READY AND RAVISHING

Ravishing
(Photo : Greig Muir)

RAVISHING (SAF)
JET MASTER (SAF) - CRIMSON LILY (SAF)

If you’d been an insider at the 2005 National Yearling Sale, you’d have been gobsmacked at the gulf between what Geoff Woodruff had to pay to secure a son of Jet Master, and the next most expensive offspring from that stallion’s first offering. Chestnut and flaxen-maned in the manner of Roy Rogers’ Trigger, Ravishing was the point of perfection the thoroughbred has reached after more than 300 years of meticulous selection. For that, he had to shell out R1,1 million, a tidy sum in those days.

Beautifully proportioned, regally bred with the presence of a prince, the money Robert Muir outlayed to get his man seemed at the time, a light year away from reality. When you look back at what the Jet Masters from that crop did, you wonder what distinguished this fellow from the herd, yet it wasn’t terribly long before the question was answered. In no uncertain terms.

Whatever the credentials of the rest, when Ravishing sliced a sizeable chunk off the class record on debut, when he first flashed the long elegant stride of a future Classic winner at the shortest of trips, Robert Muir and Geoff Woodruff knew that they had the goods.

Woodruff will tell you that Ravishing was as gifted a thoroughbred as he’s had through his hands, but he’ll also tell you he expected it of him. We know now, because his father’s done it, that he was the son of the greatest South African-bred stallion of all-time. We knew then, that he was a brother to the Durban July contender, Red Badge, that he descended from the family of Run For Lily, Fort Defiance and Prince of War. Yes, Woodruff believed in him, empathetically. But he also knew that he was as frustrating a horse as he’d ever trained, plagued as he was with every ailment imaginable. In the end, his was a distinguished career, in which he hit the boards as a three-year-old in the Gauteng Guineas and romped away with the South African Derby (Gr.1). There are not too many with the speed to set class records at 1000 metres, and to show such class at 2450 metres.

When his first two runners came home with cheques, the team at Summerhill was suitably impressed. They’ll tell you they expected them to come later, to take time to find their feet, and like their sire, to be at their best at three. That Little Chikikita spun home on debut at 1100 metres at Borrowdale Park on Sunday, was just a belated Christmas bonus. We now know they can run, it’s just a matter of how soon, and how far.

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

CINDERELLAS AND THE UNWANTED URCHINS

Click above to remember Hear The Drums’ historic SA record-breaking run…
(Photo : Walley Strydom - Footage : Tellytrack)

Imbongi, Paris Perfect, Vangelis
and Hear The Drums

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud CEOIn the annals of the Summerhill story, no year was more definitive than 2004. As recently as 1999 we’d had to endure the dispersal of most of the farm’s breeding stock when the partnerships we had concluded 10 years before, matured. There were just 26 mares left, and we had to start from “ground zero.” It’s a measure of the determination and the enterprise of an extraordinary team, that within 5 years we came within one race of winning the 2004 Breeders Championship and for the first time since the early 1950s, when the Ellis’ of Hartford gave the Birch brothers a rev for the national title, a farm on this side of the Drakensberg gave notice of its intent as a serious player in the breeding industry. Another extraordinary thing happened in 2004; four unwanted urchins of the sales ring played the male equivalent of Cinderella, converting themselves from pumpkin status into golden carriages.

It is part of the allure of our game that these things can happen, and it’s part of the dream of those with limited means that they should get their hands on prospects like these. Imbongi went to two sales, the Nationals and the Ready To Run, and was led out unsold at both. A lifetime of racing and an eye for a decent horse, led Ronnie Napier and and old mate, Michael Fleischer, to latch onto half of him one Saturday morning at the farm gallops, and soon enough he was the champion three-year old miler of his generation. His globe-trotting career in England, Dubai and Hong Kong, saw him garner group races in most of those jurisdictions, and in the final piece of glory, he picked up $500,000 in the Dubai Duty Free Group One.

Another with international aspirations was Paris Perfect, for whom there was no commercial home off the farm. That meant that his breeder, Gail Fabricius and her husband, Peter, found for themselves not only a third consecutive East Cape Horse Of The Year, but they had their big payday when cashing him in to Saudi royals, before he became the first South African horse to earn a cheque in the world’s richest race, the Dubai World Cup Group One. R60,000 would have got the job done on the farm, yet his paycheque for the World Cup alone was in excess of $US1 million (R8.5million at yesterday’s exchange rate).

In the same year, a Kahal colt bred on the revered cross with a Northern Guest mare, was neglected by all and sundry because of a niggling shoulder injury. It took a man of Robert Muir’s intrepid speculative instincts to pick up half of him. Vangelis went on to win thirteen races, and with his premiums, rewarded us by becoming a millionaire at the races. Rightfully, this willing servant has earned his place in retirement, as my daughter Bronwyn’s constant riding companion.

To cap it all, another erstwhile paddock mate, Hear The Drums, also born in 2004, returned to the farm this past week. Until Hear The Drums went to the races, the title of winningmost racehorse in South Africa, was held by a former Hartford graduate, Sentinel (32 wins), but it’s a sign of the value of good land, good people and a good upbringing, that Hear The Drums, took his owner, Peter Fabricius and his trainer, Des McLachlan, to that most valuable piece of real estate in racing, the winner’s enclosure, on no fewer than 35 occasions. It’s worth recalling that Peter Fabricius bought Hear The Drums on an impulsive whim on the telephone, when there were just two lots left in the sale, and he was all we had to recommend. It’s an irony of the game, that if Peter had seen his legs, he probably would not have made the purchase. Hear The Drums was however, one of those that defied God’s engineering, that overcame the purest antipathy towards racehorses imperfections, and his guts, courage and that indefinable characteristic that belongs to the great ones, carried him through.

So this man, who passed through three sales rings, before he found an owner for a paltry R42,000, retires as the most prolific winner in South Africa’s glorious racing history. In his next life, he will join other former champions; Senor Santa and Amphitheatre as a baby sitter and mentor in matters of decorum to our yearlings on the farm. What a privilege to have been associated with these men, all born in the same year and raised beside each other in the same paddocks. Between them they amassed more than R17million in earnings, a record of excellence unlikely to have been matched on any one farm in history.

www.summerhill.co.za

THE VALUE OF RELATIONSHIPS

A little Goss Family history…
(Summerhill Stud Archives)

“BMT”

Mick Goss
Summerhill Stud CEOYou’ve heard this before, no doubt, but there was no inheritance involved in the development of Summerhill. The farm and its now-famous boutique hotel and restaurant, Hartford House, were built on the blood, sweat and sacrifices of a gifted team, as good as you’ll find anywhere in the world. What we did inherit though, was an appreciation of the value of relationships, the thread of which you’ll find running through the history of the Goss family, from the time of the original founder, Michael, who was part of a contingent of Irish settlers under Captain Butler in 1820. My grandfather, Pat, started a trading enterprise in Pondoland in 1916, and his bankers were Standard Bank. He was the first man in those parts to convert from an ox-drawn wagon to a truck with a combustion engine, and he filled it up at his own bowser with fuel supplied by the Atlantic Fuel & Firing Company (which exists today, after seven name changes, as Engen).

When he planted his maize and sorghum, he used the products made by what is modernly known as Kynoch, and his books were audited by a small firm in Port Shepstone, the closest place where such a service could be found. He bought his first tractor in Kokstad from the Chapman family of East Griqualand Tractors in the 1920s, and he founded his racehorse breeding enterprise at The Springs on the New Almalfi Flats in the shadow of the Great Depression. He was quite a boy, old Pat, and it wasn’t long before he had his July winner, the diminutive St Pauls, in 1946.

These commercial relationships survived and thrived in my father Bryan’s era, and we’re proud to tell you that today, our bankers remain Standard, we continue to buy our fuel from Engen and our tractors from the Chapmans, and some of the family work is still undertaken in Port Shepstone.

Following St Pauls’ “July”, the celebrations were held at the very smart Kew Hotel on Durban’s Berea, where the manager was a spritely young lady, June Maguire. Her daughter Robin and her husband Robert Muir have had horses at Summerhill since the early 80s, initially in partnership with another erstwhile veteran of the farm, Lou Bernstein (remember his July winner, Chimboraa in 1968)?. The very first racehorse they bred here was Hot Guard, Champion Two-Year-Old of South Africa; the Muirs must have thought this game was easy, and for them it probably has been, with the likes of Champions Cataloochee, Argonaut and Candidato Roy, and Summerhill resident sire and Derby hero, Ravishing.

Many things have been said and written about the Rupert family, and the one thing that is common to everyone who has ever had a word to say about them, is how much they value relationships. Johann and I played cricket together at university, though the family’s inspiration in the breeding business came through his wife Gaynor. Whilst today they own the spectacular Drakenstein Stud in Franschoek, they’ve been with us since the gates opened at Summerhill, and they’re still here. A veteran trio at Summerhill includes my brother Pat and his two fellow founders of what was originally Rand Consolidated Investments, G.T. Fererria and Laurie Dipenaar, part of the Summerhill show since the early 80s (the latter two later established with the Ruperts, the conglomerate now called First Rand, which gave birth to Rand Merchant Bank, First National Bank, Momentum Life and Discovery). The 80s also sparked Rodney Thorpe and Roger Zeeman, owners of the champions Imperial Despatch, Harry’s Charm and Amphitheatre, and one-time investors in Igugu and the highly talented Lady Broadhurst. They’ve had a “charmed” life.

In my days as a practising attorney, I was bowled over to find the advocate I’d briefed in a case involving a horse called Marathon Gold, was able to recite the horse’s pedigree inside-out as I entered his chambers (remember, this was long before Google and the internet). That man became a highly respected judge of the Supreme Court, Alan Magid. Together with another stalwart of the farm, former Jockey Club Chairman and Imbongi and Fisani’s owner, Ronnie Napier, they serve as governors of our School Of Management Excellence.

2012 marks our twenty-first year of involvement with the ruling family of Dubai, the Maktoums, owners of Kahal and Muhtafal. Their mark has been left on the Thoroughbred the world over, as the biggest owners and breeders of all time, while at the other end of the “royalty” spectrum, we have His Majesty, King Letsie III of Lesotho, not only an ardent racing fan, but a great friend of the farm.

One guy who’s come from nowhere as a former running mate in the lunchtimes at Greyville racecourse, to commanding a Summerhill menagerie, is former Racing Association chair, Bruce Gardner, co-breeder of multiple “champ” Nhlavini, as well as Classic heroine, Mystery Guest, and dual Merchants hero, Arabian Mist. His predecessor at the “RA”, Barry Walters, has just completed his third decade with us, and includes among his memories the Bloodline Million (Gr1) victor, Last Watch, one of our earliest Classic winners.

Sport is a great forger of relationships and among our pals from the playing fields while there was still wind in our lungs, were Barry Clements, Alan Sutherland (rugby) Peter Fenix, Anton and Mike Proctor (cricket), Seymour Harley, Rob Pickering and Mike Benson (polo). Some of these fellows have excelled as much in the breeding of spectacular racehorses as they did in their international and provincial sporting careers, driven no doubt, by the competitive instincts that made them famous in the first place.

If you follow racing in Dubai, Germany, France, the UK, the States, South America, South Africa and sometimes even in Scandinavia, you’ll have come across the name of one of the world’s silent (but most ardent) investors. Our good friend, Rupert Plersch, has known Group race success in almost all these places, and concentrates most of his “fire power” at Summerhill.

There are many more of course, some bigger, some smaller, some long-standing, some more recent, among them real characters and intrepid players. You have to be all these things to be in the game, and then you have to have the “BMT”, that thing that steers us through thick and thin, the good times and the tough.

There are little breeders, one or two mare types who’ve bred millionaires, like Emperor Napoleon and Bold Ellinore, Paris Perfect, and Hear The Drums, others bigger and illustrious who’ve been associated with Ebony Flyer, Ipi Tombi and their ilk. But their stories are not going to be swamped by the length of this article. The holidays are a good time to reveal them and their secrets to you, so that’s what we’ll do.

www.summerhill.co.za

THE CHANCE. TO BREED AN ALL-TIME GREAT.

THEY’VE TAKEN THE CHANCE.
TO BE EVEN GREATER.

The horse with the lightning turn of foot.
Or as they say in the country of his greatest triumphs…

“Le hashi liya gijima khakulu.”

RAVISHING.

Look for his first progeny at :

The Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale
Sunday 6th November

*Six cheque payment scheme for qualifying buyers.

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

RELATIONSHIPS BUILD VALUE

Ravishing
(Photo : Leigh Willson)

“Friendships Mean Everything”

Summerhill is one of those places where friendships mean everything. The world is a big place, and the only way to make it smaller is to make friends. It is true that transactions build turnovers, and none of us can do without them, but in our case, relationships build value. Today we have the pleasure of greeting some of our oldest friends, and by that we speak in generational terms. Just recently, Igugu became the fourth horse known to these pastures, to take Africa’s most famous prize, the Vodacom Durban July, and she did so from an erstwhile paddock-mate, Pierre Jourdan. Our connection with this enormous event goes back 65 years however, to the victory of Pat Goss Snr’s diminutive St Pauls, still the smallest horse ever to wear the blue sash. He did so from draw 20 and came home in record time, some achievement for a horse who started out in pony and galloway handicaps (races reserved for horses under 15 hands), and went on to stardom.

In 1952, Raymond Ellis’ Mowgli got up in the dying strides to deny Irradiate, in one of the races greatest displays of courage, and his feats that year guaranteed his place among the immortals.

The 1993 renewal fell to Dancing Duel, who added the great race to a resume which included that year’s South African Guineas and the Daily News 2000, guaranteeing him the Champion Three-Year-Old title. He carried the silks of our old mate Luke Bales, of Singita fame. Then of course, there was Igugu, in the colours of one of our first customers, Andre Macdonald and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, whose family association stretches more than two decades.

You might ask what this has to do with relationships, and all of them have their own story, none more so than little St Pauls. Pat Goss was the eternal optimist, and after his horse had completed a spell on his farm The Springs, in the remote reaches of East Griquland, he told all who would listen that he had just loaded the July winner onto the Durban-bound train.

His optimism extended to booking out Durban’s most famous hospitality landmark, The Kew Hotel on the city’s Berea, almost three months before the starter would call them into line. The manager of the hotel was a young “deb” by the name of June Macguire, and she made the reservation. In the aftermath of the race, every Durbanite, whether he knew Pat Goss or not, who share the winning owner’s reverence for the Durbn July, was invited to the party, and its reputed to have raged for two days. Shortly afterwards the Kew burnt down, but its said it had nothing to do with the July party.

The point of this story is that June Maguire’s daughter, Robin Coller, married an American by name of Robert Muir, today one of South Africa’s landmark racehorse owners, and Robin and the boss go back as mates to their schooldays. They are visiting today, and Robert will tell you that when his first foal arrived here he was told his four day old foal, “Hot Guard would win the Smirnoff (Gr1)”. Just like Luke Bales was told the day Dancing Duel was born, that he win the July. Of course, we’ve made other prophecies here before, and they haven’t all been right, but we got these two right.

Robert and Robin have kept their mares at Summerhill for many years, and whilst their band has been relatively small, they’ve bred stand-outs Rambo’s Jewel, (Horse of the Year in KZN), Sleek Braashee etc, as well as standing the celebrated racehorses, Cataloochee and Ravishing at the Midlands nursery. Few things are more worthy than good friends, and these are among the best.