Turf Topics: Fahey motivation clear as new Flat season gets going

Fahey has been at Musley Bank Stables on the outskirts of Malton for over five years but now the place – which he bought from former trainer Colin Tinkler – is undergoing a total makeover which is rapidly transforming one of Yorkshire's traditional strongholds into an establishment which will rank with the best in the business.

Fahey and his wife Vicki have moved into a splendid bungalow just down the hill from the old stables and the land in front of them as they look out, until recently fields, is a building site.

But next week the first horses will take up residence in a new, wonderfully airy, barn – one of three when the project is completed – built on American lines to give Fahey's charges the best quality of life possible as they are prepared to win races.

Funding the development is Fahey's driving force as he aims to build on last season's record 165 winners. "Standing still is not an option," he insists. "If you do that in this business you go backwards. I simply have to keep training winners. I have no big-bucks partners in this; it's just me and Mrs Fahey."

When the building work is complete, the barns will complement a superb all-weather gallop covering 16 acres which has the advantage of a chute which enables horses to work on speed or stamina dependant on their race-course targets.

"More by luck than design, it is the perfect gallop," said Fahey, delighted that his string have not missed a day's work through the worst winter for years.

The Nigerian-born but Co Meath-raised trainer recently sent out the 1,000th winner of a career which began at Manor Farm, Butterwick, and he knows he will have to maintain the momentum if he is to meet the demands of funding his new estate.

"Last season was incredible," he says. "We never had a lull – although once we did go five days without having a winner and some critics said we were out of form. The horses stayed healthy, that was the main thing, but they kept on improving as the season progressed. Why that happened I don't know; I wish I did.

"I'd like to think we would improve again and we have given a little more money for our two-year-olds for this season. They have better pedigrees and should be better horses but what we really need to discover is a freak – a Group horse. They raise the profile and, believe it or not, are less difficult to train than the average race-horse. It is easier to win races with a class horse than it is with one rated 0-60."

Among Fahey's 100-plus string are five horses owned by leading Yorkshire businessman and philanthropist Sir Robert Ogden – two three-year-olds and three juveniles – and his hand has been further strengthened by the arrival in his yard of proven winners from other stables. Horses like Anglezark, Haigh Hall, Demolition, Valery Borzov and Irish Heartbeat will give him even more strength in depth than he enjoyed in his record-breaking 2009 campaign.

"It's good to have a few new faces around the place," said the trainer as he looked forward to the opening of the new Flat season at Doncaster and today's first major handicap of Spring, the William Hill Lincoln, run over the straight mile on Town Moor.

The start of the Flat season brings a welcome renewal of passion for Fahey, who does not try to disguise his disdain for all-weather racing. "It has no class, no excitement; I certainly can't get excited about it and neither can my owners," he says. "I must have had around 100 runners on the all-weather over the winter and only about four owners turned up at Wolverhampton, Southwell or wherever to watch their horses run. It's just saturation racing run for the benefit of bookmakers."

Fahey entered six horses for today's Lincoln but only three – Extraterrestrial, Albaqaa and Harrison George – made the cut. All three looked in great shape as they worked on the hills above Malton earlier this week.

Albaqaa and Extraterrestrial had an outing at Wolverhampton recently to get the cobwebs out of their systems and Fahey considers he has reasonable hopes of a first success in the Lincoln.

"The softer the better for Extraterrestrial, who has been badly handicapped so we are putting up a 7lb claimer, Lee Topliss, who did everything right on him when he finished fourth at Wolverhampton and deserves to ride him again" he said. "Extraterrestrial would not win off a rating of 100 but he might just off 93.

"Albaqaa ran well to be third in what was a muddling race the other day. He wouldn't want fast ground and we will have to see if he can bounce back.

"Harrison George has not run over a mile before but if he gets the trip he could have a few pounds in hand."

So a new season, perhaps the most challenging yet, is under way and for Richard Fahey and his staff the nine-month battle to keep the winners coming – not least to keep his bank manager on friendly terms – stretches all the way from the daffodils of Spring to the mists of November.