With Suprise Package due to make his Flat debut on Thursday and Peter Fahey celebrating five winners in a week, it is high time we went to Monasterevin to speak to the master trainer himself.
The interviewer is the intrepid Kevin O’Ryan. Kevin’s Twitter handle is @irishkor so we’ll call him Irishkor. Peter’s is @PeterFaheyRacing so we’ll call him Peter!
Irishkor Well Peter, you’re having a great run, aren’t you?
Peter Yes, Kevin we are
Kevin is a little thrown off by the brevity of Peter’s response. He is used to asking a question and just holding the mic in front of someone’s mouth until they run out of steam. A technique that earned its ultimate reward when speaking to Eamonn Fitzgerald on Sunday after his first ever winner.
Irishkor (snippily) Yes, what was it like to get your first winner for months?
Peter (equally snippily) Nothing compared to the pleasure of being interviewed by you.
Now, at this point, I should point out that Peter and Kevin are good friends; not as good a friend as Kevin is with Fran Berry but then no one would expect that. Kevin decides to ask a question that will definitely get a response:
Irishkor Have you spoken to Paul Leech lately?
Peter (taking a deep breath before answering) Yes, I have. I told him that the horse is as well as I can get him at home, that he will almost certainly need the run, he’s 20kg heavier than when he ran in the Imperial Cup, he may be a bit sticky coming out of the starting stalls, there are some nice horses in the race and that our expectations should be low.
I think Paul’s got some Board meetings or else he would have come over; certainly, I have done nothing to discourage him.
Irishkor You do realize that the Sporting Life had him as the 9/4 2nd favourite
Peter I never saw that; they should have asked me. 20/1 in my book.
Irishkor. So, you’re not trying on Thursday?
Peter Oh, we’re trying all right. If he can win, he will win. Why not? It’s a shot to nothing and if he won, he would only need one more run before being able to run in Flat handicaps. I doubt we’ll go that way, but you never know. There are a couple of hurdle races coming up for him and we can always go over fences. He won’t be going to Galway though; the course just doesn’t really suit and, anyway, I plan to have an even better week than last year and I’m not sure Paul can keep up with the craic.
{Editor’s note: At this point I would like to refer Mr. Fahey to a particular evening we spent in Dublin last December}
Irishkor. I see Derek O’Connor’s on board – pretty decent jockey for this type of race.
Peter Yes, he is.
Irishkor. Would you care to elucidate?
Peter. Not right now Kevin, I’m good sitting down thanks. {A brief pause for effect then..}
Just joking Kevin; not used to you coming out with words like that. He is not riding as much at the moment, but can still do 11:2 and you know he will give honest and forthright feedback
Irishkor. You can say that again. Anyway, back to Suprise Package, you’re happy he’s fully recovered?
Peter. As much as I can be. He seems really well but, like I say, he may get found out when the pressure is turned on. It’s a long season and we just hope he enjoys it and comes back sound and well. That’s what tomorrow is all about.
Irishkor. Any news on Freedom to Dream?
Peter. It’s all a bit strange to be honest with you. He had minor ulcers after the Dublin Racing Festival and then scoped clean before he ran at Limerick. That was such a bad run that we gave him a complete check over and he was dealing with high grade bleeding ulcers; no idea what caused them and it was strange because his coat and his eating were totally normal. He’s been on medication ever since and spends 99% of his time in a field, so we are hoping we have solved the problem. We will test him in the next couple of weeks and he could run fairly soon after that if all is well; he has not lost condition and was pretty fit before all of this.
Freedom to Dream the day after his last run - look at his coat!
Irishkor Wow, that was your longest answer yet
Peter. I know, so let me tell you about my best Galway chances………..
Irishkor (interrupting) So sorry Peter. We have to go now, apparently there’s a Mascot race somewhere in England.
Well, there you have it: another insightful and informative interview.