THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE

Stephen Muzhingi
(Photo : The New Age)

COMRADES MARATHON AND FESTIVAL OF SPEED

Pietermaritzburg was the centre of two world class sporting events on the weekend. The first was the Festival Of Speed on Saturday (where the best juvenile colts and fillies and the best male and female older sprinters get their opportunities to run at Group One level,) the other the time-honoured Comrades Marathon, the most famous and the most gruelling long distance race in the world.

The one involves blistering speed, the other stamina and endurance, and both stood up to their billing. Our blogger, Michael Nefdt, has already provided this column’s fans with the video evidence of what took place at Scottsville racecourse, but it’s worth mentioning that Stephen Muzhingi, a localised Zimbabwean, joined what only five others have achieved in history, and that was his third consecutive Comrades victory. It was an energy-sapping day, and times were a little slower than usual, but this was a tribute to the man’s courage, endurance and his raw talent. For a long time, the Comrades was dominated by East European and Russian runners, but Africa has had a sustained run for several years now, and the encouraging thing was that there were seven South Africans among the Gold medals this weekend.

The Pietermaritzburg environ is host to three unique world class events, the first of which is the Dusi Canoe Marathon, which takes place in January, the Midmar Mile in March (the biggest swim in the world,) and then of course, the Comrades Marathon, some achievement for what must appear to the world as a “village” by population numbers, notwithstanding its status as the provincial capital of KwaZulu Natal.

OF SEPOY, ELUSIVE QUALITY AND THE NATIONAL SALES

Lot 160 Utshani (AUS) (Elusive Quality (USA) - Heather (AUS))
(Photo : Leigh Willson)

“RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME”

The timing of the outcome of Australia’s Golden Slipper (Gr1), the world’s richest two year old race, could not have been better for Summerhill. You might ask how we’re connected, but let’s not detract from the command performance of a horse Australians have come to believe is their best juvenile in decades. The official margin of two lengths hardly does justice to Sepoy’s dominance, and while he may have benefited from the defection of his only vanquisher, Smart Missile, the manner of his victory suggests the result would’ve been the same, whoever was in the line-up.

A big, eye-catching specimen, Sepoy is the point of perfection the thoroughbred has reached after 300 years of meticulous selection, and he runs like he knows it. Bred and owned by Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stud, you might expect this young man to carry the bloodlines of a prince, and he does. The fact that he is the son of a mare by the horse Australians consider immortal, Danehill, is enough to suggest that right now, even if he was buyable as the property of a mere mortal, his value would be of the order of $40 to $50 million, enough to buy up our own entire valley, and have change in your pocket. Sepoy now heads for Randwick’s Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr1) over 1400m, and on Saturday’s evidence, the extra furlong shouldn’t bother him.

Why the interest from Summerhill? If you’ve studied the Emperors Palace National Yearling Sales catalogue, you’ll know we have the only Darley-bred son of Elusive Quality in the catalogue, and like Sepoy, he carries those immaculate bloodlines. Those that know him already, will tell you, he’s some kind of specimen, too. You have a week and some change, to muster the dough!

Editors note :

Blogwatchers will have noticed that our regular “blogger,” Michael Nefdt, had the “Slipper” video posted on the site by Saturday afternoon, despite the nine hour time difference between Mooi River and Sydney. Well done, Michael. You have few equals.

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

Kerry Jack +27 (0) 82 782 7297

Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982

HIS MASTER'S VOICE AT SCHOOL

Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence Theatre
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

AL MAKTOUM SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE
“THE HORSEMEN’S OPENING”

The opportunity was too good to miss. The eve of the Ready To Run Gallops presented us with a window to showcase the Al Maktoum School Of Management Excellence to a gathering of racing’s luminaries. We had with us some of the game’s top names, including our gallops judges, and while there’s a way to go before the facility is complete and fully equipped, we won’t see a get-together of these proportions again until next year’s official opening, likely to be Summerhill Stallion Day. That’s when heads of state, politicians and the like will get their shot at it. But meanwhile, champion trainer, Mike de Kock was asked to preside over the “horsemen’s opening”.

It was also an occasion to recognise the judges and a few other players for their contributions to an event which has cemented itself into the constellation of racing’s starriest events.

The awardees were :

Three Years Service (Click thumbnails to enlarge…)
	Eamonn Cullen	Gradum Legum Baccalaurei Cum Laude
	Jehan Malherbe	Gradum Legum Baccalaurei Cum Laude
	Joey Ramsden	Gradum Legum Baccalaurei Cum Laude
Four Years Service (Click thumbnails to enlarge…)
	Charl P. Pretorius	Gradum Literatum Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
	Craig Andrew Peters	Gradum Legum Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
	Dean Martin Kannemeyer	Gradum Legum Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
	Graeme Thomas Hawkins	Gradum Legum Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
	Michael Francois de Kock	Gradum Legum Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
	Michael Leonard Roberts	Gradum Legum Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
	Robert Yearham	Gradum Sponsorium Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
	Sean Tarry	Gradum Legum Bacclaurei (Honorium) Cum Laude
Riders (Five Years Service)
	John Motaung	Gradum Equus Baccalauei Cum Laude
	Prince Mdunjane	Gradum Equus Baccalauei Cum Laude
	Thokozani Dlungwane	Gradum Equus Baccalauei Cum Laude

As a test of what it would be like to be a student at the school, we re-ran the wonderful production which debuted on Summerhill’s Stallion Day, a creation of our “blogger”, Michael Nefdt, his brother Matthew Nefdt from iKind Media and their team which included graduates and students from the Durban University of Technology. If you haven’t seen it, you haven’t seen anything, so can we recommend that you click below to have a look at it.

Click above to watch the
Summerhill Stallion Video 2010/2011

SUMMERHILL STALLION DAY A "FULL HOUSE" SUCCESS

 

 

Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence
(Photos : Summerhill Archives)

WHEN IT COMES TO GENEROSITY,
YOU CAN’T BEAT RACING.

Sunday marked one of the most successful Summerhill Stallion Days in history. Remembering that on the first such day 31 years ago, only 15 souls, including the farm staff, gathered on the lawn under the old oak tree outside the farm office, it was good to see the “house full” signs go up last Tuesday. Eighteen different nations assembled under perfect winter skies and 24°C. While the entertainment was obviously about stallions, the 560 guests were treated again to a sublime show from the Summerhill national champion dance troupe.

When you get your copy of the 2010 Summerhill Sires brochure (the best yet, and hot off the press yesterday), it will be accompanied by the latest DVD, produced by Durban-based iKind Media, who’s team includes students and graduates from the Durban University of Technology (DUT). For our money, Michael and Matthew Nefdt have given us the best “horse” movie we’ve known. See it on the Summerhill blog, and tell us if you agree (or view it this evening on Tellytrack (Channel 232) between 19h00 and 20h00.

As we’ve come to expect, racing fans were overtly generous when it came to the sale of stallion services in support of the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence, and it’s a singular tribute to the Summerhill stallions that every one of them made more than his current listed price in the auction.

Whether it was the stallions themselves, or the combination of their appeal and an unparalleled performance from auctioneer Graeme Hawkins, is impossible to say, but here are the details :

STALLION	AUCTION PRICE (ZAR)	ADVERTISED PRICE (ZAR)
ADMIRE MAIN	24,000	20,000
A.P. ARROW	35,000	25,000
BRAVE TIN SOLDIER	25,000	20,000
KAHAL	80,000	50,000
MALHUB	11,000	10,000
MUHTAFAL	37,000	30,000
MULLINS BAY	28,000	20,000
SOLSKJAER	26,000	15,000
RAVISHING	17,000	12,000
WAY WEST	20,000	15,000
3L WATERFORD CABERNET SAUVIGNON	10,000	n/a

To those that gave and to those that bid, you’ll never know the value you’ve added to the lives of people who’d never have known, without your generosity.

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

WHY DUBAI?

DUBAI’S FINANCIAL WOES EXPLODE TRAFFIC

The Summerhill website, and especially our blog, is one of the most visited in thoroughbred breeding. While the provision of material is largely the responsibility of the people who live and work here, none of the sites appeal would’ve been possible without the creative genius of Michael Nefdt, who’s away on a fortnight’s break at the moment. That hasn’t stopped the intrigue which makes for the traffic we see every day on the site.

Amazingly, when Dubai’s financial woes hit the international press on Friday, the flow of traffic to our site exploded, no doubt driven by the knowledge of our twenty year association with the Ruling family of that domain. More than 500 enquiries emanated from the United States alone, while 82 visited from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately for our readers, and principally because of the public holidays in the financial markets of the United States and the celebration of the holy festival of Eid in the Middle East, there was little we could do to respond to their curiosities, until Monday. Nonetheless, we were more than flattered that people should’ve felt what we had to say on the subject was worth reading, and we hope we didn’t disappoint them in the posting we eventually registered on Monday.