Charlie Fellowes will take command of The East team for the first time when the Racing League gets under way for its fifth year.
Fellowes, who trains in Newmarket, has been involved since the inception of the competition and assisted Chris Hughes in leading the East team to a second-placed finish last season.
Now he stakes full charge ahead of the Yarmouth meeting that will kick off this year’s competition, and acts as both team manager and one of the team’s trainers alongside Roger Varian, Dylan Cunha, James Fanshawe, Stuart Williams and Richard Newland and Jamie Insole.
Those are the initial six handlers involved in Team East, but a tweak in the rules of the competition will now allow teams to welcome new trainers into the fold as the league unfolds.
“I don’t quite know how I’ve ended up in this position!” said Fellowes.
“We’ve got a good team this year, a strong team. It’s obviously a slightly different format this year.
“It’s always good fun, it’s fantastic prize-money and it’s just something a little bit different.
“We’ve got a great team, we need a big start at Yarmouth where hopefully we’ll be really strong.
“I see no reason why we can’t build on what did last year and go close this time.”