The Fellow

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The Fellow
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Sire:	Italic
Dam:	L'Oranaise
Damsire:	Paris Jour
Sex:	Gelding
Foaled:	1985
Country:	France
Colour:	Bay
Breeder:	Mlle A. M. Gaulin
Owner:	Marquesa Soledad de Moratalla
Trainer:	François Doumen
Record:	37: 10-4-11
Earnings:	£641,426
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris (1991) King George VI Chase (1991, 1992) Cheltenham Gold Cup (1994)
Infobox last updated on: November 11, 2006.

The Fellow was a top-class National Hunt racehorse in the early 1990s. He won the 1994 Cheltenham Gold Cup and narrowly lost the 1991 and 1992 renewals. He also won the 1991 and 1992 King George VI Chase and the 1991 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. Along with Mandarin he is one of only two horses to win both the latter race and the Gold Cup. He was trained in France by François Doumen, ridden by the Polish jockey Adam Kondrat and owned by the Marquesa De Moratalla.

The Fellow first came to prominence to most people when he ran in the 1990 King George VI Chase as a young five year old. Although he finished a well-beaten third behind Desert Orchid and Toby Tobias he showed himself as a horse of promise. He then ran in a French hurdle race before returning to the UK to run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was still a young horse and went off at 28/1. However, for a horse so young he ran a quality race and was only beaten a short-head into second place by Garrison Savannah and defeated a number of good horses. In fact, legendary BBC commentator Sir Peter O'Sullivan thought that The Fellow was going to just get up to win the race.

During the summer of 1991 The Fellow won the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris as well as two other chases. He returned to the UK for another tilt at the King George VI Chase. In a thrilling finish he just beat Docklands Express and Remittance Man. He then tried again to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following spring. Incredibly he lost again by a short head this time to Cool Ground with Docklands Express in third.

The next season he won two further races in Auteuil before running in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup where he was a good third under top-weight behind Sibton Abbey and Jodami. He then retained his King George VI Chase crown. Although he won the race by 6 lengths he was outpaced entering the home straight and didn't look like the winner at the second last. He went straight to Cheltenham to try to finally win the Gold Cup. He went off the short-priced 5/4 favourite. However, he was well-beaten back in fourth behind Jodami. His jockey Adam Kondrat was heavily criticised by members of the racing press who felt he had kept the horse too far off the pace. Especially scathing in his criticism was John McCririck. He then was sent off the 7/2 favourite for the Whitbread Gold Cup. However, he disappointed back in fifth place.

The following season his best performances in his first six races of the season were four thirds. He failed to retain the King George finishing third behind Barton Bank and Bradbury Star and then came third in the Racing Post Chase behind Antonin. However, in that race he had stayed on well at the end of the race and was giving lots of weight away to all the rivals bar Docklands Express where it was only 5 pounds. Barton Bank one of the favourites for the Cheltenham Gold Cup was injured shortly before the race which improved The Fellow's chances of winning. He went off 7/1 third favourite. Suddenly, everything went right fot him and Jodami's mistake at the last fence ended any chance of him stopping The Fellow. He won by a length and a half. Peter Scudamore made some very interesting comments about the ride the horse was given, 'and beautifully ridden by Adam Kondrat who understandably was very hurt by the illinformed, illjudged comments about his previous Gold Cup defeats.'(1) Grand National weights are decided well in advance of the Gold Cup. This left The Fellow with a generous looking 11 stone and 4 pounds to carry. However, the National is a race where the higher weights have a dire record. Additonally, torrential rain made the ground heavy. The Fellow ran well for a long-time but quickly tired after Bechers Brook and fell heavily at the Canal Turn.

The Fellow won a race in Auteuil in the summer of 1994 but was well beaten in other races. This included a final effort at the King George VI Chase where he was pulled up behind Algan. Ironically that horse had the same trainer and owner as The Fellow. Has last race was at Auteuil on 18 June 1995 where he was pulled up.