Fai Fai

Both wins came within two months of each other in the summer of 2024, first at Lingfield Park in late May and then at Salisbury in late July. That little purple patch suggested a horse that had found its rhythm, and for those two months the team at Daniel Steele's yard in Henfield, West Sussex, would have had reason to be hopeful. Then the winning stopped. It has now been 21 months since that Salisbury success, and Fai Fai has gone six races without getting back to the top — including two third-place finishes and a second that will have felt agonisingly close.

The recent form reads 7-10-3-3-2-6, which is the shape of a horse hovering just outside the places more often than not. At the level Fai Fai typically races — Class 6, the entry level of British racing — the horse has managed just 2 wins from 31 races, a win rate of roughly 1 in every 15 at that tier. That is a modest record, though Class 6 fields are often tightly bunched and the difference between winning and finishing third can be razor thin.

One genuinely bright spot in the story is jockey George Rooke. In six races together, Rooke has ridden Fai Fai to both career wins — a win rate of 2 from 6, or roughly 1 in 3. That is a striking number for a horse that wins only 1 in every 23 races overall, and it suggests something clicks between horse and rider that does not always happen with others. Daniel Steele's yard has sent out four winners this season, so confidence is not in short supply. Fai Fai raced just yesterday, which means the legs are still warm and another chance is presumably not far away. Whether Rooke is back in the saddle for it could matter more than most things on the racecard.