Chelsey Faurot loves her “War Horses”

Harness racing trainer Chelsey Faurot loves her ‘War Horses.’

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes a War Horse as “a horse used in war; a person with long experience in a field, especially a soldier; or something that has become overly familiar or hackneyed due to much repetition in the standard repertoire.”

Those definitions certainly apply to the pacer Never Say Never N, a New Zealand son of Bettor’s Delight import who is in his eighth season of performing on North American raceways, and who is currently conditioned by Chelsey.

Foaled on Oct. 6, 2013, Never Say Never N is out of the unraced Christian Cullen p, 7, ($771,592) mare Maid In Splendor, and first set hoof on American soil on Nov. 7, 2016, via a group of New York owners. Since then, he has been owned by groups and individuals in Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He has had 16 different trainers in his career and 25 different owners and is on his fourth trainer of the year in 2024.

A Michigan native Chelsey and her husband, Clay Faurot, Jr., race on the eastern Pennsylvania circuit of Harrah’s Philadelphia and The Poconos.

“This is my second time around having claimed him off Hunter Oakes,” Chelsey admitted. “What’s funny is the first time I claimed him I didn’t realize he was a stud because he was so super sweet to be around—he’s really quiet and chill. When I turned him out the day after we claimed him is when I realized he was a stud because he started running the fence a bit, and I was like, oh wow. But, unless you put him in a situation where he knows he’s a stud, he’s really very quiet.”

Never Say Never N had his best years in 2017 ($124,330); 2018 ($100,870); and 2022 ($117,705); and also took his career mark in 2018 and 2020 of 1:50s at ages 5 and 7—but has recorded marks every year of 1:53 or faster. Currently, he has earnings of $640,159 stateside.

The Faurots have been racing in Pennsylvania since 2009 and are currently stabled at A-1 Training Center in New Jersey, located close to Keystone State’s raceways.

“We’ve been out here on this end of the state for six years,” Chelsey reported. “We still have our home in Michigan and take our winters off. We take the horses home and let them get refreshed, and then we come back east in mid-February or early March. It works out well for us. We have a 25-acre farm with a half-mile track and three half-acre paddocks and some hay fields. We keep a few retired racehorses there, a couple of broodmares and some babies. We still get good use out of it.”

Regarding Never Say Never N, Chelsey said it was a blessing that they were able to acquire him.

“We always have bad claiming luck because there’s so many claims in on the best horse,” she continued. “We were zero for 15 claims this year until Never Say Never N came along. I had been watching him for a few weeks and I told my husband that there was something about this horse—he raced big and grinded it out in every start. He was in for a $20,000 tag and we put the claim in on him and got the horse. He’s a very consistent check-getter and we like to claim check-getters and that’s what drew me to him.”

In 2024 Never Say Never N he has added another $35,130 to his coffers and recorded a mark of p, 11, 1:51.4f at Pocono Downs on April 20, with 13 starts, four wins, one second, and a trio of thirds to his credit. Chelsey claimed him on April 27 at Pocono Downs, when he finished second in 1:52.1 for Matt Kakaley. He was claimed back by Oakes on May 5 at Philadelphia, and Chelsey claimed him back on May 12. In his first start for her on May 19, Never Say Never responded by finishing third in 1:51.1 with David Miller at the lines.

“We bumped him up to a $26,000 claiming price and I was holding my breath,” Chelsey said. “He raced well and did not get claimed. He’s not tall, but he’s a little beefcake, and very simply rigged and shod—with just four aluminums.”

Chelsey, 34, has been around horses all of her life—showing horses as a youngster and getting into the harness business after her father bought a racehorse when she was in high school.

“I never thought I would end up training horses,” she laughed. “But I started working as a caretaker, and then became an owner, and got my trainer’s license when we were at the Meadows. We decided to make the east side of Pennsylvania our base for racing because we were always shipping out there from the Meadows, so it just made more sense. I love racing out here because outside of the horse business, we are still normal people who like to do a lot of things besides the horses.”

As well, Chelsey, like many horsewomen, is not immune to falling in love with the horses she conditions, and is especially fond of old war horses—those with a history similar to Never Say Never N. One such horse is the Keystone Raider gelding Frontier p, 4, 1:52.3 ($264,958), who will celebrate his 21^st birthday on May 29^th. Frontier had nearly as many owners and trainers throughout this career which lasted from 2005 through 2014.

“Frontier was my very first racehorse that I bought,” Chelsey recalled. “He and I instantly bonded, and he ended up getting claimed off me six different times. He had really bad feet that stung him pretty good, but the last time he got claimed off me, he fell down in a race, and even though I didn’t own him at the time, I was horrified and went running out on the racetrack to help him.

“But despite falling down, he got right back up and wasn’t hurt at all,” Chelsey explained. “The kid who had claimed him from me came over and said, ‘do you want your horse back? He just won’t race for me.’  Of course, I was ecstatic and immediately took him back, and what we did was we traded a horse for him—one we had claimed off this kid earlier. So, it all worked out. Now Frontier stays at our farm and enjoys retirement, and we take him camping and trail ride him. He’s just the best.”

Given Chelsey’s history, it is likely Never Say Never N will also find himself living out his life in a lush field of green grass at her Michigan farm, one fine day in the future.

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink