Fozzy
Christmas 1998 was the date when the 18-year-old James 'Fozzy' Stack came of age in racing. Having finished school that summer, he had to endure the tough baptism as a racehorse trainer when his father Tommy contracted the deadly virus meningitis on St. Stephen's Day.
Tommy lay unconscious for 13 days on a life-support machine and remained in hospital for two months, so Fozzy quickly assumed a pivotal role in the organisation at Thomastown Castle stables in Co. Tipperary. It is a testament to Fozzy's skills that the winners kept flowing while Tommy was restored to full health.
Fozzy had grown too tall to be a jockey himself and quickly determined that training would be where he would make his mark. As well as learning the job at home, he also had valuable spells at two other world class establishments – the Arc-winning yard of Nicolas Clement at Chantilly and with master trainer John Dunlop at Arundel in Sussex, where he broke in the subsequent St. Leger winner, Millenary. It is now very much a team effort at the Stacks but, inevitably, Fozzy is taking a more prominent role as each season passes.
In no area is that more obvious than in the purchase of yearlings. You can be the best trainer in the world but if you don't have the right raw material, you will always be working with one hand tied behind your back. Fozzy's success at unearthing talent at the yearling sales – and at value-for-money prices – is proving uncanny.
A case in point was Drayton, the Group 1-class sprinter which was bought by Fozzy as a yearling for just 15,500 guineas. And of course, he has topped that with this year's stable star, Myboycharlie, one of the leading two-year-olds in Europe during 2007.
The Danetime colt was picked up by Fozzy for 54,000 guineas, a bargain when you consider that he has won the Group 1 Prix Morny and been sold on to the Coolmore operation as a future stallion. Buying the raw material is one skill; getting racehorses fit on the gallops is another. Plotting a career to maximise the horse's earning potential is the final piece of the training jigsaw.
Travelling horses for races around the world is becoming more common place and Fozzy is not averse to seeking gold on far-flung shores if the right opportunity arises. In September, he took the Irish 1,000 Guineas fourth Alexander Tango to Belmont Park in New York for the Grade 1 Garden City Stakes and came back with the £76,000 first prize. Ireland is home to some of the best natural horseman in the world and Fozzy Stack is certainly one of them.