EMERGING STALLIONS : EMERGING FORCES

Admire Main
(Photo : Greig Muir)

“One of the better young generations of
emerging stallions we’ve known”

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud CEOThere’s a lot being written at the moment in the financial press about the role of emerging countries as the only hope for the world’s ailing economy. While the South African stallion scene is far from lacking in its established stars, there’s real hope among what could turn out to be one of the better young generations of emerging stallions we’ve known. Reports from the physical inspection for the Cape Premier Yearling Sale speak highly of the progeny of A.P. Arrow, Admire Main, Argonaut, Jay Peg and Kildonan, while the foaling crew at Summerhill will tell you that the Brave Tin Soldiers are up there with anything we’ve seen. They’re big, strongly made, and they all carry the magnificent head which was obviously an element of what made Demi O’Byrne part with $3million for him as a foal of just a few months. Besides “big”, you can count on the rest as well. Brave, and brilliant.

Encouraging too, was the money investors were willing to pay for the first crops of Mullins Bay and Stronghold at the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale. While it was to be expected that they would have their admirers when they went through the ring, following the healthy endorsement they received from the gallops inspection panellists, few would’ve anticipated the Mullins Bays would average alongside Kahal and Muhtafal, and that Stronghold would come away with a top price of R330,000, in this climate. Equally pleasing though, is the fact that this sale elicits healthy bidding for a horse, no matter his origins. The Ready To Run is designed for buyers to draw their conclusions from what they see, not what they think they see, and the gallop in the end, is the ultimate test.

Over the years, we’ve seen the likes of Gold Cup hero, Cereus, R8million earner, Imbongi, and Jo’burg’s “love-child”, Pierre Jourdan, all by unfashionable sires, attract a healthy proportion of bids simply because they could run.

While they’re quietly off the commercial boil at the moment, Solskjaer and Way West are another pair who still seem to have a bit of puff in their sails. Solskjaer’s top price was R225,000 for Battle Of Hastings, while Way West justifiably averaged R90,000 (with two “centurions”), given that he’s had two Group One performing fillies in his first two small crops, and that Extra Zero put up such a grand performance in the R2 million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup the day before.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval 27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

BORN TO SEA : BORN TO RULE

Click above to watch Born To Sea winning the Blenheim Stakes (L)
(Image : V.Chandler - Footage : All The Doyles)

BORN TO RULE

If ever a horse was born into greatness, it had to be a sibling of the greatest stallion of our era, Galileo, and of arguably the best racehorse of the last decade, Sea The Stars. That horse is Born To Sea, who debuted in the very race that rocketed Brave Tin Soldier to stardom as a juvenile, the Blenheim Stakes (Listed) at 1200m at The Curragh. It wasn’t that he won it, it was the way he won it, and while his trainer John Oxx was loathe to draw comparisons with his illustrious brothers, he did say he had some big plans for the colt.

The son of Invincible Spirit (a sprinting son of Green Desert) is said to be an imposing looking individual, who ought to be better suited by longer distances. His dam, Urban Sea, was an “Arc” winner at 2400m, and both of her most illustrious progeny excelled at that distance. Of course, there’s no guarantee Born To Sea will stay any sort of a trip, but the Invincible Spirits have at least shown some versatility, the odd one (Lawman), prevailing in the French Derby at 2000m. (The French can be different, as we know, and their Derby is 2000m, not the conventional European 2400m).

Interestingly, in the same week, the only horse in history to have won a Breeder’s Cup Juvenile and a Kentucky Derby, Street Sense, celebrated some notable successes in the Keeneland salesring, no doubt on the back of what horsemen know of his progeny, and in a week in which several of his first crop put up convincing performances. With his credentials, few would be surprised to see Street Sense emerge as a cracking sire; we’ve seen a number of them at Southern Hemisphere sales, and they look the sort to find their best in their classic years. Anything that comes to pass while they’re juveniles (as they are at the moment), is a bonus. On the face of what we’ve seen so far, there’s cause for the crew at Darley America to have smiles on their dials.

We have a small syndicate of investors at Summerhill who annually raid the weanling sales in Australia, and in the context of this story, they seem to have hit the jackpot. They have a son of Street Sense who’s being aimed at the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale, from the immediate family of Galileo, Sea The Stars and Born To Sea. That’s not the kind of pedigree you’d expect to see at a sale in this country, and it’s a rare jackpot, not only for the vendors, but for anyone among the investing public with a modicum of Street Sense.

The Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale
Sunday 6th November

*Six cheque payment scheme for qualifying buyers.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval 27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

HOT STALLIONS : HOW DO YOU PICK THEM?

 

  

Brave Tin Soldier Foals
(Photos : Leigh Willson)

“Big, Brave, Brilliant… and Bloody nice foals!”

In the 2011/2012 edition of the Summerhill Sires Brochure, we posed the same question. The opening paragraph went something like this “hot stallions are the prime currency of the horse trade. They triumph over Wall Street crashes and lift rough mares. Their very names tempt buyers into abandoning price limits arrived at so carefully, so clinically in the calm of the hotel room the night before. So how do you pick them?”

If you’re looking to identify them early on in their careers, the tell-tale signs lie in the most obvious of places, and that’s with their foals. A good spread of good foals is a strong indicator of good runners, and while its not fail-safe, it’s got to be at least 16/20. That’s about as good as odds get in our game anyway, and the astute student will spend his time scouring the paddocks of farms with freshman sires on their rosters, or engaging in “fireside” chats with people who have their noses and ears close to the ground.

About the best sign is when the management of the farm (or better still, the broodmare manager) starts switching their own mares to the stallion. That’s exactly what Annet Becker, who runs the menagerie of mares at Summerhill, has done in the case of Brave Tin Soldier.

We guess you can change the adage. “Big, Brave, Brilliant… and Bloody nice foals!”.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval 27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

THE SEASON OF MELLOW FRUITFULNESS

The foals are arriving…
(Photos : Leigh Willson)

“…1^st of August is the statutory birthday
of every member of the breed in the
Southern Hemisphere.”

We’ve never quite understood why the regulating authorities (or Jockey Club’s, as they are popularly known,) of the world decreed such unseasonal birthdates for thoroughbreds. The 1^st of August is the statutory birthday of every member of the breed in the Southern Hemisphere, while the 1^st January marks the occasion in the Northern Hemisphere. In nature, animals are programmed to calve or foal in the season of abundance, which is the time of warmth and usually moisture, the most conducive conditions for raising offspring. That means, in an environment such as that of the racehorse, foals in our part of the world should be landing in numbers in November, December and January. Man’s interventions demand that we start foaling around the 1^st August, and if you live in Mooi River, you only have to look up from your desk to see a snow-laden Drakensberg in your back garden, and temperatures on your way to work that regularly read -3º or -4º C.

So we’ve had to devise ways and means of assisting in the process. Nature is a powerful intervener in herself, and has her own ways of upsetting the process, if you don’t take measures to massage her. We’re lucky in our region, because we have a generous environment and a wonderful climate, which ensures that, if you have the infrastructure, you can guarantee your mares an assimilation of conditions which is as close to spring as you can find. Summerhill has more than a 1000 acres under irrigation, and that ensures a bountiful stock of emerald green oats, ryegrass, fescue, cocksfoot and clover in a variety of forms, and we have our heating systems in our stable blocks to assist the mares in the belief that this is indeed, an appropriate time to deliver.

We have a busy season ahead, so it’s no surprise then that we already have six bonny youngsters on the ground. No, no Brave Tin Soldiers yet, as he only arrived well into September last year, and as a result, his first progeny are only anticipated in the third week of August. We have a team of 14 (including our night watch team) on foaling duty this year, headed up by the Broodmare Division’s Manager, Annet Becker, Ilze Schmidt, recently promoted Delani Mtshali, our seven students from the School Of Excellence (all accomplished in their own rights), Sam Thomson who comes to us from an endurance horse stud in Australia, as well as Izzy Obolensky from the UK. They’re as fresh as daisies at the moment, but “Black Monday at Black Rock” as it was known in the old days at the height of the season, comes on the 21^st October (three months after people have been up and down several times at night catching the foals), and their eyes are out on stalks. That’s when the “happiness” acid test kicks in.

As a matter of interest, for those who are relatively new to what happens in the season, like their cousins in the wild, thoroughbreds foal the vast bulk of their progeny in the dark hours, and that has to do with the predator factor. Unlike human beings, animals are on their feet within hours of foaling (usually within 40 minutes, in the case of a racehorse), and so by the time we get to our morning meeting around 7am, the reports are already in, and the foals are in prancing mood.

It’s hard to beat life at Summerhill from now thru’ December. This is the season of expectation, when the fruits of our plans come together. Do yourself a favour. Come and see us, but if you can’t, go to our Facebook page and keep up with the team.

SUMMERHILL SIRES FILM 2011 / 2012

Summerhill Sires Film 2011 / 2012
(An iKind Media Production)

SUMMERHILL SIRES 2011 / 2012

Summerhill Stud CEO, Mick Goss, presents the Summerhill Sires for the 2011/2012 breeding season. Featured in this formidable lineup of Stallion talent are Admire Main, AP Arrow, Bankable, Brave Tin Soldier, Kahal, Muhtafal, Mullins Bay, Ravishing and Visionaire, as well as an introduction to the recently opened Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence.

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za