful cake
A lot of our owners are away on holiday at the minute but good to see that they are sporting and representing the Noel Fehily brand whilst away…Steven Crabb modelled a NF cap whilst jet setting in the Mediterranean!
On Monday 29th June I took myself down to Noel’s to see all the horses and I always enjoy it when I pop down after a while as I like to see all the changes they have made. Couple of them have gone lighter in colour whilst a few seem to have totally changed colour but that happens to all of us after a couple of hours in the sun, well maybe not all of us. The horses that went out later than the majority have really started to blossom and I am delighted with how the whole team are looking as they’ve all summered well and carrying lots of condition.
It’s a long winter ahead so it’s good to gain what they can now. I hope you all enjoyed your video updates this week as now we are starting to make plans as to when they will start to come back in. Some of the team have already started their pre-training, such as Glory be to sea as she’s coming back from a leg injury and need to do plenty of roadwork but the majority will look to be back in on the 13th July (just under a 2 weeks time).
A couple that were later out and some of the 4 year olds will stay out an extra week but all of them will be back in by the 20th ready to get fit for the 2026/27 season. The pre-training is a slow process gearing up for the winter months but really excited with the team we have for this season going forward and looking forward to it. All owners welcome at Hagg Hill anytime.
Press play on the video above to watch Noel riding Glory Be To Sea
ASCENDING STAR AT SANDOWN
On Friday I headed to Sandown where we had Ascending Star making his handicap debut off the back of a nice 1st victory at Lingfield the time before.
The plan was to sit in half way but that plan went straight out the window as he jumped unbelievably smart out of the stalls and ended up making his way to the front. The early parts of the race he tended to race just a little bit with the choke out and then switched off turning in but generally when a horse runs quite keen they don’t see out their races but he showed a great attitude from coming off the bridle 2 and a half down to really battle on well and only end up being beat a length and half in the end into 3rd.
This horse is maturing the whole time and we feel like there is lots more still to come from him particularly when he learns to race the right way. A bit of softer ground would also help him going forward. We had an unbelievably exciting day at Sandown as not only was the weather gorgeous but hopefully we have a lovely progressive horse to enjoy more successful days with.
ASCENDING STAR's owners at Sandown on Friday
MICHAEL MAKES HIS BOXING DEBUT & niamh competes in her first one day event
The first official boxing debut came for Master Michael Fehily on Saturday 20th June where he went in the ring with his sparring partner Tommy Millard. Arguably identical in not only weight & height but also in looks made it hard to keep up with who was who in the ring but both boys put up a good fight and the end result reflected how evenly matched they were with a draw.
Niamh competed in her first ‘one day event’, she did amazingly well given it was her first event, finishing with a score of 38 in the dressage plus a double clear in the show jumping and cross country! She’s now qualified for Bickton Horse Trials, we’re really looking forward to the future with Casper – Niamh’s pony.
Niamh’s first pony race is on 26th August at Newbury, watch this space!
Photos of Niamh and Casper on their first 'one day event' together - well done Niamh
Diary Dates
Just a few upcoming dates for you to note:
Owners Day at Hagg Hill | 1st August***REMINDER***
***Please click here to let us know if you can / can’t attend the 2026 Open Day***
NOEL FEHILY BRANDED CLOTHING:
https://www.michaelhope.co.uk/products/club-shops/noel-fehily/noel-fehily