HAPPY NEW YEAR; KICK IT OFF WITH A BANG!

Mick Goss - Summerhill Stud CEO
(Photo : iKind Media)

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

It may be unchartered water for us, but we’re going to the Cape Premier Yearling Sale with intent. Last time we raided the Cape with a sales draft, we left behind South Africa’s winningmost racehorse,
two Horses of the Year, a J&B Met winner, and seven Stakes winners.

THIS TIME BOTH FISTS ARE FULL.

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

SUMMERHILL RESPONDS : READY TO RUN - THE BIG DEBATE

Mick Goss - Summerhill Stud CEO
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

THE EMPERORS PALACE READY TO RUN SALE

There are those who will tell you that this year’s three-year-old colts are a vintage lot, and there are those who will say that recent form is beginning to separate the wheat from the chaff. Bang in the line of fire, is the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup, principally because of its remarkable record in the past five seasons. Four Guineas winners in three years, a Horse of the Year, a Vodacom Durban July exacta, and the biggest earners of the last three consecutive seasons. Inevitably, people will look to it for clues on the classic crop, and just as inevitably, as good as it’s been, it won’t be able to deliver the same results every year. There’s been a bit of “hanna-hannering” of late, on Freeracer :

Dear Freeracer,

I am a firm supporter of the Ready To Run concept and the Emperors Cup, it has produced so many top horses over the last five years, Igugu, Imbongi, Pierre Jourdan to name but a few.

I have also always believed that the race should carry a Graded status and I am certainly not changing my mind.

My worry this year is that the form behind Red Barrel is not standing up. We’ve seen about eight runners from the formline, including Extra Zero, Frontino Gold, Blaze Of Fire and Saucy Savannah and they’ve all been below expectations.

Does this mean our three-year-old crop is not as good as they are made out to be, or am I pre-empting things? To Mr Goss of Summerhill, this is by no means a critcism of you and your Ready To Run race, just have to name it to illustrate my view.

Thank you,

Observer
Hillcrest

Dear Charl,

Many thanks for copying us in on the comments on the Ready To Run cup. We agree, the form of the race is not inspiring at the moment, but we guess that there will be the odd year when it turns out that way.

The graded stakes committee rates the form of the first four runnings at least at Group 2 level, and given that not every horse through the sales ring is ready to compete over 1400m on the 1st Saturday in November, it’s a wonderful tribute to the quality of the horses we’ve sold to date.

I have to confess though, we were a little concerned, going into the sale in 2010, that the class of the draft might not necessarily measure up to its predecessors, and while it is so that we shouldn’t judge them too hastily (as several of you have commented), on the bare facts, they don’t seem to compare at this stage. Of course, we know that both Mike de Kock and Sean Tarry hold Red Barrel, Frontino Gold and Verrochio in fairly high esteem, so we’ll have to see what lies ahead.

That said, on the face of it, the three-year olds in general, looked a high class lot until now, though the outcome of the Guineas on Saturday and one or two races leading into it, is beginning to separate the men from the boys.

Finally, I should add that our Ready To Run team was quite bullish about the horses we sold in 2011. We’re looking forward to a good showing from them.

All the best to you for the festivities.

As always, this comes with our warmest regards.

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud

FRANKEL SPARKLES AT CARTIER RACING AWARDS

Frankel - Cartier Horse Of The Year
(Image : Sky Sports/Cartier)

CARTIER RACING AWARDS
15 November 2011

Juddmonte’s Frankel (GB) (Galileo) continued to see off all challengers when the unbeaten colt took home Horse Of The Year honors at the Cartier Racing Awards at London’s Dorchester Hotel Tuesday night. His competition in that category were Cirrus des Aigles (Fr) (Even Top), Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas), Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) and So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral).

Cirrus des Aigles and Danedream were named Champion Older Horse and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly respectively. Frankel was also honored as Champion 3-Year-Old Colt after a season that saw him collect the G1 2000 Guineas, G1 St. James’s Palace Stakes, G1 Sussex Stakes and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

Frankel is slated to stay in training next year. “Frankel has had a great year and is hugely exciting,” trainer Sir Henry Cecil said on his website Monday. “He really has caught the public eye, and it was great that he has given an interest to so many people. Hopefully, he will go on and I hope, by the time of the Eclipse Stakes, he will be ready to tackle a mile and a quarter. Personally, I think it is a distance he will get well now that he has learnt to settle better, and he could be an even better horse at that trip. Let’s hope he winters well and remains sound. Racing needs champions, and let us pray that he can continue where he left off.”

Trainer Barry Hills, who recently handed over his license to his son Charles, was voted this year’s Cartier / Daily Telegraph Award Of Merit winner. The award is for the person or persons who, in the opinion of the special 17-strong Cartier Jury, has / have done the most for European racing and / or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months. The list of past winners of the Cartier / Daily Telegraph Award of Merit includes Richard Hannon, John Oxx, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Niarchos Family, Peter Willett, Henry Cecil, David and Patricia Thompson, Lord Oaksey, Prince Khalid Abdulla, John Magnier, His Highness the Aga Khan, Peter Walwyn, the Head Family, Sir Peter O’Sullevan, Frankie Dettori, John Dunlop, the Marquess of Hartington, Francois Boutin, Lester Piggott and Henri Chalhoub.

The prestigious awards, which were established in 1991, were determined by points earned in pattern races during 2010, combined with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists and votes from readers of Racing Post and Daily Telegraph.

Cartier Racing Awards 2011

Horse of the Year
Frankel (GB) (Galileo)
Champion 3-Year-Old Colt
Frankel (GB) (Galileo)
Champion 3-Year-Old Filly
Danedream (GER) (Lomitas)
Champion 2-Year-Old Colt
Dabirsim (FR) (Hat Trick)
Champion 2-Year-Old Filly
Maybe (IRE) (Galileo)
Champion Older Horse
Cirrus des Aigles (FR) (Even Top)
Champion Sprinter
Dream Ahead (USA) (Diktat)
Champion Stayer
Fame And Glory (GB) (Montjeu)
Cartier / Daily Telegraph Award of Merit
Barry Hills

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

JUDGEMENT DAY

“The judges have spoken…”

Last Friday’s gallops were a revelation. The deepest catalogue the Ready To Run has known. In the wake of Igugu’s Horse of the Year exploits, and the largest entry of foreign-breds in history, the imports would have their fans.

But when something is the universal view of some of the finest judges in the land, we reach for the notebook.

Mike de Kock was the first to say it, and his fellow panellists were quick to follow. The Mullins Bays and the Strongholds were something to behold. “Hot” stallions are the prime currency of the horse trade. They triumph over Wall Street crashes, and they lift rough mares. So how do you spot them?

YOU LISTEN TO THE PANELISTS. More than three hundred years of collective experience.

The Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale
Sunday 6th November

*Six cheque payment scheme for qualifying buyers.

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

IGUGU SCOOPS HORSE OF THE YEAR AT KZN RACING AWARDS

Igugu - KZN Horse Of The Year
(Image : John Lewis / MFP)

KWAZULU-NATAL RACING AWARDS
Durban Country Club, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
20 October 2011

The KwaZulu-Natal Racing Awards for the 2010 / 2011 season were staged at the Durban Country Club last evening.

Igugu, heroine of the SA Triple Tiara, the Vodacom Durban July (Grade 1) and Equus Horse of the Year, secured awards for KZN Champion 3 year-old-filly as well as the coveted award for KZN Horse Of The Year.

Igugu is by Galileo out of Zarinia by Intikhab and was a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale. She has raced over 1 season with a record of 8 wins and 2 places from 10 starts and total earnings of R5,071,875.

Igugu’s feature race victories include :

Joburg Spring Fillies & Mares Challenge (Grade 3)
Gauteng Fillies Guineas (Grade 2)
SA Fillies Classic (Grade 1)
SA Oaks (Grade 2)
Woolavington 2000 (Grade 1)
Vodacom Durban July (Grade 1)

Champion Two-Year-Old Filly
Princess Victoria
Champion Two-Year-Old Colt / Gelding
Fighting Warrior
Champion Three-Year-Old Filly
Igugu
Champion Three-Year-Old Colt / Gelding
The Apache
Champion Older Filly / Mare (four+)
Val de Ra
Champion Older Colt / Gelding (four+)
August Rush
Champion Sprinter (1000m - 1200m)
Val de Ra
Champion Stayer (2400m+)
Knight To Remember
Horse Of The Year
Igugu
Anita Akal Award
Chris Saunders
Champion Owner
Ingrid and Markus Jooste
Champion Breeder
Scott Brothers
Champion Trainer
Mike de Kock
Champion Jockey
Anthony Delpech
Champion Apprentice Jockey
Athandiwe Mgudlwa
Groom Of The Year
Lindile Danzi