Fayr Jag

[my miss storm cat]

I've been criticized for starting threads for certain horses who've died, but i don't care..... this one deserves to be remembered in a special way and God knows he never got his own thread in life so here goes.

His name was Fayr Jag and he didn't deserve this fate.

The first time I ever heard of him was when he ran in and won the Group 1 Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot in 2004, when i first started following racing.

64 starts and okay he didn't always win but he always ran in fine company.

A real shame and a loss.

I hope he didn't suffer.

Happier days.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/othe...ng/3815613.stm


Racing Post.....

Fayr Jag suffers tragic end to his career at Pontefract

by Ray Gilpin


GROUP 1 winner Fayr Jag suffered a tragic end to his career when he broke a shoulder in a freak accident at Pontefract on Monday before the RIU Palace Meloneras Handicap.

The Tim Easterby-trained nine-year-old, ridden by David Allan, was blindfolded and being led into the stalls when he backed out before lurching violently forward and crashed back into the structure of the stalls.

Allan said: "He had the blinds on but then went in reverse and backed out of the stalls. Then, still blindfolded, he launched himself forward into the iron bars and I went over his head into the stalls.

"I was very lucky but it has a terrible way for Fayr Jag to die, he did not deserve that. He gave me my two biggest wins in Group 3s and I feel very sorry for his owner (Jonathan Gill)."
Easterby's father Peter said: "It was a terrible way for Fayr Jag to go, he was up there with the best sprinters we have had, he must have been, he was a Group 1 winner!

"He even met The Queen after he had won the Golden Jubilee and he has been a great servant to the stable and to his owner Jonathan Gill.

"We were going to get him ready for the Steward's Cup, that was the plan for him and we are really going to miss him."

In all Fayr Jag won eleven races, his Group 1 success coming in the 2004 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. He had previously won the Wokingham Stakes there in 2003, while three years later he won the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle and the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury.

He earned over £423,000 in win and place prize money.

Rest in peace.

[NoChanceToDance]

That's a real shame. He was a great character in racing over here, often played up at the start and didn't like going into the stalls.

I actually backed him at 33/1 when he won the Golden Jubilee, and for that I will always remember him.

RIP big fella.