Marty Fairbairn Group-winning family still saluting
By Duane Ranger
The family of the 2012 Queensland Derby winner, Best Deal Yet, is still kicking goals for its Winton breeder, Marty Fairbairn.
Marty and Daphne Fairbairn
In fact, Best Deal Yet’s (Bettor’s Delight – Bonnie Deal – Nero’s B B) little nephew, the 2-year-old Betterthancheddar – Deal On The Day – Julius Caesar gelding – Harry’s Deal – won on debut at the Forbury Park meeting at Wyndham Raceway on Saturday (June 24).
Fairbairn explained that the siblings Best Deal Yet (2008) and Deal On The Day (2006), were out of the brown 2000 Make A Deal – Beaudiene Bonnie (Nero’s B B) two-win mare, Bonnie Deal.
“I bred Bonnie Deal thanks to Dave Kennedy who lent me her mother, Beaudiene Bonnie (Nero’s B B – My Girl – Meadow Paige mare) to breed from.
She was Beaudiene Bonnie’s fourth foal and I raced her to win two races for me at Wyndham (February 2004) and Riverton (October 2004).
“Then before I retired her and put her in foal to Julius Caesar in 2005, and in October 2006 Deal On The Day was born.
“Best Deal Yet and then Awesum Teddy (2009 10-win ($77,612 ) Elsu gelding in NZ) were the best two foals out of the six foals Bonnie Deal left us,” Fairbairn said.
“Best Deal Yet and Awesum Teddy were both sold to Australia where they won 19 ($300,291) and 14 ($122,689) races respectively.
“We sold Best Deal Yet to Merv and Meg Butterworth. ‘Teddy” was also sold to Australia after racing here.
Best Deal Yet won five races here ($81,447), including runner-up 2012 Southern Supremacy Stakes Final. That was a Group Two race.
Fairbairn, a plumber by trade with his own business, but semi-retired these days, said he was delighted with Harry’s Deal first-up neck-victory as the hot $1.30 favourite in race one on Saturday.
“Brett (Gray – trainer) had him spot on for his debut. He’s a lovely 2-year-old who can only improve with time and strength. He’d won twice and placed in his Winton and Invercargill Workouts, so I was relatively confident he would do well.
“Nathan (Williamson) sealed it with a great drive,” Fairbairn said.
He said Harrys Deal was a likeable little fella who had a great attitude.
“He said ‘good morning’ to you. He had the right attitude and was lovely to work with. I really like him a lot, but at two it’s way too early to get carried away with him,” Fairbairn said.
Fairbairn, who also owns the nuggety bay gelding, said the five-win mare Deal On The Day, had now left six foals with Harrys Deal being the second last of them.
Brodie Phillips bred her last foal by Vincent which he sold at the yearling sales so we will watch her with interest.
Deal On The Day has also left five other foals. They are a Rocknroll Dance filly, Rocknroll Deal, qualified but unraced, then the 2017 Sweet Lou gelding, Lou’s Deal, who has won three races for Waimumu trainer, Rebecca Heads; the late unraced 2015 Somebeachsomewhere chestnut gelding, Somedealsomewhere; and foal one, the 2014 Bettor’s Delight mare, Delightful Deal.
Delightful Deal started twice for two seconds as a three year old before she got kicked by her paddock mate.
“She was a lovely pacer, who could have gone on to great things had it not been for that paddock accident. She also had quarter cracks which curtailed her career at four. As a four year old she had 12 starts for 4 wins, one second and 3 thirds.
“In the end she won just those four races, but she should make a nice broodmare as well. She’s left us two fillies by Always B Miki – a weanling named Miki’s Deal, and a yearling named Kiss Me Mini. The yearling broke in 10 out of 10,” Fairbairn said.
Fairbairn said he first ventured into standardbred breeding just on 30 years ago when he bred from the 1988 Apollo’s Way – Brets Flake (Knowing Bret) mare Carmody Gold. I aquired the mare who was in foal to Nua Rival as part payment for a plumbing job.
“I bred Dream’s Galore (by Nua Rival) from her, and the breeding bug has stemmed from there. It’s now a passion.
Our budget in the early days wasn’t great so we tried to breed free lease mares to budget stallions for not much luck, at least six that I can remember. Don’t think we got one to the races. Things changed when Bonnie Deal arrived.
So, what is the name of the best horse that Fairbairn has bred?
“That would be the Derby winner, Best Deal Yet. But I have had some nice ones over the years. My 2014 Bettors Delight – Bonnie Deal mare, Everlasting Deal has left three foals and was served by Sweet Lou in January.
“Her first foal we raced with Alan and Joy Lindsay, a 3-year-old Sweet Lou gelding named Saint Louie, only had one race here for a second at Ascot Park (November last year), and then we sold him to clients of Dylan Egerton-Green in Western Australia.
He now races under the name of Hale Saint Louie, and won his first four races in rural Western Australia in April.
The Fairbairn family, at youngest daughter Renee’s recent nuptials
Fairbairn, who is a long-term Winton Harness Racing Club committee member, is married to Daphne, and they have three children, and five grand-children.