IT’S NOT ONLY ABOUT FAST HORSES

Chris Helmbold at the Greytown Mondi Classic MTB race
(Photo : www.actionphoto.net)

KARKLOOF TRAIL BLAZER 2009

While you may have come to think of us as a source primarily of quality racehorses, we’re rapidly developing a reputation in another realm. Knowing their obsession with horses, you might ask yourself what our people do in their leisure time. Things that spring to mind, because they’re champions of their respective arts, are football and traditional dancing. Our soccer teams have long dominated the Midlands logs, and it’s well know that our dancers are not only the national champions, but they ranked 3^rd and 2^nd respectively at the World Championships in Tokyo and Hong Kong in the past two years.

Sunday added a new dimension to the retinue of skills of our people, when no fewer than four of the team took their bikes to the Karkloof Trail Blazer. While our lead rider, Chris Helmbold, was laid low by a bought of flu, it seems Grant Norval, Kerry Jack and Tarryn Liebenberg all made satisfactory qualifying rides. But the one that really impressed was Ready To Run supremo, Tarryn, who in a field of 300 for the 20km cross country ride, was the first filly home in the entire line-up. We knew she could ride a horse, and we’ve seen her making a few strides on the two-wheeler, but this one didn’t only take us by surprise. You should’ve seen her face at the morning meeting!

SUMMERHILL STALLION DAY : A RESOUNDING SUCCESS

Summerhill Stallion Day 2009
(Photo : Summerhill Stud) 

Despite the turmoil of our financial times, representatives of thirteen different nations pitched up at what has become known as “racing’s greatest day out”. While our sport is often judged as a self-indulgence and the domain of the elite, it remains the bastion of the most generous-spirited people in the country, and at Sunday’s exhibition of the Summerhill sires, South Africa’s people and a good number from abroad, were seen at their best.

The purpose of the day is obviously the showcasing of the Summerhill stallions, and in particular their new arrivals, Admire Main and A.P.Arrow, yet there are so many dimensions to this fascinating day, they deserve their own column. Summerhill’s traditional dancers, who’ve been ranked second and third in the world at international competitions in Tokyo and Hong Kong, have long been favourites of the day, but this year, apart from the music, the magicians, the buskers and the fine wines of Waterford, there was a refreshing element in the display of Ardmore Ceramics, the brainchild of renowned equestrian, Fee Berning.

Visit the best shops in London, New York, Berlin, Paris and Sydney, and you will find displayed some of the most collectible art in the world, creations of local Zulus whose talents have now reached the point where individual pieces are making R100,000 and beyond.

The service auction was a raging success, despite the apparently difficult times we live in, and raised close to R400,000. It was an astonishing display of charity on the part of those who attended, and South Africans can pat themselves on the back today in the knowledge that whatever the constraints, fundamental to our character is the virtue of generosity.

As reassuring as any recent developments in racing, was the announcement by Chris Kennard, Financial Director to the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan., of the Maktoum family’s commitment of R4,000,000 towards the Al Maktoum School Of Management Excellence. The earthworks and infrastructure are already in place, and construction begins in earnest in August. The first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, this institution bodes a unique opportunity for young aspirants wanting to make a career of the breeding or racing industries.

(www.summerhill.co.za click School Of Excellence)

At times like these, we need to remember we make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.

Please click the umbrella for a unique view of
the Summerhill Stallion Day

(Tip : Use your mouse to navigate…)