Noel Fehily for different reasons gets back into the racing scene this time not as a jockey but as an owner with the first horse of his new Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate at Market Rasen on Thursday.
Fehily ended his 20 year career in the saddle in March at last season’s Cheltenham Festival immediately after winning the Dawn Run Novices’ Hurdle on Eglantine Du Soleil.
The 43 year old, landed his 7th Cheltenham festival winner on board the Willie Mullins trained mare and bowed out of his illustrious career which saw him win over 1,300 races including two Champion Hurdles, a Champion Chase and two King George VI's at Kempton on Boxing Day.
Fehily brought the curtain down on is career with a win on get In the Queue at Newbury at the end of March but has since stayed involved with the start with breeding horses near his home in Swindown whilst still riding out for trainer Harry Fry.
He has his first runner on Thursday with Pride Of Lecale for trainer Fergal O'Brien who is currently in a great run of form at the start of the national hunt season.
(Credit At The Races Fehily said: “I thought it would be a bit of fun and a way to try to bring more people into racing and get them involved.
“It’s a good way for people who might not want to go it alone in a horse to have a leg on their own or with some of their friends. Dave is involved with me.
“We started with a horse called The Grey Scholar who is an English point-to-point winner. He is with Mark Bradstock so hopefully he will go down the novice hurdle route. He was an impressive winner of his point-to-point.
“Pride Of Lecale is entered on Thursday at Market Rasen. Fergal’s horses couldn’t be in better form and they are running really well. I hope he will run well.
“He was a good bumper horse and then he ran a few times last year over hurdles when he probably wanted soft ground which he didn’t really get much of. He has a handicap mark and is ready to go so that is why we took a chance on him.
“There are 10 people in the two horses and then we got a couple more at Newmarket last week for a single horse syndicate, a four-year-old called Trailboss, who is going to Charlie Mann, and a three-year-old called Isolate who will be trained by Alan King.”
Fehily added: “We are not going in at a very high level but at the same time I’d like to think there is a bit of quality there and hopefully we will get a few winners.”