Charlie Fellowes Blog: Mentors

This is the first installment in what will be a regular blog from Newmarket trainer Charlie Fellowes, who is entering his fifth season of training from St Gatien Cottage Stables.

It is 6:10 on a freezing cold February morning, and I feel that–as I wait for first lot to pull out–now is as good a time as any to commence writing my first-ever column for the TDN. My name is Charlie Fellowes, and at 32 years old I am one of the younger members of the training ranks in Newmarket. This year will be my fifth year with a licence and so far, it has been one hell of a ride.

The subject title of this first piece refers to my mentors in racing, and for me this is an incredibly easy starting point. To be honest I have only one. However, I will get on to that one in a minute. There are various people to whom I am incredibly grateful, and without whom I would not be where I am today.

I did not come from a racing background and my interest in this sport was fuelled by my mum's involvement in a syndicate and my infatuation with Channel 4 racing. It was, therefore, a real stroke of luck when I found out that my sister was in the same class at school as Simon Crisford's daughter Georgina, and before I knew it I was on my way to Dubai to work for the 'Boys in Blue.' I learnt a huge amount in my time there (eight months on my gap year) and I have no doubt that the road to training would have been very different without Simon's help.

John Ferguson has also played a huge part in getting me to where I am today, as it was he that offered me a role at Darley pre-training during my university holidays and also got me a job in Australia with Lee Freedman. I had a great time with the Freedman brothers and learnt a huge amount during my year-long stay in Melbourne, but it was my next move that was to truly mould my beliefs on how racehorses should be trained.

On returning to England, word got to me that James Fanshawe might be looking for an assistant, and a phone call later I had secured myself a trial at his stunning yard on the edge of Newmarket. It quickly became apparent that James and I had rather a lot in common; music taste, sense of humour, moderate dress sense and a natural patience with horses. During my five years at his stable we never had more than 80 horses in the yard, and yet routinely he produced a Group 1 horse every year. There are many larger yards that would not be able to say the same thing. Society Rock, Spacious, Deacon Blues, High Jinx, Dandino, Seal of Approval and Ribbons all went through the yard during my time there.

So, what was the key? As is always the case it wasn't just one thing in particular. In Pegasus Stables, James has created a very happy and relaxed environment for the horses. The paddocks are beautifully looked after and used regularly by the horses after exercise and in the afternoons. With the yard situated on the edge of town it is also much quieter than most stables and so when the horses were supposed to be relaxing, they genuinely were switching off. But most importantly of all James never asked them to do things they weren't ready to. We see more and more pressure on quick results and early 2-year olds, but James knows that if you can afford to be patient then the horse will fly higher in the long run. I would like to think that this is something I have taken on board, and although I appreciate that time is of the essence, I take great pride in watching my horses improve with age, and then hold on to their form for as long as possible. I have two horses in my yard that have been with me since the first day I set up training: Accession (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) (nine years old) and Carolinae (GB) (Makfi {GB}) (six years old). Both horses are on career high marks as we speak. Surely owners will get more enjoyment from that than a short, sharp one-hit wonder?

I adored my time at James's yard and to this day, barring a couple of my own personal training highlights, the Royal Ascot double our yard had with Deacon Blues and Society Rock was the best day of my racing career. Sadly, I wasn't even there that day as I was required at Newmarket, something I will never forgive the Guv'nor for!