Success in a lifetime is built around achievements and for Gerald Fell
one of his proudest accomplishments will be on show again on Friday evening in
Hamilton.
Fell (77) was one of the small group of dedicated racing enthusiasts who were
instrumental in forming the New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame (NZRHOF), of which
he became the inaugural Chairman. The seventh biennial inductee function is
being held at Skycity Hamilton on the eve of a premier day's racing at Te Rapa.
New Zealand's Racing Hall Of Fame was established after Fell and the current
NZRHOF Chairman, Chris Luoni, were in Adelaide in 2003 and attended the annual Australian
Racing Hall Of Fame dinner, which had first been staged two years earlier.
"It was a wake-up call," said Fell, part-owner of Fairdale Stud (New Zealand's
oldest family-owned commercial thoroughbred stud). "Chris and I felt some of
the history of New Zealand racing would be lost if something wasn't done here.
"I had just retired from the (New Zealand) Thoroughbred Racing Board and knew
the people who could help to get it established here. I did some shoulder-tapping,
picking on people who a: wanted to preserve the history, and b: would have an
input.
"It's been a team effort and we couldn't have done it without the initial
backing and the ongoing support of our sponsors."
Another nine inducteees (Brookby Song, O'Reilly, Might And Power, Veandercross,
Sir Woolf Fisher, Murray Baker, Tod Hewitt, Noel Harris and Chris Waller) will
be added to the NZRHOF list on Friday evening, taking the total since its
inception in 2006 to 75.
The induction of Waller, the champion Sydney trainer, is special to Fell as he
and his late brother,
Rex, supported him when he started training in Foxton and also when he first
tried his luck in Sydney with just a couple of horses.
Waller's first runner when "testing the water" in Sydney in August 1998 was
Party Belle, an Oregon mare raced by Fairdale Stud. She went through from a
maiden to win three on end then returned the following May and completed
another hat trick of wins.
As well as recognising the major achievers through the NZRHOF, Fell has also
been the recipient of awards for his own achievements.
In 2008 he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services
to racing and breeding, which include helping form and be the inaugural 2002 chairman
of RACE Incorporated (the partnership of lower North Island racing clubs),
holding roles within New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, the New Zealand Thoroughbred
Breeders Association and the New Zealand Racing Conference as well as
continuing Fairdale Stud's success.
In 2016, at the New Zealand Racing Awards dinner, he accepted the award for Outstanding
Contribution to Racing on behalf of himself and his brother, Rex, who lost his
brave battle with cancer four months earlier.
The Fell brothers were born into racing and while Rex's twin, Tony, carried on
the farming side of the Fell tradition, Gerald and Rex took up the challenge to
continue Fairdale Stud, which had been established in Manawatu by their father,
Arthur, in 1949.
Arthur Fell made Fairdale Stud a household name in the breeding and racing
industry through the success of Pakistan II.
"Tauloch was the first sire Dad stood then Pakistan II came along and put us
all where we are today," Fell said.
Imported in 1963, Pakistan II was an instant success, dominating the New Zealand sire
ranks. He won six Champion Sire titles through the late 1960s and 1970s and
became the Champion Australasian sire three times before his premature death in
1972, aged 13.
He sired
an incredible per cent winners-to-runners' ratio and 43 Stakes winners from
just eight crops and carried that success on through his daughters and
granddaughters.
The 1978 ARC Railway Handicap winner Silver Liner, one of Pakistan II's 53
stakes-producing daughters, was raced by Arthur Fell from the Woodville stable
of Eric Ropiha, an outstanding horseman
who trained more than 250 winners for Fairdale Stud and prepared the first
winner by Pakistan II.
Gerald and Rex Fell raced many fine gallopers under the Fairdale Stud banner,
including Plume and Tall Poppy, and Fairdale Stud has been responsible for breeding the winners
of 36 Group One races and over 200 Group and Listed winners in 14 countries in
68 years of breeding.
"The biggest highlight was breeding Hyperno, the Melbourne Cup winner, and, of
course, standing Pakistan II," Fell said. "Rex and I worked so well together. We
ran Fairdale together for 45 years."
The Fell brothers stepped back in 2007 and Fairdale Stud's operation was
equally divided. Gerald's son, Duncan, took over control of Fairdale Stud and
Rex's son, William, took up the reins of nearby Goodwood Stud, which had been
bought by Rex in 1990.
"We had 80-odd mares together and we divided them by the toss of a coin. We
took turns picking one and there wasn't an argument," Fell said.
Another change for the Fell family is not standing a stallion. "This is the first
year in 65 years that we haven't stood a stallion," Fell said
Last year the Fell family celebrated Goodwood Stud being named the 2016-17 New
Zealand Breeder of the Year through the deeds of New Zealand Derby winner
Gingernuts and Group Three winners Nicoletta and Order Again.
Fell has just watched Fairdale Stud and Goodwood Stud's latest offerings at Karaka
and each year attending the National Yearling Sales brings back memories.
"The first National Sales I went to was in 1956," Fell said. "I was 16 and went
there for J.A. Mitchell who had the first crop of Red Marlin, a son of
Hyperion. I haven't missed a National sale since then so that's 63 in a row."
Fell has spent his lifetime involved in racing and, even since retiring to
Taupo seven years ago with his wife Robyn, he is still an avid supporter.
"I took up golf at 70 and enjoy it and I'm a respectable trout fisherman, but
I'm still involved in the horses," he said. "I'm on the (Racing) Taupo
committee and still race a few." – NZ Racing Desk