THE WINTER SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE

Pat Goss with Cheryl and Mick Goss at the official inauguration of the
Bryan and Erica Goss Memorial Theatre and Hall of Fame
(Photo : Felicity Hayward)

BRYAN AND ERICA GOSS
MEMORIAL THEATRE AND HALL OF FAME

The opening day of our Winter School was big enough in itself, for its historic value. It was a sentimental moment for us, because it marked the official inauguration of the Bryan and Erica Goss Memorial Theatre and Hall of Fame, which Mick’s brother, Pat presided over. As both brothers said in their short addresses, the fruits of their parent’s labours could not have been better employed than by contributing towards this noble cause.

The inaugural lecture on Entrepreneurship and Family Business was delivered by Professor Justin Craig of Bond University in Australia. Not only is this a man who uniquely touches upon the things that affect most people’s business lives, but he is one of only a handful of authorities on the subject, and by the time his hour was up, we knew why. He’ll be back, and there is no-one outside of a multi-national who can afford to miss it.

Justin was followed by Mike de Kock and a panel headed by Dr. John McVeigh; Judge Alan Magid; past Jockey Club Chairman, Ronnie Napier and Jehan Malherbe. This was a rare opportunity to hear a rare man sharing his secrets, and the questions came thick and fast, overrunning his time by some measure. Mike shared with us all the things that’ve turned him into one of the most recognisable figures in international racing, as well as a comparison of his best horses, and what sparks their buying initiatives for their raids on the international circuits.He pointed to the differences between the styles of Ipi Tombe and his latest star, Igugu, whom he feels incidentally, he hasn’t yet quite got to the bottom of. The reason? He hasn’t had to, as she’s done it all herself, and he feels that she’ll not only make the normal weight-for-age improvement as she grows older, but there’s more where she comes from already.

Professor Brian Kantor was next up, and he demonstrated, as he has done so many times, why he became Professor Emeritus at Cape Town University’s Business School. A wonderfully vital personality with an infectious understanding of the markets, he took us through a range of topics from investments, the money markets, the world economy and what the likely scenarios were with the sovereign failures in Europe, and the local economy’s prospects for the year ahead. Those things can be a little mundane to the man in the street, but this Professor has mastered the art of entertainment, and he’ll be back to delight us again in the year ahead.

Jehan Malherbe pointed to the challenges which owners and breeders face in the present market, the latter in particular with the substantial sums they paid in service fees in the 2008 season, which has meant the sale of considerable numbers of horses this year at a loss on their production costs.  He did mention though, that this was a time of opportunity, as service fees had rationalised themselves substantially. The debate then centred on the fact that the UK and Ireland, Europe and America, had cut their foal crops by something approaching 33%, and that being the case, those with the foresight to cover their mares, would have the stock to replenish the world’s thoroughbred reserves in 2014.

Altus Joubert Senior Counsel is an incomparable speaker on a number of topics, but the one that animates him is the thoroughbred, and his story on the history of the South African racehorse before the Second World War, was quite riveting. We’d had a bit of a conscience, asking a man who makes his living from the time he spends with clients in his chambers, to prepare for a school of this sort, but all signs of conscience dissipated when we saw the pleasure he had in delivering this story. Like those that went before him, he promised to provide us with the rest of the story next time around, which would take us from those days to this. Let’s not forget though, that our forebears like Sir Abe Bailey (whose daughter married Winston Churchill’s son), tampered at one time with Candlemas, whose influence on the breed extends to the likes of Mr Prospector and Seattle Slew; that old man Henry Nourse ran the biggest stud in the world in the early 1900’s, and that the Birch Bros., the most successful of all South African Breeders, were born in this era as well.

We’ll give you the comments of our attendees tomorrow - you’ll know then, what you missed.

GREYVILLE 1900 : AULD LANG SYNE

Please click videos above to watch a memorable weekend in Summerhill history
Hear The Drums, Pierre Jourdan, Fisani and Imbongi
(Footage : Summerhill Stud)

BETTING WORLD 1900 (Grade 2)
Greyville, Turf, 1900m
20 May 2011

Mick Goss
Summerhill CEOIn the old scheme of things, the 31^st May was a public holiday, recalling the first act of Union in 1910. In Summerhill parlance, we remember the first Prime Minister, Louis Botha, who took the reins over the Boer forces on our farm in November 1899. Racing fans flocked to Greyville racecourse that day every year since, where the last big event before the Durban July has been run, and the field usually attracted a number of the July’s major protagonists. I especially remember the 1960 renewal, when Syd Laird’s Left Wing, walked off with the laurels, and followed up in the July under saddlecloth No. 13. The All Blacks were on tour in South Africa, and this was a portent to the first test, where left wing Hennie van Zyl, wearing jersey No 13, scored the winning try among South Africa’s score of 13 points. There must have been many good horses to have won the race in between, but the next distinct memory I have is of Mazarin completing the double again for Syd Laird, who made a ritual of sprinting his horses over six furlongs first, taking them through the Union Day (or Gordon’s Gin, as it came to be known), and then on they went to the big one on the first Saturday in July. It worked for him, as he snared seven July wins, on an all-time record.

This weekend, the race is the country’s principal feature, and is renewed under the guise of the Greyville 1900 (sponsored by Betting World), and our interest is piqued by Fisani’s acceptance for the race. She’s in cracking form right now, having just come off consecutive Group victories and a 1,5 length win under 60kgs in the Gerald Rosenberg Stakes (Gr2). She carries Sheikh Mohammed, Ronnie and Bev Napier and the farm’s colours against stablemate, Alderry. The latter was a facile winner of one of the country’s top handicaps, the Germiston November, a few months back, and at her best, she’ll give the Summerhill-bred a bit of a rev. That said, in their last two meetings, Fisani has been clearly the better of the two, though it’s no two horse race, given that the manly sex has a few smart performers in its ranks, and that Fisani has never performed at her best in KZN.

Pedigree buffs will want to know a bit more about our Guineas heroine, whom race fans will remember contributed to a memorable weekend for the farm last season when Pierre Jordan took the colt’s version of the Guineas on the same day, Imbongi won the Zabeel Mile in Dubai, and Hear The Drums became the winning most racehorse in South African history. Fisani comes from an old White Lodge Stud family in the UK, and is related to three Classic winners of the same year, Teenoso (English Derby), Old Country (Italian Derby), and Give Thanks (Irish Oaks). Little wonder she’s as good as she is, and stays as well as she does.

She is a half sister to millionaire, Catmandu, and to ten-time time winner, Ecole Militaire, so her Coastal mum, Gypsey Spirit, was something of a blue hen. It’s topical to remember that it was Coastal who spoiled the remarkable Spectacular Bid’s 1979, American Triple Crown aspirations in the final leg. And Coastal lived to a ripe old age of 30 here at Summerhill, and at one time was the oldest surviving American classic winner in the world.

BETTING WORLD 1900 (Gr2)
Final Field

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	TROPICAL EMPIRE (AUS)	60.0	112	10	S Randolph	Duncan Howells
2	ALDERRY	56.0	104	12	K Shea	Mike de Kock
3	FISANI	56.0	104	3	G Lerena	Mike de Kock
4	IN WRITING (ARG)	55.5	103	5	K Neisius	Dean Kannemeyer
5	WE THREE	54.5	101	2	R Danielson	Justin Snaith
6	CASK	54.0	100	8	C Orffer	Stephen Page
7	HAMMIE’S BOY	53.5	99	9	A Domeyer	Mike Bass
8	HAWK’S EYE (GB)	53.5	99	1	G Hatt	Joey Ramsden
9	SAFWAN (AUS)	53.0	99	7	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
10	GOLDEN CHARIOT	53.0	98	4	M Yeni	Sean Tarry
11	DANCE AT DAYLIGHT	52.0	96	11	A Forbes	Dennis Drier
12	MAHOGANY	52.0	86	6	S Veale	Weiho Marwing

THE CROWNING MOMENT

Igugu - Triple Tiara Queen
(Photo : JC Photos / Summerhill Stud)

A Royal Wedding, a Triple Tiara Queen
and the King of Investors

Mick Goss
Summerhill CEOWhat a weekend! A Royal Wedding, a Triple Tiara queen, and for me, a once-off attendance at the court of the King of Investors.

Before I eulogise Igugu’s historic success in becoming South Africa’s very first winner of a Triple Tiara, let me attempt an explanation of Warren Buffett’s remarkable A.G.M. Close your eyes and think of Summerhill Stallion Day, of the order of 20 nations in attendance, movies, entertainment, hotels at capacity. Then multiply the attendees by 40, and you get a tiny inkling of the man’s drawing power. I’ve never seen, or heard, anything like it. If you want to know the “ins and outs”, visit Alec Hogg’s commentary on Moneyweb.co.za and you’ll get his podcast first hand; that’ll explain why so many make the pilgrimage.

Dealing with the affairs of Berkshire Hathaway before a Triple Tiara heroine is sacrilegious I know, but there are two reasons. One, it’s easy to forget everything else when you’ve witnessed such a demolition job - and two, Igugu’s so good, it was almost an anticlimax. We don’t really know what she’s beating at the moment, but we know what she’s beaten in the past. And that tells us she has to be one of the all-time best fillies we’ve seen. No, I haven’t forgotten Ipi Tombi (in fact, I’ll be visiting her at 11:30am tomorrow with the message that her reincarnation is at last complete). But for now, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed can rest in the knowledge that his “treasure” (that’s what Igugu means) is without price. My conversation with Dubai on Saturday evening tells me they know that, especially as she’s a daughter of the best stallion in the world. Andre Macdonald, the former electrician-turned-partner of the ruler of a country would kill if we omitted his name here.

Mike de Kock had two winners on the Champion’s Day card, both from Summerhill and both from the most prolific sale of Black type horses, pound-for-pound, in the country (The Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale). The other was the erstwhile Guineas heroine, Fisani, co-owned with Ronnie and Bev Napier, who captured our second consecutive Gerald Rosenberg Stakes in the style of a professional. She just seems to get better, and it  may be the genius has one more string to his Vodacom Durban July bow. As promised, our blog master has laid on the full retinue of videos for you. Tell me Fisani’s destruction of Group One winner Alderry, doesn’t constitute a July entry?

Talking of kings, Prince William may just have to delay his ascent to the throne for a while. England looks to have another alternative in Juddmonte’s Frankel (like Igugu, further confirmation of sire Galileo’s peerlessness), who butchered the best of England in their version of the Two Thousand Guineas. There’ve been doubts about his staying power, but even an intrepid investor like Buffett wouldn’t bet against him making a procession of the Investec Derby, come the first Saturday in June.

I’ve penned this note from what the Americans call the “Horse Capital of the World”. Didn’t know they knew there was a “rest of the world”, though the news of Osama bin Laden’s death late Sunday night suggests they were at least aware there was life somewhere beyond Kentucky!

Great to be here, and tomorrow we’ll bring news of interviews with some of the Kentucky Derby’s chief protagonists, and a chat with Barry Irwin.

FISANI FULL OF HEART IN GERALD ROSENBERG STAKES

Click above to watch Fisani winning the Gerald Rosenberg Stakes (Gr2)
(Image : JC Photos - Footage : Tellytrack)

GERALD ROSENBERG STAKES (Grade 2)
Turffontein, Turf, 2000m
30 April 2011

FISANI (Kahal x Gypsey Spirit by Coastal)
4 Year Old Bay Filly

Owners : Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Ronnie and Bev Napier, Summerhill Stud Syndicate
Trainer : Mike de Kock
Jockey : Gavin Lerena
Breeder : Summerhill Stud
Win Time : 125.75

Career Earnings : R1,067,125
Career Record : 5 Wins, 6 Places, 17 Starts

Fisani is a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2008 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.

FINAL RESULT

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	FISANI	60.0	102	7	G Lerena	Mike de Kock
2	1.50	QUEEN’S BAY	60.0	103	2	M Odendaal	Mike Azzie
3	3.00	ALDERRY	60.0	104	5	K Shea	Mike de Kock
4	3.50	RECONCILE	60.0	98	4	F Coetzee	John Vos
5	4.25	QUICK SINGLE	60.0	94	1	A Marcus	Geoff Woodruff
6	5.00	ALL AFIRE	60.0	92	3	S Brown	Alec Laird
7	40.00	BEDLOE’S ISLAND	60.0	99	6	A Delpech	Sean Tarry
		Late Scratching
8	0.00	MAIKO MAGIC	56.5	75	5	S Khumalo	Stephen Moffatt

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

WIN NUMBER 13 FOR VANGELIS

Click above to watch Vangelis making it win number 13…
(Image : Supplied - Footage : Tellytrack)

“THIS IS A GOOD OLD SONG”

And it’s well worth singing. We have a real old pal who’s ailing a bit at the moment, and can do with a tonic. Our relationship with Robert and Robin Muir goes back to Pat Goss’ Durban July celebration party in 1946, when the smallest horse in history, St Pauls, rolled his field in record time. Robin’s mother was the hostess at the Kew Hotel, for a victory party that raged for two days, and the fact the Muirs are patrons of Summerhill 65 years later, is testimony to the value of good friends.

On Thursday, our mutually owned seven-year-old gelding, Vangelis, came home for the 13^th time in his career, pushing his earnings ever closer to the million Rand mark. After five consecutive third places, this was a welcome turnaround and a compliment to the skills of his trainer, Gavin Smith.

There’s a tale attached to Vangelis however, as there is to most good horses. The day he was born, our Foalcare manager, T.K.Nkabinde, proclaimed him a “Derby winner”, and while you may say there have been many of those stories and that he didn’t win the Derby, he’s given us just as much pleasure as one which did. Long before he was weaned, Vangelis came up with a lame shoulder that plagued him for two years of his life, and we wondered whether he’d ever reach the racecourse. That he did, and he did it well, writing his record in black and white. His history of injury though, made him a difficult sell, and it took us close to his third year (he was still on the farm at that stage) to place him. Robert Muir was on safari in South Africa, and he took a couple days out to show his friends Summerhill and the delights of Hartford House.

On a typically fresh autumnal morning, he and his mates accompanied us to the track to watch some horses work, when Vangelis and a bright chestnut with a white blaze, by the name of Imbongi, worked together. They were equally impressive, and Robert indicated he’d like to invest in both.

Before he reached Durban on his return journey, he phoned to say that one of his advisors had suggested he leave the Russian Revival horse out of the package, and wondered if that would be in order. Of course it would be; we had no end of faith in Imbongi, and it wouldn’t be long before he was placed as well with another mate, erstwhile Jockey Club chair and ambassador extraordinaire, Ronnie Napier.

You now know Vangelis’ record, but it’s worth recording that Imbongi went on to become South Africa’s Champion Three-Year-Old Miler, he was a Group winner in the UK, and the victor ludorum at the Dubai Racing Carnival in 2010. His earnings stood beyond R8million at the point of his retirement last month.

There’s an adage in all of this. The likes of Emperor Napoleon, Bold Ellinore and Amphitheatre are a few more of those who were left behind on the farm after the sales, as was this week’s big hero, Black Wing. Who knows what bargains are lurking on our tracks as we write?