Rookie Trainer Fellowes Ready for BC
After just 10 months out on his own and the ripe age of 28, British trainer Charlie Fellowes will send out his first Breeders’ Cup candidate in the GI Juvenile Turf Friday in Wet Sail (Henrythenavigator). The Huntington, England-native has spent the majority of his young life in and around the racetrack and now boast a string of 26 horses.
Fellowes explained that, growing up close by to Newmarket, his mother would take him to the track as a child.
“My mom used to be part of a syndicate that had horses in training in England,” Fellowes said. “I used to get dragged along to the track to watch the horse train, completely fell in love with it and was lucky enough to be in a position that my parents could support me and I followed my dream.”
After studying at the University of Leeds, Fellowes decided to peruse a career and racing and did stints with trainers Lee Freedman and James Fanshawe.
“In the early days, I worked for Godolphin,” Fellowes explained. “Simon Crisford is a good family friend and he helped me out and got me set on my way. When I finished university, I went to Australian and spent a year working for Lee Freedman and I did a bit of traveling for him over there and sort of got sent away on my own for a little bit and that taught me a huge amount. Then, I moved back to England and got a job with James Fanshawe and spent five years as his assistant.”
Fellowes took out his training license that the beginning of the year, and in doing so, became the youngest trainer in England. Fellowes’ youth, however, has not proved at detriment, as he found success in one of the first horses he purchased. Fellowes scooped up Wet Sail for 40,000€ as a yearling at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale on behalf of Saffron House Stables Partnership. Seventh at first asking May 4 at Newmarket, the bay improved to finish third over soft ground at Windsor Aug. 11. After his maiden win at Salisbury Aug. 29, Sheikh Fahad Al Thani’s Qatar Racing acquired the colt with the Breeders’ Cup in mind. He was third for his new owners in Redcar’s Two-Year-Old Trophy S. last time out Oct. 4.
“I bought the horse for a syndicate of people who wanted to support me in my first year,” Fellowes said. “He did very well and, after he won a maiden very easily, we sold the horse to Sheikh Fahad through David Redvers as a possibility for a Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year. I’m just delighted that for them the dream has come true and we’ve come out here.”
Fellowes explained that Sheikh Fahad’s enthusiasm, coupled with Wet Sail’s running style and ability, convinced him to try the colt in this competitive spot.
“We thought his style of racing would be suited to out here with the tight track and quick ground,” Fellowes offered. “He ticked all the boxes and I’m lucky enough to have an owner who is game and who is up for a challenge and who wants to have Breeders’ Cup runners. I suggested if he did well enough in England and got a handicap mark, it would be a possibility, and Sheikh Fahad [Al Thani] was very keen.”
As for making his first North American start and drawing the inside post position, Fellowes is largely unconcerned.
“He’s a small, powerful little horse,” the conditioner said of his charge. “He’s very well balanced and I don’t think the track poses any problems at all. I think he’ll go around the turn easy. I was slightly concerned early on in his career that quick ground wouldn’t be what he wanted,–he had a bit of sore shins when he was young and I think that was more the concern. Jamie Spencer, who rides him on Friday, has ridden him a couple of times and has said ‘This guy wants decent ground and he doesn’t want it too soft.’ He got beat in a maiden at Windsor on soft ground, so I’m confident that it should suit him.”
“Obviously, we’re going to need luck, but I’m happier having drawn stall one than having drawn out wide,” he continued. “With the way my fellow races, I would have been really concerned if we had a position nine or outside. The idea of getting stuck wide on a track like this is not what I would have wanted and I would much rather be going around the rail and be riding for a bit of a luck than I would be than having been stuck out wide and knowing he would have to do it the hard way.”
With a Breeders’ Cup starter in just his first year of training, it’s no wonder Fellowes has high expectations for his career. The conditioner noted, with a chuckle, that one of his goals is to “win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile turf–that’s pretty high up on the list.”
“I’m incredibly passionate and very driven and focused on what I want to achieve,” Fellowes elaborated. “I would love to make it to the top, I’d love to travel all around the world, but there are so many targets that it would be ridiculous to try to name one. The beauty of racing nowadays is you can go anywhere–you’ve go the Derby at home, you’ve got Royal Ascot at home, you’ve got the Breeders’ Cup, you’ve got the Melbourne Cup, the Arc de Triomphe. Just being able to do things like this and travel horses over here is a dream come true.