Richard Fahey saddles 3,000th British winner

PA Sport Reporters
May 11, 2021 7:15 pm

Trainer reaches huge milestone with Ayr success.

Richard Fahey claimed his 3,000th British winner when Hong Kong Harry scored at Ayr on Tuesday evening.

Based in Malton, North Yorkshire, Fahey has long had a prolific strike rate from his Musley Bank yard.

He has trained more than 150 winners for the past six seasons and in 2015 equalled the record for most winners in a calendar year when saddling 235 – a figure subsequently broken by Mark Johnston in 2019.

Fahey has handled popular equine stars such as Gabrial, Kimberella and Superior Premium as well as top-class performers such as Mayson, Wootton Basset and Ribchester, arguably the best horse he has trained.

Ribchester winning the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot (John Walton/PA)

Fahey, who was born in Ireland but moved to Yorkshire when he was 18, told Great British Racing: “I would never have dreamed of reaching 3,000 winners when I started out, to have had 30 would have been enough back then!

“However, I’m obviously delighted to have reached such a fantastic milestone now and the credit must go to all my team as I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.

“If I had to pick one highlight, it would have to be Ribchester breaking the track record in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, it doesn’t get much better than that!”

A former jockey who rode more than 100 winners, Fahey’s training career began in 1993 and just seven years later he registered his first Royal Ascot win through Superior Premium in the Cork And Orrery Stakes.

His tally of 3,000 winners in Britain is made up of 2,859 on the Flat and 141 under National Hunt rules.

Huge congratulations to @RichardFahey 🎉
The top trainer has just had a winner @ayrracecourse to bring up the incredible landmark of 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ British career winners 🙌 pic.twitter.com/PZQpgv7lfQ
— Great British Racing (@GBRacing) May 11, 2021

Paul Hanagan, who steered Hong Kong Harry to victory, has ridden more winners for Fahey than anyone else, with the pair enjoying 895 successes together.

Hanagan said: “I joined Richard when I was 17 years old and we have both grown together ever since, enjoying some fantastic days and moments together.

“There is no way I would have been able to achieve what I have achieved in my career, for example the two Champion Jockey titles, if it weren’t for Richard.

“We have become great friends and I’m over the moon for him to have reached this fantastic milestone.”