Farrier Hoping For Festival Fairytale With Bargain Buy

Features | 6th March 2025

Farrier Richard Helliwell and a group of friends are hoping for a Cheltenham Festival fairytale with a horse the big owners overlooked.

Richard bought Catch Him Derry as a three-year-old store in Ireland for just 17,000 euros a few years ago but never in his wildest dreams did he expect to have a leading contender at jump racing’s most famous fixture.

The Dan Skelton-trained son of Milan will line up in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle on Thursday, 13th March after clinching his place with a resounding victory at Exeter last month.

“The realisation we were going to Cheltenham was a shock to me,” says Lancaster based Richard, who heads up the Jolly Boys Outing syndicate. “I’ve never had a runner at the Festival, never mind one with a very good chance.

“As it’s worked out we go there on a nice handicap mark and his preparations have gone smoothly so we’re hoping for the best. We have some good horses from top yards to beat but couldn’t be happier with Derry.

“He does enjoy soft ground so if it dries up it could be a problem but I think the track will suit him. He ran well there in January and came up the hill at Exeter very strongly so you never know,” he adds.

Richard visited Tattersalls Sales at Fairyhouse in August 2021 with wife Faye and father Stephen with the intention of buying her a potential show horse but ended up with Catch Him Derry, who is named after a You Tube comedy sketch where friends attempt to catch a bat in their kitchen.

“Faye was looking for a horse she could do showing with as she’d won the RoR final (Retraining of Racehorses) at the Horse of the Year show with a retired racer called Flaygray but luckily for me Derry didn’t fit that bill. He wasn’t pretty enough!

“I’m a fan of his sire Milan and though he wasn’t as big as the more expensive stores there was something about him I liked,” he recalls. “He had a few blemishes which probably put a few people off but they were only superficial so I was fortunate enough to get him for the right price.”

Friends Yorkie Jobling Purser, Kevin Wharton, David Wickes, William Gardner and Lewis Dennison joined Richard and his dad in Jolly Boys Outing before the gelding was due to make his debut in a National Hunt Flat Race but when he was found to have a tendon injury he was forced to miss his four-year-old season.

However, Catch Him Derry soon made up for lost time, showing promise in novice hurdles before winning on his handicap debut at Southwell in January last year. Then a close second to Skelton’s subsequent Graded winner Gwennie May Boy at Bangor paved the way for further wins at Ayr and Newton Abbott last year.

“To win three of his first six runs over hurdles was so exciting and we began hoping we might have some big days ahead with him,” adds Richard. “We had a little setback when he pulled muscles at Haydock but he ran well for a long way on his comeback run at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day and took his form to a new level at Exeter.

“We’ll all be at Cheltenham next week. It’s amazing just to get him there but we’re all dreaming of cheering him on over the last. It’s magical, really,” he adds.

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