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UPDATE: On the 28th January, Fairfield Ferrata won her fifth GBB bonus making her total of GBB bonuses won £90,000!
Fairfield Ferrata, by the late, great Kayf Tara, has had a storybook career to date.
At four, she placed second on her debut and on her second time out. Her first win, and a £10,000 Great British Bonus (GBB), came in November 2020, when she won a Mares Open NHF race at Ayr, in a field of 10. She placed twice more before her next win, at Market Rasen, in November 2021. Her efforts in this Mares Maiden Hurdle secured her first £20,000 bonus. A few more placings followed before she landed another Mares Novices Hurdle, this time at Sedgefield, taking home another £20,000 bonus.
In the autumn of 2022, Fairfield Ferrata progressed to chasing, placing third on her first time out in early October. Just 20 days later, she won the Mares Novices Handicap Chase at Fakenham, taking home her fourth and most recent bonus.
In total, Fairfield Ferrata has won four times and placed seven times, from just 16 runs. Each win has landed her a bonus. Her trainer, Jedd O'Keeffe, has been careful to target the mares-only races, so each win has accumulated the highest possible returns - £10,000 for the bumper win and £20,000 for each win over hurdles and chase fences: £70,000 in total. Her racecourse wins stand at just £20,755.
O'Keeffe said "GBB has helped shape her career. We have had great fun targeting the lucrative mares-only races and, as a result, her owners have developed a keen interest in fillies and mares registered to the scheme they have another couple coming through who will also be targeting GBB races."
Of the scheme, Jedd states "GBB has been a fantastic initiative and is really achieving what it set out to do. As a result of Fairfield Ferrata's success, I have other owners wanting GBB-registered mares so we go to the sales specifically looking for them."
Fairfield Ferrata is just six years old so there can only be more to come. O'Keeffe says "She's now performing at a level where she may well have to compete in mixed company but she should be able to hold her own. Well still be targeting GBB races because even at £10,000 a bonus is always appreciated!"
Her breeders Juliet and David Minton, of Mill House Stud, Shropshire sadly no longer have the mare, who, for the most part, produced colts, so there will not be another GBB winner from her line. Juliet credits much of Fairfield Ferrata's success to her sire, Kayf Tara, and like most in the NH world, she believes the legendary sire will be greatly missed. Among his many titles and achievements, he is the leading NH sire of GBB mares and with nearly 60 unraced GBB fillies yet to come of age, it seems he will hold on to that title for a few more years to come.