"PJ" NO GIVEAWAY

Click above to watch Pierre Jourdan winning the Charity Mile in November 2011
(Image : JC Photos - Footage : Tellytrack)

PIERRE JOURDAN
“The People’s Horse”

There’s little dignity in a great racehorse being put through an auction ring at the end of a race meeting, particularly for a champion. Pierre Jourdan grabbed the imagination of racing fans countrywide with some spectacular performances commencing in the spring of 2009 through the summer of 2011, yet such are the attachments and emotions of racehorse ownership, that even a horse of his stature had to face the auctioneers’ hammer at Turffontein Sunday evening.

He’d come out of last month’s Horse Chestnut (Gr.1) with a bit of a jar and some filling in his joints, and there must’ve been a few misgivings as to whether or not he’d come back to his former self. Let’s not forget, it was just a few months back that he made mincemeat of a high quality field in the Peermont Charity Mile (one of South Africa’s best endowed 1600m events), and he did so giving chunks of weight away to some of the nation’s best talents. Pierre Jourdan made his mark in the vintage of some of the best three-year-old colts we’ve seen in decades, and besides his sparkling performances in his classic year, he very nearly upset Igugu’s party in last year’s Vodacom Durban July (Gr.1). He was South Africa’s biggest earner in 2010, and he impressed his July rider, Dougie Whyte, to the degree that the multiple Hong Kong champion suggested he would more than hold his own in the best company out East.

Emilio Baserio is nothing if not a passionate racing man, and his lifetime obsession to own a champion, eventually manifested itself in the R60,000 purchase of “PJ” at the Emperors Palace Ready To Run. He’s been on the greatest ride of his life, thanks to some grand handling by Team Alexander, who’ve managed his career like it belonged to their own child. It happens in racing, because we’re all emotional about our horses, but in the end the partners decided that what was best for the horse, was they should dissolve their venture, hence Sunday’s sale. In the end, we’re told Emilio gave it a good old crack, courtesy of Alec Laird, who’s long been in the saddle for him, while the Alexanders put together a bit of a team themselves. We believe Weiho Mawing had a big punter in the fray at one point, and while it’s nothing compared with what he might’ve fetched after he’d whipped the cream in the R2million Premiers Classic (Gr.1) in 2010, the R1,6million winning bid was probably a respectable price for a five-year-old gelding who’d come out of his last start feeling a few things. Emilio’s got the cash, and he’ll be back investing a bit of it in his favourite sport, while Gary Alexander and his team have walked away with the spoils.

For their sakes, and ours, we hope PJ will be back soon, thrilling the crowds as only he could, this winter.

DOUGIE WHYTE : THE DEMON IS BACK IN TOWN

Douglas Whyte - Hong Kong Jockeys Championship
(Photo : Life HK)

“PIERRE JOURDAN”

VODACOM DURBAN JULY
Greyville, Turf, 2200m
2 July 2011

The most sought-after Jockey’s title in the world, is the crown in Hong Kong, which has been in South African hands for eighteen of the last nineteen years. Only one man has ever won it on ten consecutive occasions, and he is Durban-born, Cape Town-trained and Hong Kong-celebrated Dougie Whyte, otherwise known in Far East realms as “The Demon”. This is no single-dimensional horse rider though, he’s a man with a mind, great athletic attributes, the determination that goes with champions, and, in a little known cameo to his career, he was once South Africa’s leading Young Winemaker with his Demonvale range.

Dougie’s also a man who doesn’t deal in trifles, and if he’s coming to South Africa to take a mount in a race, it’s going to be for the Vodacom Durban July, and it’s going to be a serious horse. He’s aboard the Summerhill wonder, Pierre Jourdan, the pride of the Gary Alexander Racing stable and a little owner, Emilio Baisero, who reminds us all that in racing, you don’t have to be the biggest businessman in the world to own the best horse.

Pierre Jourdan has had a perfect preparation, culminating in a gallant second under 60kgs in the Jubilee Handicap (Gr2), and according to Dean Alexander, he’s ready to go, though nobody really knows how far he’ll travel. Spare a thought for young Derreck David, his regular pilot and now on standby, though it seems that issue is taken care of, too. He has great respect for Dougie Whyte, who’s in touch with the stable several times a day, instructing Derreck as to what he wants him to do with “PJ” in work, and sharing insights on the video material he’s watched, not only of PJ’s previous efforts, but of the opposition.

There won’t be a stone unturned, come Saturday afternoon, and all the connections have to worry about now is Dougie’s plane arriving on time. If all else fails, Derreck will be there to fill the breach.

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

WISHING PJ A SPEEDY RECOVERY

Click above to watch…
(NB. Please turn up your volume.)
(Image : JC Photos / Summerhill Stud)

PIERRE JOURDAN
“THE PEOPLE’S HORSE”

Pierre Jourdan, one of the most popular horses in training on the Highveld, has sustained a career-threatening injury and will not be seen again for a number of months writes Nicci Garner for Tab Online.

His trainer and part owner Gary Alexander said sadly on Monday : “PJ hurt himself in the Summer Cup. It’s a bone injury in the off hind hock. He is being treated by Prof Roy Gottschalk (Witbos Veterinary Clinic) and if the leg settles down, he’ll be rested for only three to four months. If not, he’ll have to have surgery and that could mean at least a year off. This has put paid to his four-year-old career. It’s unfortunate, but if we’re going to have a horse left after this, then we’ve got to be patient. That’s racing - you’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

The Parade Leader gelding, who cost just R60,000 at the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale and has earned R3,384,425 might be spelled once the injury starts showing signs of improvement.

Pierre Jourdan, who races in the lilac and white silks of Emilio Baisero, has won seven of his 11 career starts and so nearly won the 2010 South African Triple Crown. Rested after finishing second in the third leg of the series, he made a winning comeback in the Joburg Spring Challenge but failed in both his subsequent starts, finishing third in the Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile early last month when he was expected to do much better and was unplaced in the Sansui Summer Cup.

Summerhill wishes PJ and his connections all the best and hope for a speedy recovery.

PIERRE JOURDAN : JOBURG SPRING CHALLENGE GR3

Click above to watch Pierre Jourdan winning the Joburg Spring Challenge (Gr3)
(Photo : JC Photos / Footage : Tellytrack)

PIERRE JOURDAN
2008 SUMMERHILL READY TO RUN GRADUATE

PIERRE JOURDAN (Parade Leader (USA) - Vin Fizz by Qui Danzig (USA)
4 Year Old Bay Gelding
Owners : Emilio Baisero and Gary Alexander
Trainer : Gary Alexander
Jockey : Andrew Fortune
Breeder : Summerhill Stud
Win Time : 87.33
Career Record : 7 Wins, 2 Places, 9 Starts
Career Earnings : R3,299,425

Pierre Jourdan is a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2008 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.

R200,000 JOBURG SPRING CHALLENGE (Grade 3)
(For all horses Weight for age)
Turffontein Inside 1450m
9 October 2010

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	PIERRE JOURDAN	60.0	112	7	A Fortune	Gary Alexander
2	0.50	GALANTHUS	60.0	93	6	G Figueroa	Tyrone Zackey
3	0.55	CAPTAIN SCOTT	60.5	105	10	F Herholdt	Alec Laird
4	4.75	BULSARA	60.0	106	2	R Danielson	Gavin van Zyl
5	5.50	RUDRA	60.5	114	4	K Shea	Mike de Kock
6	10.00	HAVASHA	60.0	106	11	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
7	10.50	ALUMINIUM (ARG)	60.5	106	1	D David	Geoff Woodruff
8	10.60	EXCLAIM ‘N EXCLUDE (AUS)	60.0	104	8	A Marcus	Charles Laird
9	10.75	ROCKS OFF (ARG)	60.5	100	9	*T Appie	Mike de Kock
10	14.25	STRAIGHT FORWARD	60.0	100	3	R Simons	Mike de Kock
11	18.50	SPORTING BOY	60.5	99	5	S Brown	Alec Laird
		Late Scratchings
12	0.00	ECHOHAWK	60.0	106	5	B Lerena	Dominic Zaki
13	0.00	ILIAD	60.0	105	13	P Strydom	Robbie Sage

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

IT MAY NOT BE THE MILE HIGH CLUB, BUT WE DID IT AT 6000 FEET

Team Alexander - Pierre Jourdan - Horse Of The Year
(Photo : JC Photographics / Summerhill Stud)

RACING ASSOCIATION HIGHVELD AWARDS 2010
HORSE OF THE YEAR

Besides Johannesburg, is there a place in the world where racehorses compete at an altitude of 2000m? That’s one explanation, besides its 800 metre straight, why Turffontein is known as the “house of pain”.

For that reason, alone, any three year old with the speed to crush his opposition at 1200m, and the versatility to carry that speed two kilometres, has to be something. To ask him to take it another 450 metres, as Pierre Jourdan was asked on Derby Day, is testing the limits of reality. That’s why only one horse since the Triple Crown’s inauguration, has ever managed it, and it’s probably why the fact Pierre Jourdan’s record stands at 6 wins and 2 seconds from 8 starts instead of 8/8. The Derby might’ve undone him in the end, but it took little away from what he’s done for racing.

Saturday night was Highveld Racing’s opportunity to honour their new star, and they did it in grand style at the Emperors Palace, Fifa’s gateway to next month’s World Cup.

Up against the formidable likes of Smart Banker, Rudra, Regal Ransom, Irish Flame and the rest, there’s no doubt how anyone with any sentiment in their veins, would’ve voted. In the space of three short months, Pierre Jourdan has done more for racing and journalism’s pre-occupation with our sport, than any other horse in recent memory, and his clean sweep of the trophy deck was just reward for a spectacular season. First up, he took the Champion Three Year Old crown, and then the judges remembered his imperious closing effort in the SA Classic (Gr.1) by handing him the title of Champion Middle Distance Horse.

Pitted against all comers from all ages, his rewriting of racing’s script was climaxed with his annointment as Horse Of The Year.

This was a big moment in the pantheon of a big sport, but it was an even bigger moment for little owners. Here was a horse who reminded us all that this is a game we can all play, where limited budgets occasionally prevail over the unlimited, where people with cafes on street corners can level the playing fields with the mightiest. When the Emilio Baiseros and Gary Alexanders of this world get to beat the Harry Oppenheimers and the Michael de Kocks for a change.

Recalling his fellow Summerhill heroes, Hear The Drums and Imbongi, “PJ” was not quite forgotten, but shunned nonetheless by the overwhelming bulk of judges at the 2008 renewal of the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale. In one of our sport’s great ironies, on one weekend, all three were poised to change racing’s landscape in three different parts of the world.

Hear The Drums, with a crack at history’s record number of wins, Imbongi taking on the world in the Hong Kong Mile (Gr.1), and PJ with a tilt at the Triple Crown. As modest as Pierre Jourdan’s R60,000 purchase price was, even more so was Hear The Drums at R42,000. Imbongi made neither. He was the forgotten man of the Ready To Run, raising not a single bid, and only, with the writing clearly on the wall, making any sort of a sale when just a half of him was acquired by Ronnie Napier and Michael Fleischer on the farm gallops.

For good measure, Summerhill took Breeder Of The Year, for the fifth time in six seasons.