Turf Talk Newsletter – 20 November, 2025

The Candice Dawson-trained Ethical (Heavenly Blue) secures a treble for Serino Moodley at the Vaal on Thursday (JC Photos)

Serino Moodley has ridden seven winners in the last three days, starting with a treble on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly on Tuesday, a single at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Wednesday and a treble at The Vaal on Thursday.

Calvin Habib also scored a treble at the Vaal meeting, while trainer Clinton Binda scored a double and Champion Owners Hollywood Racing had a double.

Moodley’s successful week has taken him to lone third place on the national jockeys log with 56 wins at a strike rate of 15.38%.

He is 32 wins behind leader Craig Zackey, whose single winner on Thursday took him to 88 wins for the season at a strike rate of 17.64%.

Zackey is now 18 wins clear of Richard Fourie, who has had 70 wins.

In joint fourth place are Muzi Yeni and Callan Murray on 48 wins.

Calvin Habib is next best and his 46 wins have come at a strike rate of 12.17%.

Binda has had seven wins at 12.96%.

Picture: Noel Fehily before winning his final career ride at Newbury in March 2019 (Julian Herbert/PA)

Legendary former Irish jockey Noel Fehily: We will never see another trainer like Willie Mullins, no-one in Ireland can take him on, Dan Skelton has the best chance to topple him in Britain and Constitution Hill has to run well in the Fighting Fifth or we won’t see him again

Interview with Noel Fehily by Boyle Sports

Final Demand looked unbelievable at Navan

Final Demand was phenomenal. As good a novice chaser as I’ve ever seen. He looked unbelievable there. Wingmen, the horse who finished second is rated 139 and he beat him 13 lengths!

I don’t know what he would have cost, but it would have been plenty. He would have cost upwards of £500,000. As a three year old unbroken he was £230,000! They would have doubled their money.

He’s owned by Bryan Drew who had Bravemansgame who won the King George, and Caroline Tisdall who used to have horses with Martin Pipe.

Good horses are very hard to come by and the middle market is not as strong as everyone wants it to be

The good ones are very hard to buy. I’d imagine the top ones, the really good ones they have, get well paid for. The middle market and downwards isn’t quite as strong.

Dan Skelton is buying loads. He’s got big new owners Lindy and Mark O’Hare who sold their company to Goldman Sachs last year.

Paul Nicholls spent a few quid at Cheltenham the other night, which he hasn’t done for a while. Gordon Elliott is always buying and spending big.

You don’t see Willie buying too many top lots at the sales. He does it quietly, under the radar and before they come to market. He also buys a lot in France where everything is bought privately.

The really good ones are getting well paid for. They’re so hard to find, the really good ones. But the middle market and downwards is probably not as strong as everyone wants.

The weather in the lead-up didn’t help the Cheltenham November meeting

I suppose the weather didn’t help. Not the weather at the weekend, but the weather leading up to it. A lot of horses hadn’t had their first runs, so the horses were having their first runs at the meeting, which probably took from the meeting a little bit.

In the Greatwood Hurdle, so many horses in the race were having their first runs of the season. The winner, Alexei, had two runs.

You couldn’t get them out. Two weeks ago, the ground was good to firm everywhere.

L’Eau Du Sud for the Skelton’s was the standout – and I’ll be interested to see how Jonbon fares in the Tingle Creek

I thought L’Eau du Sud was very good, beating Jonbon. He did really well. They have got a good one there. Dan Skelton thought the world of him last year and then he admitted after the race the other day that maybe he trained him wrong last year.

He destroyed the field. I know Jonbon didn’t perform but there were others in the race. They can’t have all underperformed surely, but he was in a different league. It’ll be interesting to see how he goes in the Tingle Creek.

Sir Alex [Ferguson] is great for racing. They’ve built some serious firepower. A few trainers will miss him when he stops buying them!

I don’t really know him, but I rode winners for him once or twice. I’ve spoken to him once or twice, but I wouldn’t know him that well.

Our syndicate horses are in good nick

The syndicates have been going well. We have 46 [horses] now, 41 over the jumps and five on the Flat.

We had three winners the week before last and we’d won last week. Helnwein ran a good second in the Greatwood which was terrific. Our horses are in good shape.

Elsewhere, you’d have to be impressed with Alexei. I thought he was very good. He looks like a horse on the up now. He was good at Ascot and better at Cheltenham at the weekend. He looks like a horse that’s improving with racing.

Paul Nicholls’ No Drama This End looks a good thing too, winning the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. Paul’s talking him up, comparing him with some big names. But that was a good performance, a Grade 2 first time out. He was a good bumper horse last year. He was probably the best novice hurdler we’ve seen this year so far in this country.

It’s great to see the Tizzard yard back on the up again

Yes, it is. They had four winners. It is great for him, They were great about eight, ten years ago, then like all things, it was cyclical.

But didn’t they have some great horses, Thistlecrack, Native River and Cue Card.

Joe has been trying to find the next good one. He had a very good weekend. That horse that won the Greatwood, you’d have to be very impressed with him.

You’d wonder where he could end up pitching him in. Would he climb the ladder enough to be a Champion Hurdler? He looked like a horse that’s massively on the up. He still has a long way to go. But I’d imagine he’s going to be rated 140 plus after that race at the weekend.

He definitely looks like a big improver.

It’s not easy to rebuild yards like Paul Nicholls is has had to do

It’s not straightforward. It is so hard. It is so competitive now. He is having to go again. But the signs are good.

You need people reinvesting all the time. That is what Willie Mullins is very good at, and Dan Skelton is very good at it now as well. They’re buying horses for a year’s time, they’re not buying them to run this season, they’re buying horses for a year, they’re buying a year in advance the whole time.

But you need owners to be investing to do that. And they’re doing that every year, they’re building another team for the following year, not this year, for the following year.

It’s having owners to invest and be patient.

Paul Nicholls had all those great horses at one time You think it will never stop. You need the next batch coming through, don’t you? That’s the hard bit but Dan Skelton is very good at that now as well.

He’s capitalizing on his success which you have to do.

Kopek Des Bordes was very good at Navan – I think he is better than Lulamba heading to the Cheltenham Festival Arkle

Very good. He jumped okay through the race and when Paul [Townend, jockey] let him go I just thought he was seriously impressive from the second last to the line. He just looked awesome.

People are talking about Henderson’s Lulamba too with a possible head to head in the Arkle.

Lulamba won OK down at Exeter, but he didn’t beat an awful lot. He’d have a way to go to catch up with Kopek.

Willie Mullins is an amazing trainer – he walks on water!

I suppose he does have a lot of spending power now as well.

He’s an amazing trainer. You’ll probably never see a trainer like him again. He can do it on the flat, and can do it over jumps. He can win Ebors, Breeders’ Cups, Gold Cups, Champions Hurdles, and win over any distance.

[The Breeders’ Cup win] What a result for racing. To be able to go on do that, take on the big boys when Ethical Diamond’s most recent run before that had been in the Scottish Champion Hurdle where he finished seventh and then at Cheltenham fourth in the County Hurdle takes some doing. It shows Willie walks on water!

It begs the question how Patrick got beaten in the Scottish Champion Hurdle!

It was David Casey’s plan to send him to the Breeders’ Cup a plan because his medical history would have ruled him out of the Melbourne Cup which is where Willie would have loved him to go.

After he won the Ebor, I remember Willie was interviewed and asked whether Melbourne was his next target and Willie said straight away that he wouldn’t pass the criteria because he’s had a screw put into his knee.

What a trainer. And what a man as well.

He wouldn’t have many Flat horses. Only a handful of flat horses I’d imagine. But he’d go there and take on the best of the best and beat them comfortably, breaking the track record.

What a performance, unbelievable.

The Skelton yard has raised the bar in Britain – he will push Willie for the title this season in British shores

I said at the start of last season when I was up at Dan Skelton’s one morning, that Dan would have no chance because Willie would come back to regain the title a second year running.

But Willie, as always, didn’t really come to England until Cheltenham time. He didn’t bring many over before Cheltenham last year.

He was still a million quid behind on Grand National Day last year. And he still ended up winning it.

It will be tougher this year. Dan Skelton has started well. The Skelton’s have raised the bar again. It looks like he has a better quality horse this year.

But look, if Willie comes and wins the Grand National again, then who knows. The Grand National is probably the key really. If Willie comes and wins the Grand National again, then after that he’ll throw everything at it again like he did last year. It’s hard to rule him out anyway.

I fancy Irancy in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown

Now State Man is out, it’ll be interesting to see how Willie runs in the Morgiana Hurdle and how they fare, because losing State Man was a massive blow.

It’ll be interesting what he’s got as his main Champion Hurdle hopes. Whatever they are, they’ll run there. Anzadam will be favourite I’d imagine but I thought he ran a bit too keen.

The one to watch is JP’s [McManus] Irancy. I was impressed with him at Punchestown last year. I thought then that he would make it into a Champion Hurdler.I’m looking forward to seeing how he will fare at that level.

Willie has plenty in the race at the moment. We’ll have to see which one Paul Townend chooses.

Fact To File could be the one to win the John Durkan at the same meeting

It’ll depend on what Willie runs. It’d be interesting to see Fastorslow back. I saw a feature on TV last week about him galloping at the Curragh. He looks like he’s in good shape.

Willie has loads: Fact To File, Gaelic Warrior. The two-mile three trip will suit Fact to File. He could be the one.

No-one has the firepower to take on Willie Mullins in Ireland

Two years ago Gordon [Elliott] looked like he was threatening, wasn’t he? He was ahead going to Punchestown a couple of times and Willie ended up winning everything and smashed him out of the water, didn’t he?

But I don’t think Gordon has even got the firepower to take him on. In Ireland there is no-one to take him on.

Gordon is making a fair old fist of it. He’s winning plenty, realistically, he hasn’t probably got the Grade 1 chasers like Willie has.

In Britain Dan Skelton is doing well in this country, and I think he will put it up to Willie this year

I think so [best in Britain], both quality and quantity wise. He looks like he’s upped the quality again this year. He’s definitely come back hungry looking for more again this year. As I said, starting last year, I couldn’t see him beating Willie, but he nearly did. He was a million in front at the National. Dan will be unlucky if Willie does the same this season.

It must have hurt. It must have really hurt. I remember I spoke to him on Grand National morning and I said, ‘You’re still a million in front, so you’ve got a chance.’

He said: ‘I’d be unlucky if Willie picks up that amount of prize money in the National.’

But he did!

Willie will have to win the Grand National again or else he’d have to start bringing them over to Britain a lot earlier, which doesn’t seem to be in Willie’s regime. He just has his way of doing it and that’s that. He only starts bringing them out now in Ireland, doesn’t he?

He never really wants to travel with them before Christmas. And even after Christmas, he doesn’t travel with them that much.

The big ones don’t ever seem to come until Cheltenham and then Aintree. If he gets a good Aintree, he’ll throw the kitchen sink at it again.

Dan is doing really well. I think he’s probably the most likely one to take it off Willie over here.

If Dan ups the game over here and becomes champion again, you never know, it could start to turn. It’ll definitely be good for English racing.

These things are cyclical. It was not that long ago Paul Nicholls was winning everything in England and was nearly champion in Ireland one year.

Nicky Henderson has some lovely horses but not enough to be Champion Trainer

Nicky has a lovely team of horses. He has Sir Gino and then he has Constitution Hill if he comes by. Nicky always has a good team of horses, but has he got the fire power to be Champion trainer? Probably not.

Constitution Hill has to go well in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle or he could be finished

He was the world-beater. Then he started taking a few chances. He won at Cheltenham in the Trials meeting, he nearly went at the last. He has just started getting a bit too brave and he was starting to stand off. And then I think he did get a fall at Cheltenham.

It’s amazing how it can affect the horse’s confidence. At Aintree he just looked like his confidence was a bit rattled, and at Punchestown he was completely gone.

I was surprised that Nicky took him to Punchestown. But if anyone can get him back it will be Nicky.

I think he could come back but he needs to go and win the Fighting Fifth. He needs to get his head in front again now again and a clear round. That can boost your confidence.

He has to go well there. If he doesn’t go well there, he won’t come back in my opinion.

My four horses to follow this season

Final Demand: He was seriously impressive. He looks like a Gold Cup horse in waiting.

L’Eau du Sud: He was again impressive. On his most recent run, I think there’s another big run in him. We’ll see how he gets on in the Tingle Creek.

No Drama This End: He’ll be winning. I’ll be interested in how he goes. He’s going to go to Newbury for the Challow. He hacked up first time over hurdles as well. He hadn’t run an English point to point. First time over Hurdles, he absolutely hacked up. Very impressive.

Baron Noir: Hopefully we’ll have a good one in him. He won in grand style in the Bumper at Punchestown last year. We can’t wait to see him over a hurdle this season. He should be very exciting and one to fly the flag for us in some of the better novice hurdles.

Leopardstown Festival is a bit of a Willie Mullins show

Leopardstown is a massive Festival. But it’s been a bit of a Willie Mullins show in the last few years. The English horses don’t tend to come over it anymore because you’re taking on Willie before Cheltenham in his back garden and it’s virtually impossible.

It is a bit of a Willie Mullins show as I said. He runs his best novices. He gears them all towards the Leopardstown Festival, the Dublin Racing Festival and then Cheltenham.

They’re all great festivals.

There are big field races normally, no-one avoids anyone, there is big prize money. The timing of them is perfect for Willie. He’s gearing his big horses for the season.

They’re probably having their first runs now. They’ll be in better shape by Christmas and they’re in even better shape by the Dublin Racing Festival and they’re absolutely flying by Cheltenham.

The timing of the races works out brilliantly for the Irish trainers. It’s probably a bit more difficult to travel a horse to Ireland for the Dublin Racing Festival because you’re getting a little bit close to Cheltenham. It doesn’t really work for the English trainers.

Three young jockeys who have caught my eye

Sean Bowen has been unbelievable this season. He’s still only young. He’s raised the bar massively. He’s riding really well.

Caoilin Quinn rode a winner for us the other day. He’s probably the stable jockey to Gary Moore with Niall Houlihan out for a year. He’s talented. I think he’ll get plenty of support from Gary Moore. He could go places.

Dan Williams: He used to work here for me. He had his first winner, Final Straw on Monday for Nicky Henderson at Plumpton. Watch out for him. He’s a very good rider. He started riding out for me when he was about 16. I got him a job at Henderson’s 18 months ago. He rides Constitution Hill every day, and Lulamba and Sir Gino who won the Fighting fifth last season.

I’m always glass half full when it comes to racing – we need to bang the drum for our great sport a little bit more

I’m always glass half full. I think we have a great sport and there’s plenty of fun to be had in the game, plenty of enjoyment. I think we probably are facing a tough time with what will happen in the budget and everything else. I still think we have a great sport. We need to bang that drum a bit more.

++ENDS++