SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING TRUE

Turn up your volume and watch above
to remember Stronghold…

STRONGHOLD (GB)
Danehill (USA) - Insinuate (USA)

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud CEOYou’ve got to give it to the Ready To Run judging panel : it was the collective experience of more than three hundred years in the game that identified the Strongholds and Mullins Bays as South Africa’s “second coming”. While you wouldn’t expect the progeny of a classic horse like Mullins Bay to be precocious two-year-olds, in general terms, you might have thought it of the grandchildren of Danehill. Yet Stronghold himself never ran at 2, and he was even a little late in arriving at three. Anything that turned up for him in the first three or four months of 2012 then, had to be a belated Christmas bonus. And so it has been.

January was still in full swing, when Stronghold’s Tealion put a bit of daylight between himself and his pursuers on only his second visit to the races. A week later, Joey Ramsden sent She’s Got It out against an odds on daughter of Trippi, and at the 200 metre mark, our recollections of her as a bit of a latish, somewhat spare individual, were looking like being confirmed. Something must have reminded her she was a daughter of a European champion, and she took off like she’d been shocked by a cattle prodder. By then the exacta had gotten away, but she closed in a manner that suggested there’d be no next time for the first two, and that she’d be the even money chalk (or better) when she faced the starter again.

The juvenile season in Gauteng is hotting up now, as we approach their big autumn two-year-old contests, and there was plenty of interest in the line-ups for the two “baby” races on Tuesday evening. While there were better fancied candidates when the starter called the fillies’ roll, notably Mike de Kock’s 3-10 shot (by Captain Al), the biggest market-mover was number 5, a first-timer by you guessed, Stronghold. From the Muhtafal mare Perfect Lady, Qui Bonita (“pretty girl”) was a R110,000 purchase by Ivan Snyman from the Summerhill draft at the November version of the Ready To Run. Let it be said, she was on Jehan Malherbe’s shortlist at the gallops; just shows what 25 years of racecalling has done to sharpen the wits of a man who’s recognised today as the best judge of an aspirant racehorse in Africa.

Qui Bonita ran like she knew she had nine paternal siblings in this Wednesday’s Mark 2 version of the Ready To Run Sale at Summerhill, and she understood her responsibilities. At the favourite’s throat from the jump, she quickened away in stunning style while wobbling ‘to and fro’ across the track, a clear signal to the market that the farm’s adage “get a grip, before they get away,” has weight attached.

Stronghold’s now the horse they’re tipping for line honours for the freshman sires’ title in 2012.

Talking of judges, we remember a visit to the rolling gallops of Manton in the south of England some years back. John Gosden is nothing if he’s not one of the world’s top trainers, and a night with him, his wife Rachel and the rest of their household can be educational, not that it’s ever short of a bit of life. Sheikh Hamdan had asked if we’d take a Group One-winning son of Kingmambo for the forthcoming season, and it was for the inspection of Malhub that we repaired to the gallops in the lifting mist. There’s always a touch of style to a string of Gosden horses wherever you find them, and there’s no finer setting than the backdrop of Manton. If you’re wanting to show off the virtues of a racehorse, toss him up amidst all that history, and put him at the head of a Gosden “first lot”.

That’s where Angus Gold and I met Stronghold, right at the head of affairs. We had no clue of his ancestory, but there he was, as strapping a two-year-old as you’d laid your eyes upon. A giant already among his elders. “Presence” is an indefinable attribute. It’s not just a matter of good looks; it’s to do with attitude, class and the “X” factor. I wasn’t the only one that reached for his notebook.

Two years later, I was in England as part of a Trade Council delegation for a meeting at Newmarket. It’s an arguable proposition that the best seven furlong race in the Queen’s realm, is the Challenge Stakes (Gr2) at that meeting. By now, they knew how good Stronghold was, and you could see it in the bookmakers’ quotes. I made my way to the parade, when I noticed the bloodhounds from Northfields Bloodstock, Robin Bruss and Kevin Sommerville, sniffing the same path. I knew instantly that we were on the same beat, and they knew it of me.

The rest is a long story, but it’s probably fair to say that as one of the best remaining sons of Danehill in world racing, he’d have been impossible to buy were it not for a career-ending injury suffered in the Challenge. It wasn’t only career-ending, it was life-threatening, and that made studmasters in the Northern Hemisphere nervous. Indeed, it made everyone nervous. That was the signal to strike.

In the end, we were beaten too, but not before he’d left a second book of mares securely in foal. There’s an old saying in racing that “they have to die to make sure they’re good,” and the prophesy looks like being fulfilled again.

Losing a man like Stronghold so early in life is a mortal blow to any stud, so we have to find the consolations. On the evidence so far, it looks like we have them. “Get a grip, before they get away”.

Enquiries :
Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982
or email tarryn@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALE : LIVE WITHOUT FEAR

Tom Goff (Blandford Bloodstock) and Angus Gold
(Photo : Barronstown Stud, Grangecon, Co Wicklow, Ireland)

CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALE
Cape Town International Convention Centre
Cape Town, South Africa
26 - 27 January 2012

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud CEOJust recently, The Economist magazine, Europe’s leading voice on global economic opinion, carried a foreboding graphic about an uncertain future on its front page, with the words “Be Afraid”. The message is misleading, representing as it does a world view of historical western political, economic and social dominance that is struggling to come to terms with its own relative decline, and with the emergence of another world, stepping boldly into a future of momentous change and great opportunity.

The results of the past week’s thoroughbred trade at Cape Town’s International Convention Centre tell us to their credit, that few of those at whom The Economist’s warning was directed, namely the Brits and our European friends, took any notice. To the astonishment of many, and especially our foreign visitors, the international community splashed out of the order of USD$ 5 million (around R40 million) of the gross turnover of R107 million. When you factor into the equation the suspension of our exports and the fact there is no resolution in immediate sight, it says something for the esteem in which our horses are held, and the marketing job the organisers did. In the end, an average of R403,000 (last year R404,000) was a satisfactory performance, given the entry of an extra 60-odd lots, and while there are still some questions to be asked regarding the future structure of the sale and where it goes from here, in broad terms it was a great way to begin the New Year.

The disparities between the top end and the rest which were apparent at last year’s inaugural version, were still there, however, and while the national propensity to concentrate largely on the progeny of those sires that have proven track records, is understandable, you can’t help thinking that it’s taking risk-aversion too far when it’s done to the point of almost ignoring the stock of a troupe of freshmen which carry some of the best credentials we’ve known. One of the world’s top “bloodstockers”, Tom Goff of Blandford Bloodstock, was among several who made that observation during the week. We all know the attractions of the proven sires, but in some respects, that’s a little bit like kicking for touch. Back in Europe, the old adage ‘get in, before they get out of reach’ is very much on the minds of those with a respect for the first crop of a top class racehorse, and an eye for a good looker. In a country in which courage and enterprise have been the foundation stones of what we are today, it’s strange to find that being “fearful” is the characteristic of South African horsemen these days, and it seems our people are paying more attention to The Economist, than their own.

Another man whose name is known around the world, racing manager to Sheikh Hamdan, Angus Gold, pointed to the yawning gap between the top and the bottom of the sale, and especially the hole in the middle market, and wondered whether the concentration of resources by so few on so many of the top lots, isn’t a deterrent to outside investors. It is a point, though it’s fairly typical of what happens in boutique sales wherever you go, and was a hallmark of the old days at Keeneland July, scene of the world’s most famous slugging matches between the Maktoum family and the old O’Brien, Magnier and Sangster firm.

There is something though, about a horse sale that transcends all cultures and all tastes. This was a triumph for the organisers, bringing together players from 15 different countries. The lure of a good horse is as compelling today as it ever was, and in a world in which government debt and sovereign bonds are demoted to junk status, the international currency of horse trading is right back in vogue. Nowhere in the world can you hook up with a greater diversity of people, and in this lies a salutary lesson. We teach history the wrong way around. The first thing we should learn as a child, is that we’re part of the human race, the last thing we should learn is that we’re Protestant, South African and of European descent. The horse world, and raising horses, teaches you that.

www.summerhill.co.za

2011 CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALE SUMMARY

Cape Premier Yearling Sale - CTICC
(Photo : Astrid Stark)

CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALE
Cape Town ICC, 27-28 January 2011

The inaugural Cape Premier Yearling Sale, staged at the Cape Town International Covention Centre, drew to a close Friday. The sale attracted plenty of international interest with 214 lots sold for turnover of R87,900,000 (US$12,222,105). There was a clearance rate of 79 percent. The average price was R410,748 ($57,113) (US$1=R7.192).

Leading vendor at the sale, by aggregate, was Klawervlei Stud. They sold 32 yearlings for an aggregate of R15,725,000. Leading vendor, by average (three or more sold), was Lammerskraal Stud. They sold a trio of yearlings for an average price of R933,333. Champion sire Jet Master had an outstanding sale. His 21 yearlings sold for an aggregate of R15,585,000 and an average of R742,143, which made him the leading sire by average as well. A pair of colts by the stallion, both knocked down for R2.5 million, ultimately topped the two-day sale. Lot 269, a son of Jet Master (SAf) - Alexandra Bi (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}), was knocked down to Singapore-based trainer Patrick Shaw.

Patrick Shaw was also responsible for Thursday’s R2 million son of Captain Al (SAf) - Leading Dame (SAf) (Jallad). Lot 269 is a half-brother to three winners from four to race, including Alexandra Rose (SAf) (Caesour), a Group 2 winner and twice Group 1-placed in South Africa. She later finished runner-up in the Cape Verdi Stakes in Dubai and landed the 2008 Monrovia Handicap (G3) for Team Valor and partners. The bay colt was consigned by Varsfontein Stud. The other son of Jet Master to sell for R2.5 million was lot 102. Out of the Al Mufti mare Laptop Lady (SAf), the colt was consigned by Klawervlei Stud. He was bought by Gauteng owner Ebrahim Khan.

Both the venue and quality of horse on offer drew praise from all involved and buyers were very impressed by the sale.

Angus Gold, racing manager to Sheikh Hamdan whose association with Summerhill goes back some 20 years, had this to say, “Everyone has been tremendously positive and upbeat for this sale, and judging on what I have seen, they have every right to be. The venue is wonderful, and there are a number of wonderful horses up for sale, who compare favourably with the horses I have bought at the country’s National Sale. Despite being in the middle of a busy city, the horses at the sale have been remarkably settled and relaxed.”

Team Valor’s Barry Irwin remarked, “I came here to buy three, and am leaving with seven horses. There were some very nice horses on offer, and I was happy to see the horses were not backward, but of a very high quality. The selection of horse on the sale was excellent and, despite having a relatively small number, I still found 16 fillies I was keen to buy.”

Dubai owner Ali Alqama, who has horses in training with champion trainer Mike de Kock, purchased three horses at the sale, all of which are headed to Dubai. He said of the sale, “The prices are very reasonable in South Africa, which I like. There were some very nice horses on offer, and South African horses have an excellent record in Dubai. After this sale, I will definitely be coming to the Emperor’s Palace National Yearling Sale later in the year.”

All in all, the sale proved tremendously popular, with both buyers and vendors praising the concept, venue and quality of horse on offer.

TOP LOTS SOLD FOR R1,000,000 PLUS

Lot	Horse	Sex	Sire	Dam	Vendor	Price (ZAR)
269	Alexandra Palace	Colt	Jet Master	Alexandra Bi	Varsfontein Stud	2,500,000
102	One Sunday Morning	Colt	Jet Master	Laptop Lady	Klawervlei Stud	2,500,000
106	Tequila Sunrise	Colt	Captain Al	Leading Dame	Klipdrift Stud	2,000,000
220	Abercrombie	Colt	Trippi	Stratos	Drakenstein Stud	1,800,000
113	Yorker	Colt	Jet Master	Little Indian	Varsfontein Stud	1,800,000
223	09 Sunshine Lover	Colt	Captain Al	Sunshine Lover	Klipdrift Stud	1,700,000
101	Lord Windsor	Colt	Silvano	Lady Windsor	Varsfontein Stud	1,700,000
274	Solomons Wall	Colt	Western Winter	Angelina	Lammerskraal Stud	1,700,000
144	Legal Trip	Colt	Trippi	Niyabah	Drakenstein Stud	1,500,000
114	Tiger In Africa	Colt	Tiger Ridge	London Niece	Wilgerbosdrift Stud	1,500,000
164	Captain Lars	Colt	Captain Al	Polar Charge	Klawevlei Stud	1,400,000
184	09 Russian Muse	Filly	Windrush	Russian Muse	Normandy Stud	1,400,000
212	Force Majeure	Filly	Jet Master	Star Wars	Arc-en-ciel Stud	1,400,000
188	Grassland	Filly	Western Winter	Savannah Breeze	Highlands Farm	1,200,000
14	Epic Tale	Colt	Western Winter	Classique Story	Avontuur Farm	1,050,000
136	Mussoorie	Colt	Trippi	Mountains Of Mist	Drakenstein Stud	1,050,000
22	Dime A Dozen	Filly	Jet Master	Dame Kiri	Klipdrift Stud	1,000,000
276	Count To Ten	Filly	Count Dubois	Aquilonia	Klawervlei Stud	1,000,000

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

For more information, please visit :
www.tba.co.za

KEVIN DOYLE : RETURN OF THE MAGI

Take a trip down memory lane and watch Saintly winning the 1996 Melbourne Cup
(Photo : Sport Horse - Footage : TVN)

“They spat on their hands and
shook on a deal…”

Mick Goss
Summerhill CEOI’ve only ever been to one Melbourne Cup in my life, but it was a helluva Cup. It was the year Bart Cummings saddled his home-bred Saintly, and it was his seventh (of twelve) Melbourne Cups. You have to go to a Melbourne Cup to understand what it’s all about, what it means to Australia as a nation, and what happens in what they call the “Birdcage”, and in the parking lots. You’ve never seen such festivity in your life, and you’ve never seen so many bodies strewn about, funeral parlour-like, in a car park either.

In a way, it was all just too much for us, and the devil quickly drew us into the spirit of things and especially the imbibing. By the end of it all, we were probably ready for bed, but our old pal, Angus Gold, racing manager to Sheikh Hamdan of Dubai, told us we’d all been invited; Rodney Thorpe, Roger Zeeman and I, to the 30^th birthday party of Adam Sangster. Summerhill’s association with the Sangsters goes back a long way, to our most famous resident, Northern Guest, and his erstwhile paddock mate, Home Guard. So we went, but we stopped off en route at an underground restaurant and made the acquaintance, for the first time, of a construction man from Edinburgh. His name was Kevin Doyle, a larger-than-live character with a pocket just as big, and just as generous.

Whatever the world may say about the Scots and their frugality, and how limited they are in handing the stuff out, Kevin Doyle inherited the lot in the way of generosity. There were at least a dozen dead bottles of Barossa Shiraz on the table when we got up to go to Adam’s birthday party. As they headed for the door, messrs. Thorpe and Zeeman were seen to conclude a pact with Mr Doyle. They spat on their hands and shook on a deal, promising that one day, just one day, they’d own a horse together.

Like most of these things, nothing materialized for a few years. Then, as if it was pre-ordained, Thorpe and Zeeman were forced into action, again after copious quantities of a favourite Shiraz. Well into the night at the National Sales, they bought a filly for what was in those days, an enormous sum, about R300,000. Most of us, when spending that sort of dough would take the time to inspect the horse, but all Roger Zeeman knew of her was the pedigree his well glazed eyes were gazing upon. There’s a thing called “buyer’s remorse” in the horse game, and it descended quite suddenly and quite strongly. They immediately thought of Summerhill, so kind of them. The invitation was to participate in what was arguably the most expensive folly of their lives.

It was approaching 23h00 when we visited the Maine Chance yard for an inspection. I must confess, she did have a wonderful pedigree, and the name Danehill appeared somewhere in its nether regions. Her sire Golden Thatch was a proven speed stallion, but he could get some very ordinary specimens as well. When the filly came out of her box in the dark, she looked like one of those, the ordinary ones. Never one to let friends down, we did volunteer to take 10% of her, but I said we’d have another look in the daylight and decide whether this could be amplified.

The next day we liked her even less, but having committed to the deal, we were stuck with 10%. Suddenly and rather ingeniously, Roger recalled the drunken evening in Melbourne. “What about our Scottish friend, the one we met at the Melbourne Cup?”. Letting him in on a filly of such breeding, after all, would broaden South Africa’s footprint in terms of international owners.

And so it was left to me to make the call. Characteristically, Kevin Doyle’s response was exactly as we’ve come to know the man. “Send me the bill for whatever is left”, and having included the man who’d introduced us for 5%, Kevin Doyle took up the remaining 50%. A year later, under the name of Lady Broadhurst, the filly debuted for the Dean Kannemeyer yard. Some debut. An effortless victory by 3,5 lengths.

It was December 1998, just as the first of the Summerhill partnerships formed ten years before, matured and their stock came up for sale. Lady Broadhurst was among the entries, and for the first time in racing history, a filly was sold at auction for R1 million. The protagonists with their irons in the ringside fire were John Messara of Arrowfield Stud in Australia and a partnership of Lady Chrissy O’ Reilly and the de Moussac family of Haras du Mezeray. Their agent was a young man who had been working for us for a couple of seasons, Laurent Benoit, who’d that day launched his now famous bloodstock business, Broadhurst Agency, on the back of that purchase. Kevin Doyle’s share of the proceeds was a cool half a million Rand, and as we’ve come to know him, he simply said “reinvest it in some of the mares in the sale”. Miraculously, of the four we bought, they included the dams of future champions; Icy Air, Amphitheatre and last year’s Dubai Carnival victor ludorum, Imbongi.

This is the kind of man we all like to know, and this weekend, for the first time, he visits us with the even better half of him, his wife June. Long overdue. Like the Three Wise Men.

ROYAL ASCOT 2010

The Royal Procession at Royal Ascot
(Photo : The Mirror) 

ROYAL ASCOT
15 JUNE 2010 - 19 JUNE 2010

Racing’s greatest festival is Royal Ascot. The Melbourne Cup may stop a nation for a day, but the Royal Meeting stops the world for a week. That’s the truth about this phenomenal celebration of pomp, ceremony and the classiest exhibition of Thoroughbred endeavour, anywhere.

Fans of our sport are indebted to Queen Anne who transformed the naked heathland at Windsor Castle into the arena for England’s most famous sporting tradition in 1711. Since then more money, more pride, more pedigree and more champagne has been splurged on the outcome of the events of these four days than on any other sporting action anywhere.

It takes a special kind of animal to make the “cut” for Royal Ascot, let alone win there, and many of those that have distinguished themselves have long since graduated into racing and breeding’s Hall of Fame. The breed-shapers, from Hyperion to Ribot, Sadler’s Wells to Danehill, they all passed Ascot’s way, and who knows what this year’s events, commencing today, might hold?

THE FIRST DAY’S SPORT

Highlights of the first day always include the mid-summer “European Guineas”, the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr1), which brings together the English Guineas winner, Makfi, the hero of the Irish version, Canford Cliffs, and the French horse Siyouni. Then there is the internationally contested (especially by a flotilla of Aussies), King’s Stand Stakes (Gr1) over five furlongs, which brings together some of the swiftest horses in the world, (JJ The Jet Plane excluded this year,) Borderlescott, Equiano and Kingsgate Native for the home contingent, while the David Hayes-trained Nicconi and Hussonet’s Grade One winning son, Gold Trail do duty for Australia. 

Somehow, the respective 2010 Guineas winners in England, Ireland and France do not possess the same allure as you might expect of these races, so the St James’s Palace has an especially open look to it for this renewal. You can’t say that though, for the Kings Stand where the Europeans field the usual suspects (some of them looking decidedly long in the tooth these days), but the Australians have once again mounted a serious offensive. Their record in this race over the past couple of years suggests that this could be Australia’s day, which will help our friends from down under to get over the pasting they took at the hands of Germany on Sunday evening in Durban.

The Queen Anne Stakes (Gr1) traditionally brings together the best older milers, and in some respects, it could be dubbed the world championship of milers, so good have its outcomes been in the past. At least this one has lived up to its billing, as it matches last year’s three year old champion miler, Rip Van Winkle, the explosively in-form Paco Boy and the eight time Grade One winning filly, Goldikova. If you miss the other two, make sure you’re in front of your telly when this one comes up.

LE COUP D’OR : 
NO YEATS THIS YEAR, BUT THERE’S STILL ANGUS GOLD OUT THERE

The most famous race, and the headliner at this celebrated meeting, is the Gold Cup, a marathon contest over 2,5miles. For the past four seasons, Summerhill resident sire, Solskjaer’s half-brother, Yeats has dominated the event, and has the distinction of being the only horse in the 200 year history of the race to have won it on four consecutive occasions. He won’t be there for the race this year, and it looks like a sub-par gathering of stayers. Nonetheless, we have gold in a different form in the shape of Sheikh Hamdan’s worldwide racing manager, Angus Gold.

One of our favourite parables flowing from Ascot is now two years old, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II invited Angus to join the Royal Parade. We all know the Queen’s golden coach, and anyone who’s watched Tellytrack in recent years, will know what the Royal procession looks like. Having passed the grandstand the coach proceeds up the shute to the paddock. Once there, the Royal party alights, and proceeds to the Royal Box. On this occasion, as the party departed the paddock, one Aussie wag at the rail enquired: “Hey mate, who’s that bird with Angus Gold?” He obviously wasn’t a Royalist.