The Fellow, the only French-trained winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, has died at the age of 23.
Gold Cup hero remembered by O'Sullevan
The Fellow, the only French-trained winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, has died at the age of 23.
Owned by Marquesa de Moratalla and trained by Francois Doumen, The Fellow finally came good in the 1994 running of the race after losing by a short-head on two previous occasions.
Garrison Savannah and then Cool Ground got the better of photo-finishes in 1991 and 1992, and his chance looked to have passed when he could finish only fourth the following year despite going off the 5/4 favourite.
However, the master trainer Doumen got him to Cheltenham in peak form the next year and, partnered by regular jockey Adam Kondrat, beat the previous winner Jodami by a length-and-a-half.
He won a number of other big races including the King George at Kempton twice, finishing third on two occasions, and the Grand Steeplechase de Paris.
Sir Peter O'Sullevan, a close friend of the owner, said: "He was a pretty decent horse, he was beaten a short-head in the Gold Cup twice in 1991 and 92 and I had the pain of calling him a loser both times but then the good fortune of calling him home when he won.
"He had been at the Marquesa's stud near St Albans (Childwickbury Stud) and meticulously cared for. He had been turned out with Sybillin, Trainglot and Amigos, a horse we owned between us.
"The Fellow was 23, but Trainglot was cut up about it, they get very attached these horses.
"He was a very fortunate horse to have a very sympathetic handler and a particularly sympathetic owner. He had a great life."
