Richard Fahey

Last updated

Richard Fahey
Richard Fahey.jpg
Personal information
Born1966 (age 58–59)
Nigeria
Occupation Trainer
Horse racing career
SportHorse racing
Major racing wins
Commonwealth Cup,
Middle Park Stakes,
Prix Morny,
Queen Anne Stakes,
The Lockinge Stakes,
Prix du Moulin,
Superlative Stakes,
Mill Reef Stakes,
July Cup,
Lennox Stakes,
Ayr Gold Cup,
Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère,
Heineken Gold Cup,
Canadian Stakes,
Yorkshire Cup,
Prix Maurice de Gheest, Critérium de Maisons-Laffitte,
Jersey Stakes,
Prix Jacques Le Marois,
Lowther Stakes,
Prix De L’Abbeye
Significant horses
Perfect Power, Ribchester, Queen Kindly, Birchwood, Sands Of Mali, Mr Lupton, Forest Ranger, Don't Touch, Garswood, Sandiva, Supplicant, Glen's Diamond, Ladys First, Mayson, Barefoot Lady, Mickdaam, Wootton Bassett, Knot In Wood, Utmost Respect, Anna Pavlova, Superior Premium, Golden Legacy, Noyan, Fev Rover, The Platinum Queen, The Ridler

Richard Fahey (born 1966) is a racehorse trainer based at Musley Bank yard in Malton in North Yorkshire. As of October 2025, he has saddled thirteen Group 1 winners in Britain and France, and has ten Royal Ascot wins to his name. In 2015 he equalled the record for 235 winners in a year, and reached his 3,000th winner in May 2021.

Contents

Background

Fahey was born in Nigeria, where his father was working as an engineer, and grew up in Ireland, where he started riding. He moved to England aged almost eighteen in 1984 to take up a position of conditional jockey at the yard of Jimmy Fitzgerald at Malton, North Yorkshire in North Yorkshire. [1] [2] He later joined the yard of Peter Easterby and was joint champion conditional jockey in the 1988/89 season. [1] [3] Having ridden over 100 winners, he gave up race-riding and set up a livery yard. He also bought and sold racehorses. [4] [5]

Career as a trainer

Fahey took out a training licence in 1993 and rented premises in Butterwick from his father-in-law, Peter Easterby, before buying Musley Bank yard in Malton in 2005. [5] [1] He sent out his first winner in September 1993, when Ok Bertie won a race at Haydock Racecourse. [6] Although primarily a trainer of horses who run on the flat, his first success at the highest level was in a National Hunt race, when Noyan, ridden by Norman Williamson, won the 1997 Punchestown Gold Cup. [7] Superior Premium, who had been bought for 2,800 guineas, provided Fahey with his first Group race win and first Royal Ascot win, in the 2000 Cork and Orrery Stakes under Johnny Murtagh. [7] [4]

In 2008, Fahey passed a century of winners for the first time. [7] In 2010, two-year-old Wootton Bassett provided Fahey and stable jockey Paul Hanagan with their first Group 1 wins, in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. [7] The yard then went from strength to strength with Group 1 winners Garswood, Mayson and the Godolphin-owned Ribchester. [8]

In 2015, Fahey equalled the record for annual winners set by Richard Hannon Sr. when saddling 235 winners. [9] The record was broken by Mark Johnston in 2019. [10] In May 2021, Fahey saddled his 3,000th winner in Britain, becoming only the eleventh trainer to do so. [11] In 2022 Fahey secured two wins at Royal Ascot, bringing his career total of wins at the meeting to ten. [4] [7] He achieved his thirteenth Group 1 win in October 2025 when Powerful Glory, ridden by Jamie Spencer, won the British Champions Sprint Stakes at odds of 200-1, setting a record for the longest-priced winner of a British Group 1 race. [12]

Personal life

Fahey was married to Leila Easterby, daughter of trainer Peter Easterby. The couple had a daughter and a son before divorcing. [13] His second marriage, to amateur jockey Vicki, produced another daughter. [14] He had two more daughters in a subsequent relationship with Amie Canham, a founding director of Take the Reins, an organisation that aims to promote racing careers to young people. [15] [16] [17]

Major wins

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain

Flag of France.svg France

Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Richard the Kingmaker". The Owner Breeder. 6 April 2011.
  2. ↑ "Open days at trainers' yards in the heart of Yorkshire racing return and are more popular than ever". Yorkshire Post. 9 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "Past championship winners". Professional Jockeys Association. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Richard Fahey interview: 'I wouldn't know what to do with £1 million'". The Telegraph. 17 June 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Fahey says Ribchester the highlight among 3,000 British winners". Racing TV. 5 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Top Flat trainer Richard Fahey talks about the value of teamwork in his yard and why he is passionate about opening racing's doors to young people of all backgrounds". Racing Together. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Richard Fahey". Racing Post. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "'He was huge for us' - Richard Fahey pays tribute to his first Group 1 winner Wootton Bassett following stallion's death". Racing Post. 24 September 2025.
  9. ↑ "No record winner for Richard Fahey after blank final day". Sky Sports. 31 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Mark Johnston sets British record for number of winners trained in calendar year" . The Times. 19 October 2019.
  11. ↑ "Richard Fahey saddles 3,000th British winner as Hong Kong Harry scores at Ayr". Racing Post. 11 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Historic 200-1 win followed by 100-1 shock at Ascot". 18 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "Peter Easterby: a legend who built an empire from next to nothing and etched an indelible mark on British racing". Racing Post. 9 June 2025.
  14. ↑ "Longnines provide timely sparkle for Vick Fahey on 25th July at Ascot". The Amateur Jockeys Association of Great Britain. 25 July 2009.
  15. ↑ "13 September 2019". Take the Reins. 13 September 2019.
  16. ↑ "Amie Canham's Plans to Change the Perception of Magistrates". Living North. February 2022.
  17. ↑ "Northern powerhouse gearing up for French foray and fatherhood". Racing Post. 13 August 2016.
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