The celebration of two remarkable comebacks to the saddle brightened an already entertaining Golden Horse Festival Of Speed raceday on Saturday and comes in the same week as a Scottish rider gained the green light to make a return to riding after being warned off for 12 years in 2011.
The Candyman can – Andrew Fortune with Deez Dayanand (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Chad Little and Andrew Fortune celebrated something of their personal rites of passage when scoring a Grade 1 and Grade 2 success respectively on South Africa’s only speed-focussed multiple feature raceday.
Had we suggested at the time of the 2024 Golden Horse raceday that the 2025 racecard jockey index would include the names C Little and A Fortune, we could have probably have gotten 250 to 1 and a free referral for some professional help.
But today they were back! Little riding two winners, including his maiden career Grade 1 Good On You for Glen Kotzen in the Gold Medallion, while the irrepressible Fortune booted Tenango to an eyecatching win for Candice Bass-Robinson in the Gr2 Golden Horse Sprint.
“God is all around. That’s all I can say. From the crack-house to right here,” quipped Fortune, observing that he had been mildly surprised that he hadn’t necessarily enjoyed the support he had anticipated from certain quarters. But unlike the wild guy of yesterday, the former SA champion didn’t name them. He’s calmer and seemingly cooler – and he’s riding like a demon – despite his age.
While their circumstances may differ, the courage and mental perseverance shown by the duo surely warrant all of our respect.
Dennis Drier hands the trophy to Chad Little (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The Racing Post reported this week that Greg Fairley, who was warned off for 12 years in 2011 for stopping a horse running on its merits and passing on information for reward, is set to return to race-riding in the near future after being granted approval by the BHA’s licensing committee.
Group 1-winning rider Fairley was found guilty of preventing The Staffy from obtaining the best possible placing in a race at Wolverhampton in March 2009, with the BHA’s disciplinary panel also finding that he breached the rules by being involved in a conspiracy to pass on inside information.
The Wolverhampton race was one of ten that formed the centre of a major disciplinary case at the time which led to bans for three other jockeys among 11 people disqualified when the case concluded late in 2011, by which time Fairley had quit the sport.
Greg Fairley – tough road ahead (Pic – Irish Independent)
He had applied to take out his licence again in May last year but the BHA wrote to Fairley in October indicating it did not consider him a suitable person to hold a licence. A recent referral to an independent licensing committee went in his favour.
The 37-year-old was champion apprentice in 2007 and won the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen aboard the Mark Johnston-trained Lady Jane Digby in 2010.
He won two Listed races and a Group 3 on the mare and enjoyed Group success in Britain on stablemate Shaweel in the Gimcrack at York in 2008.
Fairley, who has run a small tree surgery business since his time away from the sport, was able to return to work in racing and ride out for Sandy Thomson in December 2021, having successfully applied for dispensation from parts of his disqualification. He will have to satisfy a number of conditions in the coming weeks before his licence is confirmed and he is able to be booked for rides, with the BHA also set to attach conditions to his licence.
In a brief statement issued on Wednesday evening, Fairley said: “Fifteen years ago I chose a path that was wrong and paid a justifiably significant price for my poor decisions. I’m incredibly grateful to the licensing committee of the BHA for giving me a second chance. I would also like to thank Sandy Thomson, Iain Jardine and Charlie and Mark Johnston who have all been very supportive. There are still some elements of the licensing procedure that I need to complete before my licence is issued but I’m very excited to be on the verge of race-riding again.”
Johnston was Fairley’s main backer between 2005 and 2011, providing him with 262 of his 381 domestic winners, and the former trainer’s son Charlie said he believed the rider had “served his time”.
He said: “Greg phoned us last night because he wanted me and Dad to know before it hit the press, he goes back a long way with us. He was champion apprentice and was a big part of the team.
“It’s going to be tough for him rebuilding later on in life but I’m sure he’ll be looking to come in and ride out and try and re-establish old ties. He’s certainly served his time and I’m sure he’s approaching this as a second chance in life. He’s a more mature person.”
Trainer Mark Johnston (Pic – Supplied)
Johnston added: “Some people won’t forgive so easily but there aren’t many people who would have had the courage of their convictions to come back and try again. He rode a lot of winners for us right up to the highest level and fingers crossed it goes well for him.”
During interviews conducted by the BHA in respect of his successful application, Fairley told officials that he was a lot older and not so naïve, and he wanted to get back into the sport. In a full report on the licensing committee’s hearing, he said he considered that he had ‘paid the price’ for his youthful mistake.
Following the referral to the licensing committee, Fairley submitted a written statement on February 12 in which he alleged that he had not co-operated with the original corruption enquiry because he had started to receive thinly veiled threats to him and his family. He had decided it was not in his best interests to co-operate and effectively ‘ran away’.
