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

IT’S ALL IN THE UPBRINGING

Oochee Agent - Pretty Polly Stakes (Gr3)
(Photo: JC Photographics / Summerhill Stud)

FROM THE PEN OF JUDGE ALAN MAGID

The weekend’s happenings prompted regular commentator and long-time Summerhill client, Judge Alan Magid to write:

“I should have realised I wouldn’t beat the blog to the “HEAR THE DRUMS” and “PIERRE JOURDAN” stories but still, what a couple of days for Summerhill!

Apart from them, my eagle eye has spotted several other Summerhill-bred winners which deserve mention.

What about “DIVINE SECRET”, “OOCHEE AGENT” (G3 winner - but what a revolting name, for which I suppose Mick was responsible; worse even than “COCOCAT”), and “SUPERFEDERATION”, not to
mention “IMBONGI” in Dubai. Jolly good show!

I have previously enquired how Summerhill manages to produce horses like the Fabricius and Alexander champions on what appears to me to be the only visits by a Summerhill mare to, respectively, “GOLD PRESS” and “PARADE LEADER”, unless, of course, you bought the mares in foal”. End of quote.

Editors note : It’s no coincidence, or at least that’s the way we see it, that Summerhill has also raised some of the best runners by other “outside” stallions, (notably ten-time winner and triple Group One performer, Fanyana, by Alami, and Group One performer, Thandolwami by Woodborough) which tells us what we’re doing on the farm is a significant contributor to the outcomes we’re seeing at the races.

Summerhill’s commanding lead in the Breeder’s log at present has only a little to do with genetics, and a whole lot to do with the way we farm, the way we feed, the quality of our people and the environment in which we operate.

We have constantly pushed the envelope in our search to find new and better ways of doing things, and the more we push, the more we find ourselves getting away from the old British methods our forefathers employed as a matter of habit, as we embrace the attributes of this great continent, and more specifically, our own area.

SOUTH AFRICAN BREEDERS LOG

STUD	EARNINGS	AEPR
Summerhill Stud	14,051,362	58,547
Normandy Stud	4,713,875	70,356
Lammerskraal Stud	4,394,500	49,376
Maine Chance	3,957,000	35,649
Highlands	3,861,962	31,655
Wilgerbosdrift	3,713,150	44,737
D Cohen & Sons	3,711,387	30,421
Ascot Stud	3,700,500	38,953
The Alchemy	3,485,075	47,096
Klawervlei Stud	3,477,825	23,985

Sporting Post as at 31 March 2010

A Remarkable Statistic: More than 20% of the Summerhill draft are brothers or sisters to Stakes Winners.

 

It’s probably axiomatic to expect that any draft from a nation’s Champion Breeders should include a draft of well-related horses, but Summerhill’s dedication to the upliftment of the Ready To Run as a source of quality racehorses is more than evident in this year’s entry for the sale. From the past few seasons alone, names such as Pick Six, Dynamite Mike, Majestic Sun, Rebel King, Fanyana, Veiled Essence, Icy Air, Paris To Peking, Desert Links and Hear The Drums all resound with memories of major race performances. And all of these, and many more, have brothers and sisters in the sale. Browsing the catalogue (which is about to be released into the public domain), we uncovered these gems:

1. Sister to Icy Air by Gr.1 wining Freshman sire, Malhub.

2. Brother to Gomma Gomma Challenge (Gr.1) winner, Pick Six, by Malhub.

3. Sister to triple Gr 1 performer of 2007, Rebel King, by Jallad.

4. Sister to Storm Bird Stakes winner of this past season, Regal Runner, by National Emblem

5. Brother to top class Desert Links, by Labeeb.

6. Sister to 2007 East Cape Horse of The Year, Hear The Drums, by Requiem.

7. Sister to Gold Circle Oaks winner and July candidate, Veiled Essence, and East Cape Champion Two and Three Year Old, SilverArrow, by Malhub.

8. Sister to KZN Guineas winner, Dynamite Mike, by Lavery.

9. Brother to Matchem Stakes (Gr2) winner, Majestic Sun, by Labeeb.

10. Sister to East Cape Horse of The Year, Coastal Waltz, by Malhub.

11. Sister to multiple Gr 1 performer, Fanyana, by Rambo Dancer.

12. Brother to Gr 2 winner, Paris To Peking, by Malhub.

13. Brother to 2006 Java Handicap winner Bhekinkhosi by Lavery.

14. Sister to 2007 Pretty Polly Stakes Gr 3 winner, Mzwilili, by Requiem.

15. Sister to East Cape Nursery winner, Nondweni, by National Emblem

16. Sister to 2007 Singapore Horse Of The Year, Why Be (19 wins from 23 starts) by Champion South American sire, Hussonet.

17. Brother to multiple Australian Group winner, Cockade, by Darley’s multiple Gr 1 winning son of Kingmambo, Dubai Destination.

The latter two quite miraculously by cataloguing standards of previous Ready To Run sales, are among nine imports from Australia, by some of the world’s top shuttling sires, including Danehill Dancer, new American sensation Street Cry, Leading Freshman and second crop sire of 2007, Show A Heart, seven times Champion sire, Hussonet, and World Champion racehorse Fantastic Light.

Extract from Charl Pretorius

Introducing the Stars (and the guys that sit on them)

Tim MacpeshTim Macpesh : Tim is in the process of doing his third Ready to Run stint at Summerhill, and he is a highly accomplished competition rider in his own right. He graduated from Treverton College three years ago and is currently studying for a B.Compt degree at the University of South Africa. Two seasons ago, his work mate was the SA Guineas winner Dynamite Mike (conqueror of dual Classic winner Jay Peg), whom he labeled at Ready to Run time as a big race sort. His pick of the horses at this early stage is the National Emblem colt out of Glitz, (a half brother to Stakes winner Nondweni), and the Albarahin filly out of the four time Stakes placed winner Particular Passion (by Rambo Dancer).

John MotaungJohn Motaung : John has been at Summerhill for six years now and is a graduate of our international scholarship programme, having done a season at the late Sheikh Maktoum’s Gainsborough Farm in the United States. A natural horseman and an elegant and sympathetic rider of young horses, John has climbed through the ranks of Summerhill in meteoric fashion. His perceptions on the horses have been advantageously used by several buyers over the years, and Bill Strydom will attest to the fact that it was John who pointed him in the direction of the outstanding sprinter, Fanyana, whom John rode in the lead-up to the Ready to Run sale. Fanyana is remembered for the fact that he broke his maiden within 10 days of the Ready to Run sale, by an increasing three and a half lengths. Fanyana went on to win ten races before the end of his three year old career, and has been off for some six months carrying an injury. Assuming he gets back to his best, he will be one of the nation’s top sprinters this year, having twice been Group One placed as a three year old.

John’s early picks included the Labeeb colt out of Idle Song (from the famous Hartford family of Magic Mirror, Amaze, Cosmonaut, Alhambra and J&B Met second, Flying Promise).

Michael BooysenMichael Booysen : Here is a man who is a walking legend at Summerhill, having been pretty much born, bred and raised on the property. A naughty little devil as a youngster, it wasn’t easy to get him to attend school, and he dropped out before the end of his second year. However, he is as street smart as anyone ever to set foot on the place, and he has progressed through the ranks through his own phenomenal talents as a leader, his great sense of balance and fairness, and an outstanding instinct with horses. Today he is co-manager of the Ready to Run division, and is a graduate of a scholarship stint at Sheikh Hamdan’s Derrinstown Stud. If ever there was an example of a man who has taken his chances in life, and has proven that a lack of education is no bar to a man going to the top, then Michael Booysen is your man.

While Michael has picked many a top horse out of the Ready to Run string, he is most famously remembered for the fact that he never lost faith in Amphitheatre, who for some remarkable reason never quite appealed to the buyers’ sense of value. Amphitheatre was taken to the Ready to Run as a two year old with an upset price of R30 000, and was passed out of the ring without a single bid (yes, not even R5 000).

Michael kept him in training on the farm throughout this two year old career, and the horse was re-entered at the Ready to Run (there was a single dispensation one year) as a three year old, and once again, off a reserve price of R20 000, he was rejected by all and sundry. Michael kept encouraging us to keep going with the horse on the farm, because he believed he would become a serious racehorse and told us he could win a Gold Cup, little realizing just how accurate his prophecy might turn out to be.

In the end, we kept Amphitheatre at a time when we desperately needed the earnings, and he went to work for us, picking up R1.4 million in a quite remarkable career, which included Group One performances from a mile to two miles, and two titles as Champion Stayer.

If a farm can be associated with one horse of this sort in its lifetime, it’s been blessed, and the same applies to Michael Booysen. He’s been an example to everyone here, and one of our most prized staff members.

Monday’s edition will tell you where Michael’s eyes are gazing at the moment.

2006 Ready to Race graduate struts her stuff

The first Ready to Race graduate from last year’s sale stepped foot onto Fairview race course last Saturday. Holimali (Albarahin x Fidelity Bond) jumped late but displayed an exceptional burst of speed down the straight to run third. The young lass is none other than the half sister to another top line Ready to Race graduate - FANYANA.  As an interesting piece of trivia for your file, Fanyana and Holimali were both the first horses to reach the track in their respective years … and both are out of the same mare.

 Another 2 sale graduates: Regal Runner (Muhtafal x Ring the Changes) and Mthetho (Albarahin x Veritas) will start at the Vaal this week.