Rising star trainer George Boughey has said he “almost wouldn’t look at a filly at the sales who isn’t qualified for the Great British Bonus” one year on from the launch of the scheme.
GBB awards lucrative bonuses to owners, breeders and connections of registered British-bred fillies and mares who win eligible races. Foals who were born in Britain and are by sires standing in Britain can win up to £20,000, while foals born in Britain but by sires standing abroad can win up to £10,000.
Pelekai, a Kodiac filly bred and owned by Newsells Park Stud, became the first GBB winner when she scored in a Newcastle maiden on June 2, 2020. In the following 12 months, the scheme has paid out £2,481,000 to 136 winners, including 25 multiple bonus winners. Of those, 73 came in the jumps sphere and 95 were on the flat.
Some 110 different owners have won £1,609,075 in payouts, while 101 breeders have received £501,100. Moreover, 68 trainers have received £185,662, 84 jockeys have been awarded £123,775 and stable staff in 68 yards have shared £61,887 among them.
Boughey, in the limelight only last Friday, when his Mystery Angel ran second in the Epsom Oaks at 50/1, has trained a pair of fillies to win two GBB prizes each, including Amo Racing’s exciting 2-year-old filly Beautiful Sunshine. The daughter of Ardad has won £20,000 twice for victories in novice stakes at Windsor and Sandown, and is now set for the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“We went out of our way at the sales to look for eligible fillies to run in GBB races,” said Boughey in a press conference to celebrate the first anniversary of the scheme. “With the new banded novice and maiden-race system, I saw a gap in the market to find cheaper fillies who could effectively pay for themselves very quickly.
“It’s great, we’ve won four bonuses already with just two fillies who both go to Royal Ascot. Beautiful Sunshine cost only £34,000 and has already won £40,000, so she’s paid for herself and anything else on top now is a bonus.”
Boughey confirmed he was using GBB as a tool to encourage owners to buy horses at the sales, adding: “The scheme is still in an embryonic stage, but people are now really latching on to it. I even get emails from breeders who we’ve won bonuses for, and it’s good to see them also getting a bit back too. It should all snowball, and you now almost wouldn’t look at a filly who isn’t qualified for it now, as you’d be missing out on a huge gap in the market.”
Newsells Park Stud general manager Julian Dollar, who also spoke during the press conference, agreed that the bonus acted as a significant incentive for owners to invest at the sales.
“It might not make a huge difference to the elite horses in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, but we’re not targeting those horses, we’re targeting those going to Goffs UK, Book 2, Book 3 and Book 4,” he said.
“It’s there to boost the middle market, and we definitely saw people come to our consignments last year saying ‘don't show me a filly who’s not registered for the Great British Bonus’ – and that was only months after it was launched. I’m sure the scheme will grow and grow, and become increasingly influential.”
GBB operations executive Charlotte Newton gave some statistics that illustrated the scheme’s popularity.
She said, “In the first year at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale – and during Covid – we saw GBB-registered fillies selling for 40 percent more than eligible but non-registered fillies on average, and at the recent Goffs UK Spring Sale the GB-registered fillies sold for 37 percent more than those who weren’t registered. It’s really catching on with buyers and sellers, and this spring my phone’s been going mad with consignors wanting their hip stickers.
“GBB registrations for the 2020 foal crop have just closed and they’re 30 percent higher than at the same stage last year. People have latched on to it and want their fillies registered, either to race themselves to win the bonus or to sell them and know the bonus eligibility will improve their value.”
Regarding the future of the initiative, Newton added, “We’ll continue to find our feet and keep doing what we’re doing, rewarding those fillies. As for the longer term, it’s definitely driven by the needs of industry, which the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association are heavily invested in looking after, so if they do further research in a couple of years’ time, the scheme may be adapted to suit the findings.”