‘I love a good horse on a good Saturday. They’re the ones you want to ride’

A glance at Noel Fehily’s rides at Ascot on the last Saturday in November provides the perfect example of his standing in the sport. Not only did he leave with a treble but his full book contained mounts for seven different trainers including Colin Tizzard, Nicky Henderson, Dan Skelton and Charlie Mann, who first recruited Fehily from the Irish point-to-point circuit. Twenty years on, he is jump racing’s ultimate free agent.

"That's where you want to be," he says during one of the unavoidable midweek quiet spots. "I love it when someone comes looking for a good horse on a good Saturday, wherever it is. They're the ones you want to be riding."

While he might have one of the widest range of clients among his contemporaries, Fehily makes what sounds like something of a juggling act appear strangely simple.