Faugheen

Background

Faugheen is a bay gelding with a white blaze and white socks on his hind legs bred in Ireland by Dr John Waldron. He was sired by Germany, an American-bred, German-trained horse who won the Grosser Preis von Baden and the Bayerisches Zuchtrennen in 1995. As a breeding stallion he sired several good National Hunt horses including Captain Cee Bee whose win have included the Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the Ryanair Novice Chase.

Faugheen's dam Miss Pickering was an unraced daughter of the leading National Hunt sire Accordion and a descendant of the broodmare Meraline, making her a distant relative of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Saumarez. Faugheen is the only winner she has produced to date and hails from the family of the 1973 Group Three Premio Royal Mares winner Ombra Del Sol, herself the dam of the 1981 Old Newton Cup winner Dogberry, and the seven furlong Listed winning pair Borderline and Sapper.

In 2008 as a foal, he was consigned to the Tattersalls Ireland Sale and bought for €4000 by Peter Quinlan. In June 2011, his brother Tom Quinlan sent the three-year-old gelding to the Goffs National Hunt sale and he was bought for €12,000 by Meadowview Stables. He ran his first race in a point-to-point circuit in the colours of Thomas Hassett, who named him after a church near the Bohernamuck crossroads in County Waterford called Faugheen Chapel. After impressing on his debut Faugheen moved on to Rich and Susannah Ricci ownership in the summer of 2012 and was sent into training for Willie Mullins yard.

Racing career

Early career

Faugheen was trained by Andrew Slattery when he began his racing career on the amateur Point-to-point circuit. At the Ballysteen meeting on 29 April 2012 he started 2/1 second favourite for a three-mile maiden race and won by eight lengths from Ballingarrow. Afterwards Andrew Slattery reported that "this is a real good horse who is still very backward, he is only eighty percent fit, but his homework has been very good".

Later that year Faugheen entered Mrs S Ricci ownership and was sent into training with Willie Mullins at which he "was held in high regard". Faugheen was subsequently the subject of support for the 2013 Champion Bumper without setting foot on a racecourse with the yard connections reporting that he won impressively a schooling bumper but after an absence of over a year due to injury the gelding returned on 11 May 2013 in a twenty-two runner National Hunt Flat race at Punchestown Racecourse. Ridden by his trainer's son Patrick Mullins, he started 11/8 favourite and accelerated clear of his opponents in the last quarter mile to win by twenty-two lengths from Josses Hill.

2013/2014 National Hunt season: Novice hurdles

In the 2013/2014 National Hunt season Faugheen was campaigned in novice hurdle races. He made his jumping debut on 17 November, ridden by Ruby Walsh, he started the 1/5 short favourite for a race over two miles and six furlongs at Punchestown. After keeping tabs on the leaders throughout the race Faugheen was still on the bridle as he coasted clear in the home straight. The only danger appeared to be at the last obstacle at which he took an untidy jump but was still well on top off the out of depth adversaries without Walsh asking for any serious effort out of his mount.

Three weeks later he was entered for the Meath Novice Hurdle over two and a half miles at Navan Racecourse. Ruby Walsh beforehand said that Faugheen "absolutely bolted up at Punchestown on his first run of this season and the third, Oscar Chimes, won since in Thurles, so the form doesn’t look too bad" and reported that he had "worked really well during the week and is, without doubt, the reason I’m staying at home." He was again sent off at prohibitive odds but confirmed the expectations winning by four and a quarter lengths from Empire of Dirt. After the race Walsh said "He jumped better today but there is still room for improvement. He'll keep learning and the only way he'll do that is through racing so that's why Willie wanted to come here first before going for a graded race. He deserves his chance in the big time".

On 28 December Faugheen was moved up in class for the Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle graded event over three miles on heavy ground at Limerick Racecourse. By this time, the previously beaten horses started to frank the form, leading with the bumper 22 lengths runner-up Josses Hill who was purchased for £100,000 and subsequently won his next 2 races, therefore the raise in class proved of little concern and Faugheen "maintained his unbeaten record in effortless fashion when taking the Novice Hurdle at Limerick". Ridden by Emmet Mullins, the nephew of Faugheen's trainer, he led from the start and won by five lengths from The Job Is Right despite jumping poorly at several of the obstacles.

At his first Cheltenham Festival appearance Faugheen contested the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle – his first race at Grade 1 level – over two miles and five furlongs where he started as the 6/4 favourite against fourteen rivals headed by Red Sherlock and Rathvinden, the first and second-place finishers in the Classic Novices' Hurdle.

2014/2015 National Hunt season

On his first appearance against more experienced hurdlers, Faugheen contested the Ascot Hurdle over 2m 3+1⁄2 f on 22 November 2014. As in most of his previous races, he took the lead from the start and was never seriously challenged, winning by three and three-quarter lengths from the Nicky Henderson-trained Blue Fashion. Mullins later said: "Dan Skelton, who stood in for me on the day, remarked to Ruby (Walsh) that he'd never saddled a horse as fat as that for a big race. If he can do that with that amount of condition on him there must be huge improvement in him". After the race the William Hill made Faugheen 9/4 favourite for the 2015 Champion Hurdle.

Faugheen's next start was the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle on Boxing Day over two miles at Kempton in which he started at 4/11 short price favourite with his main opposition looking to come from the Fighting Fifth Hurdle winner Irving. He tracked the front-running Blue Heron before taking the lead approaching the second last hurdle and drew away in the straight to win by eight lengths from Purple Bay, the winner of the Elite Hurdle who was officially rated the second best horse coming into the race.

The performance's style was backed by substance recording the fastest overall time in this race over the Good-Soft going which caused his odds to shorten again in the Champion Hurdle market at a general price of 5/4, the shortest priced horse in history at the first attempt of winning the Champion Hurdle without previously encountering any of his main rivals, with the prolific 3 times winners Hatton's Grace, Sir Ken and Istabraq sent off at 100–7 in 1949, 3/1 in 1952 and respectively 3/1 in 1998, while the other 3 times winners of the Champion Hurdle Persian War and See You Then weren't sent off as favourites on their first attempts. 2 times winners Bula, Night Nurse and Hurricane Fly started at 15/8, 2/1 and 11/4 at their first attempts, respectively in 1971, 1976 and 2011.

Faugheen's groom, John Codd, who was taking care and rode him every day at Willie Mullins yard, commented about the task lying ahead in the Champion Hurdle "Faugheen's got plenty of good horses to beat but he's done nothing wrong and nothing's beaten him yet" and reported that Faugheen "started to pick up work about three weeks before the Festival. He gives you a great feeling to ride. I used to ride Big Zeb and he's a very similar type."

Midway career

Trainer Willie Mullins was gearing Faugheen towards a future chasing career during his novice season "I would imagine he's a chaser. He wants fences to maybe make him drop the bridle and travel" and having his first career win in a PTP race which uses similar fences to those used for chase races, the transition was expected to be beneficial by Mullins who provided an explanation after his win in the Grade 1 Cheltenham Novices' Hurdle where he made a few jumping errors: "I think he wants fences. He has a disregard for hurdles, he just wants to go. Fences might make him respect things more".

However, Faugheen's career took a major turn as just before the start of the Punchestown festival in late April 2014, his stablemate Vautour "failed a late fitness test" according to Mullins, that made them switch targets during that week with Faugheen running instead in the early Tuesday's race Herald Champion Novice Hurdle which was over the 2 miles trip. In the race he was against a couple of Vautour's former rivals of which Faugheen "made light work" and made Mullins to reconsider his future prospect: "You'd have to consider staying hurdling with him next season. Looking at him beforehand, I thought he was a chaser, but there's no harm in having another good hurdler and that would certainly make you think that maybe he should stay at this game".

After winning the 2015 Champion Hurdle, Willie Mullins said: "There's no reason to go novice chasing when you have a hurdler as good as this" and later confirmed that Faugheen "won’t jump a fence for a long time, perhaps ever". In mid-October 2015 in an exclusive interview on At the Races owner Rich Ricci revealed that "Faugheen looks like a chaser, we all know that, but he has a sensitive back and was hard to keep fit as a younger horse, hurdling probably is the right way for him".

2015/2016 National Hunt season

Faugheen made his return on 15 November 2015 in the Morgiana Hurdle

and while the general racing public expected a clean sweep by the champion hurdler who was sent off as the 1/6 favourite, instead a "shock defeat" left even his trainer Willie Mullins surprised when Faugheen's stablemate Nichols Canyon, a two-times Listed flat winner in 2013 and four-time Grade 1 winner in his 2014/2015 novice season, took the lead and remained in the first spot for the rest of the contest. During the race, the tactical slow gallop set by jockey David Mullins did not help Faugheen's jumping as he awkwardly skipped over the third obstacle and a significant error at the second last hurdle put another two lengths between himself and his stablemate.

Sprinting for home the three Mullins-trained horses were all in contention, including Wicklow Brave who on his previous three starts finished third in the G1 Irish St. Leger and G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup, placed second in the Ebor, Europe's most valuable flat handicap and was an eight lengths winner at the Cheltenham Festival in the 2015 County Hurdle. When Faugheen was asked to go past his stable companion he couldn't, Ruby Walsh reporting: "from the first down the back he was hanging right all the way, it's not something he's done before". After the last hurdle Faugheen started to make progress and was reducing the gap but the finish line came in time for Nichols Canyon, half a length in front of Faugheen whose 11-race unbeaten run came to an end.

The surprising result made Willie Mullins question if the gallops Faugheen did few days earlier at Curragh might have been the reason behind his defeat "That worked out completely different from the way they worked on Tuesday. Faugheen left Nichols for dead – maybe he left his race behind, I don’t know". Furthermore, while Ruby Walsh's prediction a month earlier: "Faugheen's unbeaten over timber but somewhere along the way that may go" came true on his reappearance, the jockey found the actual defeat discouraging: "It's disappointing, he didn’t pick up like he can, but that's horse racing isn’t it? We always knew Nichols Canyon was a good horse. It's just disappointing".

On 7 December at the Horse Racing Ireland annual awards, Faugheen was jointly awarded the title of Horse of the Year after tying in the vote with Don Cossack.

2017/2018 National Hunt season

After a period of 22 months off track, Faugheen made his eagerly awaited reappearance in the Morgiana Hurdle. He was due to make his comeback in this race last season but was ruled out with a bruised foot and few months later he again met with a setback caused by a stress fracture that made Willie Mullins to again put an end to the season.

Faugheen was up against only 3 opponents, of which the former Champion hurdler Jezki who won last time out the Istabraq Hurdle and two improving young hurdlers that were up in class but were coming on back of good runs. Faugheen's usual rider Ruby Walsh was injured the previous day and was replaced with former Irish champion jockey Paul Townend who had never ridden him in public. He set off a good gallop on Faugheen from the start and showed his ability was intact by winning hard held 16 lengths back to Jezki who was also well clear of the rest.

Faugheen for the first time in his racing career did not travel to England at the end of December, despite holding an entry for the Christmas Hurdle which he won two times previously. He was instead kept home for the December Festival Hurdle at Leopardstown in which he started very short favourite against his recent adversary Campeador from last month Morgiana's Hurdle and 3 more rivals. However, after the race started it was clear to his jockey something was wrong, stating that Faugheen "felt very lacklustre over the first few furlongs" with his stablemate Cilaos Emery pressing and obtaining the lead in the initial stages of the race without Faugheen being able to respond like he would normally by increasing the pace, hence after the third hurdle from home he was pulled out and dismounted by Paul Townend. In the next couple of weeks he was examined and passed a number of tests but no issues were discovered which left his trainer Willie Mullins perplexed as to the cause for the substandard outing, thus aiming him at the Dublin Racing Festival to regain the Irish Champion Hurdle declaring "I'm hoping that if he works well at home and if nothing else comes up, I won't have any worries".

Faugheen returned to Leopardstown on 3 February 2018 for the Irish Champion Hurdle, which he had won in 2016 and had missed in 2017 due to injury. Partnered by jockey Paul Townend, he started odds on favourite in a field of eight, in spite of his disappointing performance on his previous outing. Faugheen led throughout the race and looked in a good position until the run-in, where he was headed by Supasundae, who went on to win by two-and-a-quarter lengths, with Faugheen taking second place. Owner Rich Ricci commented "Paul [Townend] said he never really picked up like he can. When he winged the second-last, you’d expect him to go on and win his race, and for whatever reason, he didn’t. We’ll carry on to Cheltenham, there's nothing else for him to do. He was brilliant first time out, so we’ll try to recapture that."

2018/2019 National Hunt season

As in previous seasons, Faugheen made his reappearance in the Morgiana Hurdle on 18 November 2018 at Punchestown, ridden by Ruby Walsh and sent off as odds-on favourite with only three rivals. Faugheen made most of the running until being headed before the last by Sharjah, who went on to win by seven-and-a-half lengths. After the defeat Ruby Walsh said he thought there was still plenty of life left in Faugheen but suggested he needed a longer trip of two-and-a-half or three miles.

In December 2018 Faugheen contested the three-mile Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown and suffered the first fall of his career. Approaching the second last flight he was in second place a couple of lengths behind the leader and eventual winner Apple's Jade when he took off too early and fell heavily on landing. He lay still for a few moments before regaining his feet and being led back in by jockey Ruby Walsh.

Faugheen returned to the Cheltenham Festival in March 2019, and ran third behind Paisley Park in the Stayers' Hurdle. Three weeks later he raced at Aintree for the first time. At both Cheltenham and Aintree he was ridden by Ruby Walsh. In the Aintree Hurdle he was pulled up and dismounted in the early stages when the rider felt that something was not right. A veterinary examination revealed that he had an irregular heartbeat; by the following day he had recovered and was cleared to return home.

In May 2019 Ruby Walsh, who had ridden Faugheen in 16 of his 21 races over hurdles, announced his retirement. Great British Racing, the official marketing and promotional body for British Horseracing, included Faugheen as one of the jockey's six greatest partnerships with the following tribute:

"Ruby has carried the iconic Rich Ricci silks on board many great horses, but few brought him as much long term success as Faugheen "the machine". He rode him for 16 of his 22 races under rules, winning 10 times including two Christmas Hurdles, and both the Cheltenham and Punchestown Champion Hurdles. Between 2013 and 2015 the pair were nothing short of invincible, winning over any distance and at any course, stylishly dismissing any rival.

Amidst injury concerns, his form started to drift but Ruby's bond with the horse was clear – amicably pulling him up and dismounting at the slightest sign of Faugheen not seeming himself at Aintree this year. This was all the more honourable given Ruby's desire win and is a tremendous testament to his love for the horses. Despite Faugheen's troubles, he still retains enormous ability. The pair will always be remembered for their multiple demolition jobs at the very highest level and era of total domination."

2019/2020 National Hunt season: Novice chases

Faugheen made his chasing debut on 16 November 2019 in a two-and-a-half mile Beginners Chase at Punchestown, starting as odds-on favourite. He quickly took the lead, but a mistake at the eighth fence saw him almost unseat Paul Townend and drop back to third, regaining the lead just before the last and winning by a comfortable 71⁄2 lengths. His next outing was the Grade 1 Greenmount Park Novice Chase at Limerick, where he was ridden by his trainer's son Patrick Mullins and started second favourite to Samcro. As usual he raced from the front and at the second last fence was able to draw away from Samcro and win by ten lengths.

The Flogas Novice Chase at Leopardstown on 2 February 2020 saw twelve-year-old Faugheen, ridden by Paul Townend, starting joint favourite. The other six runners were all horses five and six years younger than he was. Early in the race Faugheen settled into second place behind the other joint favourite, Battleoverdoyen, and then took the lead at two out. On the run-in he was challenged by Easy Game but held on to win by half a length and head to a rapturous welcome in the unsaddling enclosure. With this win, Faugheen had become only the third horse in recent decades to win a Grade One race as a twelve-year-old, the others being Sizing Europe (2014 Champion Chase at Punchestown) and Florida Pearl (2004 Irish Gold Cup). (Although Faugheen was foaled in May 2008 he turned twelve on 1 January 2020 as all racehorses in the Northern Hemisphere have their official birthday on 1 January.) After the race trainer Willie Mullins said: "I've had lots of winners but this was special. The way he battled. To come back at his age and do it on the number one stage, that's fantastic."

In March 2020 Faugheen made his fifth appearance at the Cheltenham Festival, starting at 3/1 favourite in a field of twelve in the Grade 1 Marsh Novices' Chase (Golden Miller Novices' Chase) over 2m4f and sixteen fences. He ran a keen race but a mistake at the third last cost him ground and, in spite of finishing strongly, he was beaten a length into third place by Samcro and Melon. Trainer Willie Mullins said after the race: "It was a hard decision to run him here, we are in the shop window of racing and you consider all things, as he is 12, but I'm delighted we did as the reception here was magic and he ran a stormer. He has been working the house down at home and you could see today that was some performance. If he pings that fence he is right there. I don't know (what happens next), it is a good question. We've got the Punchestown back in Ireland and I think the Irish would like to see him once more time, so if he is fit and well and ready to rock we will probably call it a day then. I'm not sure we will come back for the Gold Cup next year at the age of 13, but we will see what the horse tells us".

Retirement

After the Marsh Novices' Chase at the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, Faugheen did not race again. His retirement was announced in May 2021 and he joined the living legends at the Irish National Stud.

Race record

Note

1 Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle was upgraded to Grade 2 in 2015 after Faugheen and Martello Tower subsequently won at the Cheltenham Festival in the same season.