GREYVILLE 1900 : AULD LANG SYNE

Please click videos above to watch a memorable weekend in Summerhill history
Hear The Drums, Pierre Jourdan, Fisani and Imbongi
(Footage : Summerhill Stud)

BETTING WORLD 1900 (Grade 2)
Greyville, Turf, 1900m
20 May 2011

Mick Goss
Summerhill CEOIn the old scheme of things, the 31^st May was a public holiday, recalling the first act of Union in 1910. In Summerhill parlance, we remember the first Prime Minister, Louis Botha, who took the reins over the Boer forces on our farm in November 1899. Racing fans flocked to Greyville racecourse that day every year since, where the last big event before the Durban July has been run, and the field usually attracted a number of the July’s major protagonists. I especially remember the 1960 renewal, when Syd Laird’s Left Wing, walked off with the laurels, and followed up in the July under saddlecloth No. 13. The All Blacks were on tour in South Africa, and this was a portent to the first test, where left wing Hennie van Zyl, wearing jersey No 13, scored the winning try among South Africa’s score of 13 points. There must have been many good horses to have won the race in between, but the next distinct memory I have is of Mazarin completing the double again for Syd Laird, who made a ritual of sprinting his horses over six furlongs first, taking them through the Union Day (or Gordon’s Gin, as it came to be known), and then on they went to the big one on the first Saturday in July. It worked for him, as he snared seven July wins, on an all-time record.

This weekend, the race is the country’s principal feature, and is renewed under the guise of the Greyville 1900 (sponsored by Betting World), and our interest is piqued by Fisani’s acceptance for the race. She’s in cracking form right now, having just come off consecutive Group victories and a 1,5 length win under 60kgs in the Gerald Rosenberg Stakes (Gr2). She carries Sheikh Mohammed, Ronnie and Bev Napier and the farm’s colours against stablemate, Alderry. The latter was a facile winner of one of the country’s top handicaps, the Germiston November, a few months back, and at her best, she’ll give the Summerhill-bred a bit of a rev. That said, in their last two meetings, Fisani has been clearly the better of the two, though it’s no two horse race, given that the manly sex has a few smart performers in its ranks, and that Fisani has never performed at her best in KZN.

Pedigree buffs will want to know a bit more about our Guineas heroine, whom race fans will remember contributed to a memorable weekend for the farm last season when Pierre Jordan took the colt’s version of the Guineas on the same day, Imbongi won the Zabeel Mile in Dubai, and Hear The Drums became the winning most racehorse in South African history. Fisani comes from an old White Lodge Stud family in the UK, and is related to three Classic winners of the same year, Teenoso (English Derby), Old Country (Italian Derby), and Give Thanks (Irish Oaks). Little wonder she’s as good as she is, and stays as well as she does.

She is a half sister to millionaire, Catmandu, and to ten-time time winner, Ecole Militaire, so her Coastal mum, Gypsey Spirit, was something of a blue hen. It’s topical to remember that it was Coastal who spoiled the remarkable Spectacular Bid’s 1979, American Triple Crown aspirations in the final leg. And Coastal lived to a ripe old age of 30 here at Summerhill, and at one time was the oldest surviving American classic winner in the world.

BETTING WORLD 1900 (Gr2)
Final Field

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	TROPICAL EMPIRE (AUS)	60.0	112	10	S Randolph	Duncan Howells
2	ALDERRY	56.0	104	12	K Shea	Mike de Kock
3	FISANI	56.0	104	3	G Lerena	Mike de Kock
4	IN WRITING (ARG)	55.5	103	5	K Neisius	Dean Kannemeyer
5	WE THREE	54.5	101	2	R Danielson	Justin Snaith
6	CASK	54.0	100	8	C Orffer	Stephen Page
7	HAMMIE’S BOY	53.5	99	9	A Domeyer	Mike Bass
8	HAWK’S EYE (GB)	53.5	99	1	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
9	SAFWAN (AUS)	53.0	99	7	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
10	GOLDEN CHARIOT	53.0	98	4	M Yeni	Sean Tarry
11	DANCE AT DAYLIGHT	52.0	96	11	A Forbes	Dennis Drier
12	MAHOGANY	52.0	86	6	S Veale	Weiho Marwing

THEY DON'T HAVE TO HAVE FANCY PARENTS...

EMPERORS PALACE READY TO RUN SALE
7 NOVEMBER 2010 

When it comes to tales, the Ready To Run is a whopper. Of triumph over adversity, of “plebs” over patricians, of David against Goliath. It is racing in its democratic perfection, best illustrated in the outcomes of this month’s Joburg Spring Stakes. The Colts’ version was won in imperious style by a R60,000 buy, the Fillies’ by a million Rand diva by the world’s best stallion. Pierre Jourdan was the hero of last year’s “Cup”, Igugu the favourite for this year’s.

But Pierre Jourdan isn’t that big, his parents aren’t that famous, and he didn’t cost that much as a youngster. Yet he’s by some distance his father’s most talented son. Like any number of Ready To Run stars, he comes from a “less fashionable” background, in the same way as Imbongi, Hear The Drums, Phunyuka, Winning Leap, Dynamite Mike, Catmandu, Thandolwami, and Fanyana. The best racehorses their fathers ever produced. They just happened to have the best upbringing of a racehorse known to man.

Reality is, there’s a horse for everyone in the Ready To Run, especially if you’re willing to back your own judgement.

RECENT SUMMERHILL READY TO RUN GRADUATES
BY COST AND EARNINGS

GRADUATE	PRICE (ZAR)	EARNINGS (ZAR)
IMBONGI **	140,000	8,841,375
PIERRE JOURDAN	60,000	3,299,435
DESERT LINKS **	110,000	2,376,611
BIANCONI **	87,000	1,899,315
HEAR THE DRUMS	40,000	1,866,063
ICY AIR	60,000	1,264,905
AMPHITHEATRE	30,000	1,203,826
CATMANDU	60,000	1,026,100
DISAPPEAR	160,000	970,530
FORK LIGHTENING	75,000	965,962
SMANGALISO	100,000	947,950
PHUNYUKA	90,000	917,650
OUTCOME	150,000	738,670
FANYANA	95,000	717,495
BRIGADIER PARKER	47,000	682,790
BHEKINKOSI	65,000	680,075
MAJESTIC SUN	70,000	631,476
DYNAMITE MIKE	50,000	629,750
ALEJATE	80,000	613,625
PARIS TO PEKING	145,000	580,057
UMNGAZI	180,000	502,680
MANNEQUIN	80,000	455,150

** Includes Earnings Abroad

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

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MILLIONAIRE

Click above to watch Ready To Run Graduate, Hear The Drums
(Image : Wally Strydom/Summerhill Stud - Footage : Tellytrack)

EMPERORS PALACE READY TO RUN SALE
7 NOVEMBER 2010 

Karel Miedema www.sportingpost.co.zaMuch has been made of the role of pedigree in the production of great horses over the years.

While there’s no denying the value of parentage and its contribution to the fashioning of the breed, the glorious thing about racing is that some horses have been known to defy logic.

Great racehorses and great stallions like Foveros and Jet Master, who were both of relatively plebeian beginnings, are stark examples of the importance of physique and athleticism, in enabling one horse to run faster than another, whatever their beginnings. In the human realm, Usain Bolt is another good example.

There is no history of a runner in his genetic background, yet here he is, the freak of all freaks, doing what no man has ever done before him.

The Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale is probably the best reminder of why we all like racing. Its record of producing top athletes is, pound-for-pound, unrivalled in this country, yet you wouldn’t necessarily have anticipated this through a simple glance at the catalogue. If ever testimony was needed that you don’t have to have a flashy father to be a great racehorse, the Ready To Run provides it. If ever you wanted evidence of a defiance of probability, the Ready To Run is it.

Graduates of the sale regularly mock those who put their faith in six generation pedigree charts. They confound vets in matters of engineering, and the judgement of horsemen who rely on the aesthetics of balance and style and presence.

In recent times, horses like Imbongi (Russian Revival), Pierre Jourdan (Parade Leader), Winning Leap (Labeeb), Dynamite Mike (Fard), Hear The Drums (Gold Press), Catmandu (Makaaram), Phunyuka (Slew The Red) and Fanyana (Alami), all of them either classic winners, champions or millionaires, have emerged from this sale to scale the heights in their respective divisions. Their modest returns in the sales ring point to the fact that they were unfashionably bred, or that they may have suffered from some fault in God’s engineering, yet their records are in bold Black type.

The Ready To Run is also racing at its democratic best. Last November, a one time electrician took on an Arabian Sheikh for the top lot at R2.1million. It was every bit as dramatic as “the rumble in the jungle”, Ali vs Frasier, or the epic bout between Verus and Priscus at the opening of the Flavian amphitheatre. In the end, Andre Macdonald gave best to Sheikh Mohammed, but he was right back on the board when the presently unbeaten Igugu entered the ring. R1million later, Macdonald walked away with the spoils, a filly by the present champion sire of Europe, Galileo, who on present form, looks like she may have been something of a bargain.

Yes, there is something gladiatorial about a horse sales ring, where auctions are an adversarial form of shopping, and this is none more so than at the Ready To Run. No doubt, Sunday, 7th November will be the scene of some more fireworks.

Dates to remember :

Saturday 6 November 2010 - Raceday
Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup

Sunday 7 November 2010 - Auction Sale
Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale

For more information please visit :

www.tba.co.za
and
www.summerhill.co.za

MILLIONAIRES OR THERE ABOUTS

Pierre Jourdan
(Photo : JC Photographics / Summerhill Stud) 

“WHEN OUR BRAND GOES ON,
THE CLASS IS INSIDE”

Continuing the extracts from the Summerhill Sires Brochure for 2010/2011. Are you on the mailing list? If not then please let us have your details and we’ll gladly ensure you get a personal copy when it’s published on the 1st August.

“This is some sales ring. As the colt leaves, there is no murmur from the buyers in the black-backed chairs of  the pavilion. They are a congregation of sorts. They merely turn the catalogue page as more conventional worshippers turn the pages of hymnals. A quarter of a million for a youngster is nothing special here. Rich men seek the Holy Grail, rather than mere racehorses.

Summerhill is different though, because Summerhill has made it that way. We’ve always said, there’s a horse for everyone here. You might not take on the Harry Oppenheimers of the world in the boardroom,  but at the races you can. On the turf, as well as under it, all men are said to be equal. And while you might be justified in believing that buying from the Champions could be costly, racing abounds with its own fairytales.

Every graduate of the Summerhill paddocks is an individual creation. Shoppers at our “A” Block sales yard are looking to be reassured. They want a nice horse, but an inherently precious one, a piece of art. All our horses start out this way, and all of them are brought up this way. Truth is though, we are not the masters of God’s engineering, nor are we purveyors of fashion.

The result is the peculiar democracy of the South African turf that enables every one of Amphitheatre, Icy Air, Dynamite Mike, Hear the Drums, Catmandu, Salutation, Winning Leap and Pierre Jourdan, all of them millionaires, to be bought for R60,000 or less. Imbongi suffered the indignity of never raising a bid, yet this year he was anointed Victor Ludorum at Dubai’s Racing Festival. Taxi drivers and muck-shovellers could’ve invested in the lot.

These horses remind us why we like racing. They are defiant in the face of improbability. They triumph despite their “wheels” or their lack of illustrious parentage. They can be splendidly unscientific, often doing what they shouldn’t be able to do. In the age of computers, satellites and DNA, the racehorse is proof that two and two doesn’t always make four.

At least that’s the case when you’re dealing with Summerhill. You know when our brand goes on, the class is inside. That every youngster emerging from our paddocks, has been given the identical chance, that he’s a handmade product of the best upbringing of a horse known to man.

After that, we’re in the lap of the gods. It does seem though, looking at the Leader Board, that in the eyes of the gods, some men are more equal than others.”

SOUTH AFRICAN BREEDERS CHAMPIONSHIP

#	Breeder	Stakes (ZAR)
1	Summerhill Stud	18,290,962
2	Ascot Stud	6,324,400
3	Lammerskraal Stud	6,190,425
4	Normandy Stud	5,994,150
5	Highlands	5,926,499
6	Klawervlei Stud	5,894,875
7	Wilgerbosdrift	5,890,200
8	Scott Bros	5,414,937
9	D Cohen & Sons	5,324,412
10	Maine Chance	5,174,462

Sporting Post as at 11 July 2010

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

SUMMERHILL PROSPECTS FOR THE VODACOM JULY

Catmandu and Outcome
(Photo : Gold Circle/Summerhill)

“Thandolwami, Catmandu and Outcome -The Summerhill Soldiers”

Earlier this week, you read our piece on Thandolwami, and Craig Eudey’s remarks on his chances. One thing you’ve got to give Craig, he’s true to the saying “you cant get a good man down” and we know from our own discussions with him, he’s as bullish as anyone could be, taking on a horse of Pocket Power’s potency.

We have two other horses in the field however, and Outcome’s trainer, Michael Miller, is on record as saying that wherever River Jetez finshes, Outcome will be all over her. We had River Jetez’ trainer, Mike Bass and his wife Carol here over the weekend, and Mike thinks she has a live chance of lifting the silver. So if Mike Miller’s right, and Mike Bass is right, this could just turn out the Year of the Filly.

Our other representative, Catmandu, comes to Durban under the tutelage of Andre Kirsten. He has to be one of the unluckiest horses in training, as he has a number of Group One performances under his belt, yet he remains a maiden as far as Feature race victories are concerned. Last year, we fancied him to kill in the July, expecting him to run right on the money, but he looked a somewhat tired horse in the finish, after a long and arduous campaign.

His form this year has been a little more in-and-out, yet if he gets his lines right, he’s a runner, no doubt about it. We spoke to Andre Kirsten this morning and he reported that Catmandu arrived in good shape in Durban yesterday, and with the weight difference this year, he must have a shout.