NATIONAL YEARLING SALE UPDATE : TERMS OF TRADE

Marsh Shirtliff with Pocket Power
(Image :  Sporting Post / TAB Online)

EMPERORS PALACE NATIONAL YEARLING SALE
27 - 29 April 2012

We did say to anyone who asked during the course of the week, that we’d liked to have seen more customers on the sales grounds, and that was evident in the trade for the elite offerings at South Africa’s principal bloodstock auction, the Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale. The “big-hitters” in the domestic bloodstock market, Markus Jooste, Bernard Kantor and Chris van Niekerk were noticeably absent, having apparently filled their order books already at local and international auctions, and their lack of presence in the ring was apparent in both the reduced average and the clearance rate, when measured against last year. However, accounting for this missing element, an average of R240,000 was a fair achievement (last year R249,000 at the same stage). One soldier often associated with Messrs. Jooste and Co., Marsh Shirtliff of Pocket Power fame, was however, his usual stoic self. One thing we know from our rugby playing days and what he did to save Cape Town’s oldest rugby club, Hamiltons, is that when you’re in the trenches, you can always count on Shirtliff. If you were going to war, he’d be anybody’s general. There were just 4 millionaires last evening, and he bought two of them.

Given that we had a number of first season sires among those in our draft, we’d have to be more than satisfied with an average of R319,000, and while there was the odd disappointment, those that fell into this category are obvious Ready To Run types. Over the years, many an overlooked Summerhill horse at the National Yearling Sales, has gone on to make very good money in November, given the opportunity to mature and prove its worth as a runner.

Bloodstock South Africa’s chief yearling selector, John Kramer, has been generous again in his praise for the debut crop of A.P. Indy’s best racing son worldwide in 2009, A.P. Arrow, and this was evident in a solid performance by his first offspring in the ring. Equally, there’s obvious respect for the Mullins Bays, evident in those that signed for them on the vendors roll, and Backworth Stud will have been happy with the R140,000 for the first (and only) daughter of Admire Main to debut at any South African sale. Anyone who saw Sun Bay (a “Mullins”) helter-skeltering at the leaders in the closing stages of the Juvenile sprint on Thursday, would have to have been impressed, and we take some confidence from the fact that whoever we talk to with Mullinses in their yards, are bullish about their prospects. It’s not often you see a two-year-old quicken like Sun Bay did, particularly in a sprint, and he looks pretty decent on that effort.

Speaking with Marsh Shirtliff late last evening, it’s obvious that he shares the view with a number of experts that Sunday’s catalogue carries the biggest guns in the sale, and we will be looking for a solid performance from our five sons and daughters of Stronghold, none of whom have seen any action so far. Timeform’s champion handicapper son of Danehill has five winners from his first six runners, giving him the best strike-rate in the land right now, and he has quietly cultivated a bit of a cult following. There’s scarcely a visitor to our premises at Block A that doesn’t call for the Strongholds, besides a glass of the finest red in our cellar.

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

NATIONAL YEARLING SALE 2012 : JUDGEMENT DAY

John Kramer
(Photo : Leigh Willson)

EMPERORS PALACE NATIONAL YEARLING SALE
TBA Sales Complex, Germiston, South Africa
27 - 29 April 2012

In Warren Buffett terms, investing in stallions would be a “no-no.” He always speaks of his “circle of competence”, and he seldom ventures out of it, to the degree that when it comes to technology stocks, until very recently for reasons besides technology, he took a stab at IBM. Remarkably, he never held anything in the “tech” field, notwithstanding that Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates, is a member of his Berkshire Hathaway board.

The stallion business is a little more speculative, shall we say, and you need not only to have your wits about you, to do your sums and implement your best risk management practice, but when it gets down to the horse himself, the genetics, his performances, his physique, and especially his “X factor”, you’d better know your stuff, and even then, there’s margin for error.

So it’s a good sign once you’ve got your bankers to sign the cheque, and Lloyds to take him on risk, that his fertility is up to scratch. Then there’s the agonising year-long wait for his first foals, and the nurture that extends well into the yearling stage. Meanwhile, you want to know you’ve given the youngsters everything of the best, the best environment, the best husbandry and the best nutrition, and the best opportunity to be everything their histories promise they could be.

After that, it’s out of your hands, and you’re at the mercy of the judges, who were here last week to cast their eyes over the crop for April’s National Yearling Sale. Our “new kids on the block” are Mullins Bay, Ravishing and Stronghold (their second crops) and the “showroom boy,” A.P. Arrow (first crop.) The latter is represented by fine specimens at this week’s showcase Cape Premier Yearling Sale (both scored 9/10 when John Kramer and Keeneland’s Tom Thornbury were the examiners), and “A.P” was on the mark again last week with two more 9s, one 8.5 and three 8s in the Summerhill draft.

John Kramer has long ranked among the top judges of yearlings in the world, and this year the Thoroughbred Breeders Association have appointed one of the best men in the profession to accompany him. Stanley Bennett was a classmate of John’s when they were growing up in Beaufort West (a long, long time ago!) and became one of this country’s most revered studmasters, both for his own account and in a long and distinguished career at Maine Chance Farm, initially with Godfrey Gird and then with Graham Beck. He knows horses as well as anyone we know, and between the two of them, they make a rare combination. Every time a Mullins Bay came on parade, Stanley was quick to proclaim its virtues, and in the end, the man stood up with 6x 8,5s and 4x 8s. His contemporary Ravishing has just three entries, but Robert Muir’s stallion scored astonishingly well with one 9, one 8 .5 and one 8, all with potential to make the connections of the former S.A. Derby winner, break sweat.

Finally, there’s an old saying that they only have to die or be sold, and there’s an explosion. That this could be the case for Timeform’s champion handicapper, Stronghold, is undeniable, given the results returned by the judges. Eight entered, 3 x 8.5s and five 8s, simple as that.

This is some kind of a draft, as it doesn’t end there. There’s the usual raft of Kahals and Muhtafals (trumpeted last week by no less a judge than Bill Oppenheim, whose Apex ratings placed them 5^th and 8^th respectively among the best stallions in the country), but there’s more to this lot than that. We also have internationally-bred representatives of Authorized (first for the English Derby winner), Duke Of Marmalade (international Horse Of The Year), Husson (the Argentinean champion, who ranks third among all juvenile sires in Australia with his first foals at the races,) and Teofilo, whose present ad in the Darley camp claims he’s off to a better start than his own phenomenal sire, Galileo, at the same stage.

Wherever else you may fish at the National Sales Complex, if you want to be in the swim in 2013, you’d need to make a turn at Block A.

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

A.P. ARROW : STRAIGHT AS A DIE

A.P. Arrow
(Photo : Greig Muir)

A.P. ARROW (USA)
A.P. Indy (USA) - Garimpeiro (USA)

It’s always gratifying when the top men in their profession recognise something good in something you stand for. Last week, the most powerful judging panel in South African racing, put the seal of approval on the Mullins Bays and the Strongholds at the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Gallops. Sadly, Stronghold is no more, but Mullins Bay continues to put out a product of breathtaking attraction. Of course, the acid test is still in front, but for now, we like the way they’re going, particularly in their quicker paces.

This weekend it was the turn of the men from Cape Thoroughbred Sales, who cast their eyes over our entry for next January’s Premier Sale line-up. We all know John Kramer to have as good an eye as any man in the land, and he was accompanied by one of the world’s best judges, Tom Thornbury of Keeneland. Besides being an out-and-out gentlemen, and a grand ambassador for the greatest sales organisation in America (the world?), Tom is our kind of guy. He speaks passionately, knowledgeably and with the great empathy that resides only in proper horsemen, about these creatures which are the object of our obsession. Encouragingly, both he and John were noticeably struck by the first crop of A.P. Arrow, not only at Summerhill, but at the various other farms they had visited. That’s the first endorsement, and for now, you’d have to say we’re bang on target.

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

NATIONAL YEARLING SALES INSPECTION

Please click above to view photos from the National Sales Inspection…
(Photography : Leigh Willson)

John Kramer and Alan Roux come to visit with their clipboards

It’s that time of year again when the TBA inspectors make their annual pilgrimage around the country and last week John Kramer and Alan Roux spent some time with us inspecting our 2011 National Yearling sales prospects. With a strong crop of yearlings including the first crop of Mullins Bay, Stronghold and Ravishing as well as a couple of Trippis thrown in the mix we were hopeful of a good result and were not disappointed! Now we wait and see what the pedigree bofs have to say in a few weeks time before we know how many youngsters are accepted, but with a solid bunch of Kahals and Muhtafals and a few exciting imports we’;re looking forward to next year’s sale.

FOOTPRINTS INTO THE FUTURE

Bronwyn Goss and Hannah Goss, the next two generations, with the younger getting ahead of herself.
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

Foundations for a new generation

The Emperors Palace Ready To Run sale is only two weeks old, but it’s already a matter of history. Wednesday was judgement day at Summerhill as the Thoroughbred Breeder’s Association’s veteran horseman, John Kramer and Alan Roux cast their eyes over our entries for next April’s National Yearling Sales draft. We’ve been in this game close on 32 years now, and by any stretch, this group of youngsters stands upsides with the best. We’ll say no more until the judging is complete, but that’s our view for the time being.

You might’ve expected that after six consecutive Breeders’ Championships, there might be an air of complacency about this place. Not a word of it. We’re not only invigorated by the arrival of the first few crops of a whole new band of sires, but we’re already laying the foundations for a new generation of horsemen. If ever evidence was needed, ours is the perfect blend of the wisdom of the experienced and the energy of youth, brave young people giving their dreams a chance. The Summerhill story inspires that kind of bravery.