Thursday, April 25, 2013 
Enquiries :
Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982
or email tarryn@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za
Friday, April 12, 2013 
Click above to view photos of the Summerhill National Yearling Sales Draft for 2013
(Photos : Leigh Willson)
Enquiries :
Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982
or email tarryn@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za
Thursday, April 11, 2013 
Admire Main (JPN)
(Photo : Greig Muir)
Now we all know what the Japanese have known all along. For decades, the citizens of the Rising Sun have been proclaiming the virtues of the Sunday Silence male-line, and you need only visit their sires’ charts for confirmation of the strain’s overwhelming dominance. For just as long, the sceptics have argued that while the stallion’s pre-potency in his homeland is undisputed, until he proves it against the best elsewhere, it remains a Japanese phenomenon, and not much else. That myth has been exploded time and again around the world, and if numbers mean what they usually do, it seems his outstanding son, Deep Impact might have an even greater impact in the long run.
Yet it’s by no means limited to Deep Impact, with three other sons of Sunday Silence having ascended to the apex of their national premiership, and at least one, Hat Trick, now firmly established as an international Group One sire from his base at the Beck family’s Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. The perennial leading breeders in Japan, the Yoshida family’s Shadai, Northern and Shiraoi Farms, have been at the head of affairs in that realm for as long as we can remember, and they’re there because they’re world class horsemen and supreme strategists. At a time when Europeans were discarding their mile and a half horses (yes, the Derby and “Arc” aces), in favour of the “faster” Americans, the Yoshidas saw a gap in the segment of the racing population which had served European breeding so well for centuries, and was now being cast aside. They grabbed these prospects gleefully, redesigned their own domestic racing programmes to suit the classic mile and a half horse, and voila! It’s tougher now, of course, to acquire these horses, because Europeans have rediscovered their faith in them, hence the retention of the likes of Sadler’s Wells, Rainbow Quest, Galileo and Montjeu, who’ve transformed European breeding on their own.
In addition, look at any broodmare sale around the world, and you’ll find the name “Yoshida” in one form or another among the leading buyers; the combination of the best racehorses in their category and the best broodmare prospects in theirs, and you have a cocktail for an explosion. And then, as a means of spreading the Sunday Silence gospel, the Yoshidas followed the well-worn Japanese industrial path of globalising their product, by dispersing some of Sunday Silence’s best progeny to other parts of the world, hence the presence at Summerhill of Admire Main, who but for a neck defeat in the Japanese Derby might’ve been the champion three-year-old of his year. They’ve also found it in them to part with the superbly performed Hat Trick to the United States, and my goodness, has he performed.
Before we go there though, let’s bring the story home to Scottsville Monday afternoon, when Admire Main’s first South African-bred runner, Admiral’s Eye, was sent off as the 13/20 chalk in the Juvenile Fillies event. Let it be said, she is a sister to three small Black type runners, two of them daughters of the miler, Modern Day, and the third a Group One-performing son of the middle distance performer, Solskjaer. (Saltwater Girl and Rapid Flow), both excelled at distances of 2400m and 3000m, while Shogunnar put his best foot forward with a runner-up effort in the most recent staging of the Summer Cup (Gr.1) over Turffontein’s 2000m, where he was doing his best work at the business end. It’s a fair bet then, that being a daughter of a proven 2400m specialist from the Sunday Silence male-line, Admiral’s Eye will be an Oaks filly, if she’s nothing else.
Yet here she was lining up for a 1200m sprint on one of the fastest tracks in the land, and she showed her class by heading the field in the early stages before she was challenged by Mike de Kock’s Tiger Ridge daughter Tamayim, who looked to have her cold for a few strides as she cruised past. In a flash, Admiral’s Eye remembered what she was bred for, and the foot went flat on the juice. In a matter of strides, she bulleted clear, and finished eased-down under champion jockey Anton Marcus. She clocked a sharp 1 min 8 seconds and change, quicker than the colts did and fully a second quicker than her older counterparts in the next race. Impressive? Yes. Jet fuel? Maybe, but it’s early days still. You’re not to be surprised, however: in the rush to get Admire Main to South Africa, his first season in Japan was cut short to the degree that he left only 17 foals on the ground; remarkably, 14 of these stepped onto the course at two, 7 of them already know the inside of the winner’s circle, 4 others have made the money, 2 of them in Stakes class.
Don’t be startled by the connection either. It was the old firm of Naidoo and Lafferty at work again. Alesh Naidoo loves the families that have served him well, and he knows what he has under his belt. At November’s Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale, he was a prolific player, raising his catalogue for two fillies with stable connections. One was Admiral’s Eye, whose sisters Saltwater Girl and Rapid Flow, both carried the turquoise, red and white of his Fire Racing Trust, and the other was the sister to last weekend’s S.A.Classic (Gr.1) hero, Love Struck. The Fire Racing Trust is as hot as hell right now, and no-one deserves it more.
In the midst of Monday’s celebration, we picked up our weekend editions of the Thoroughbred Daily News. Another Group One winner for Hat Trick, this time in Argentina (his previous Group One winner was the unbeaten Juvenile Champion in France, Dabirsim, while he already has two at Grade Two level in America). Argentinean victor, Zapata, remains unbeaten in his two starts, and at this stage, stands aloft as their best juvenile of the present season. Back in America, Barry Irwin’s Team Valor, victorious with Animal Kingdom in the Dubai World Cup (Gr.1) on the same weekend as the S.A.Classic, notched up another victory with Howe Great, by Hat Trick out of the South African-bred daughter of Western Winter, Ginger Sea. Howe Great is a Grade 2 winner of six from his thirteen starts to date, and his consistency is evident in the fact that he’s made the frame on 10 occasions for stakes verging on $435 000. Spare a thought for Irwin: he’s swimming in the stuff right now, and doesn’t know what to do with it.
Sunday Silence and his tribe have nothing left to prove. If there are any residual prejudices about Japanese breeding, they can only reside in the minds of the ignorant. If South Africans need any more persuading, and we’ve had less than a handful, you only need look to Lionel Cohen’s Sun Classique for inspiration.
Care for a bit of “Silence”? Admire Main has just one entry on the Emperors Palace National Yearling Sales, and whilst they’re numerically thin, anyone with a modicum of intelligence and intuition will make a beeline for him when he arrives in Germiston. Did you hear that, Mr Irwin?
Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 
Watch Admiral’s Eye winning her maiden
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)
ADMIRAL’S EYE
Admire Main (JPN) - Surfers Eye by Elliodor (FR)
2 Year-Old Bay Filly
Owner : The Fire Racing Trust (Nom : Mr Alesh Naidoo)
Trainer : Paul Lafferty
Jockey : Anton Marcus
Breeder : Honourable Judge Alan Magid and Summerhill Stud
ADMIRAL’S EYE is a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2012 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.
| # | LBH | Horse | Kg | MR | Dr | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.00 | ADMIRAL’S EYE | 58.0 | 0 | 1 | A Marcus | Paul Lafferty |
| 2 | 2.00 | CHELSEA | 58.0 | 0 | 5 | A Forbes | Duncan Howells |
| 3 | 2.50 | TAMAYIM | 58.0 | 0 | 8 | A Delpech | Mike de Kock |
| 4 | 4.75 | PROVERB | 58.0 | 0 | 3 | I Sturgeon | Doug Campbell |
| 5 | 5.25 | SPORTTORIO | 58.0 | 0 | 7 | M Byleveld | Mike Bass |
| 6 | 7.25 | IVORY PEARL | 58.0 | 0 | 6 | *J Dladla (4.0) | Deon Visser |
| 7 | 8.25 | AIRBENDER | 58.0 | 0 | 9 | *C Zackey (4.0) | Duncan Howells |
| 8 | 10.50 | RUBY’S CHOICE | 58.0 | 0 | 2 | M Yeni | Kumaran Naidoo |
| 9 | 19.75 | RED AND WHITE | 58.0 | 0 | 4 | S Cormack | Michael Miller |
| Late Scratching | |||||||
| 10 | 0.00 | AQUATIC ANGEL | 58.0 | 0 | n/a | J Samuel | Deon Visser |
Enquiries :
Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982
or email tarryn@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 
Admiral’s Eye (Admire Main - Surfer’s Eye)
(Photo : Gold Circle)
Beautifully bred Summerhill resident Stallion, Admire Main (JPN), has sired his first South African winner with Admiral’s Eye at Scottsville Tuesday. The bay filly won over 1200m by two lengths for owner Alesh Naidoo, representing The Fire Racing Trust, trainer Paul Lafferty and breeders Honourable Judge Alan Magid and Summerhill Stud. The Fire Racing Trust / Paul Lafferty combination celebrated Grade 1 success last weekend with another Summerhill-bred, Love Struck, in the SA Classic at Turffontein.
A big chestnut standing at 16.2hh, Admire Main has an equally big and impressive walk to match his athletic good-looks. A top-class racehorse in his native Japan, Admire Main had four wins - including the Grade 2 Aoba Sho Derby Trial over 2400m, and the Grade 3 Mainchi Hai over 2000m. He also placed second in the Grade 1 Japanese Derby and third in the Grade 1 Kikuka Sho - with career earnings in excess of US$2million. He won his races by a combined 22.5 lengths.
Admire Main, the only son of the legendary racehorse and Sire of Sires, Sunday Silence, standing in South Africa, covered a few mares in Japan in 2009 prior to his transfer to Summerhill Stud in South Africa. His first juveniles in Japan made a smart start last season achieving 12 wins from seven runners - over distances of 900m to 1800m. Five more of his progeny have placed - impressive and very exciting statistics from this athletic stallion.
Out of the mare Promotion - herself by Hector Protector out of Assertion by Assert - Admire Main’s damline includes Mount Hagen - a stallion that stood at the KwaZUlu-Natal stallion station many years ago.
Admire Main has one colt on offer at the upcoming Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale - Lot 223 Attestation out of Tribute, by Desert Team. The mare has produced three winners including Salutation, a 6-time winner who also ran second in the Grade 2 SA Oaks and third in the Grade 3 Racing Association Handicap. This is the dam-line of Black Wing, Grade 1 winner Last Watch, Stud Master, Charisma and Chestnut Grove.
Admiral’s Eye is a R340,000 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sales graduate from 2012 - and it will be a special win for owner Alesh Naidoo who raced the filly’s half-sisters to great success; two full-sisters Rapid Flow (6-time winner and placing in a Grade 3) and Saltwater Girl (7-time winner placing in a Grade 2), both by Modern Day. Admiral’s Eye is also a half-sister to Grade 1 Summer Cup placed Shogunnar, by Solskjaer. This dam-line is bursting with Bold Black Type and includes sires Lombard (GER) and Vaguely Noble (IRE) and local champion mare Arabian Lass.
Summerhill Stud are also offering Lot 195 Surfing Belle at the upcoming National Yearling Sales; a half-sister to Admiral’s Eye by Kahal.
Extracts from Bloodstock South Africa and KZN Breeders
Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za
