THIS BOAT KEEPS ON COMING IN...

Mullins Bay
(Photo : Greig Muir)

…BUT THE BEST IS STILL TO COME.

Mullins Bay ranks second among his contemporary sires by earnings per runner, in the powerful company of Stronghold, Trippi and Black Minnaloushe. On Saturday, Viking Hero reminded us why, skating home by 4.25 lengths over 1000m at Turffontein. Same day, Gitiano made the money in the R600,000 KZN Guineas.

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

SOLID GAINS FOR 2013 CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALE BOOK ONE

Click above to watch a summary of the Cape Premier Yearling Sale Book 1
(Image and Footage : Cape Thoroughbred Sales)

CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALE BOOK 1
Cape Town International Convention Centre
24 - 25 January 2013

The second session of the Cape Premier Yearling Sale did not quite reach the heights of the first session, but with 19 yearlings breaking the million Rand barrier, it demonstrated that there was a solid band of quality individuals on offer during the sale.

The final aggregate of the sale was just under the R100 million mark, coming in at R98,510,000, while the average was R482,892. Klawervlei Stud overtook Highlands Farm Stud as top vendor, consigning 32 lots for a total of R15.445 million, while Trippi did the same to Dynasty in the sire stats, totalling R15.130 million for his 24 yearlings. Markus Jooste’s Mayfair Speculators continued their buying spree, eventually signing for 21 yearlings totalling R14.225 million, to remain at the top of the buyers list.

“It was a successful sale”, Cape Thoroughbred Sales Chairman, Chris van Niekerk summarized. “The vendors provided quality horses and the wide spread of buyers confirmed the quality and good value of South African stock, which was underscored by a 20% increase in the average from the prior year.”

After a sluggish start to the second session, Kip Elser could not resist signing for a lovely grey filly by Tapit out of the Orientate mare Charmz. From the female family of Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and Champion Older Female Sprinter, Harry’s Charm, Lot 136 was knocked down to Elser for a mere R700,000. For Elser the equation was a simple one: “She is a great mover and the 2nd dam was a champion!” Mike Sharkey, manager of vendor Highlands Farm Stud explained the low purchase price: “The buyer clearly appreciates and understands the sire better than the local market. She is a lovely filly from a good solid South African family and definitely well bought.”

Lot 150, the grey colt Imibala, was one of the talk horses during the week and it therefore came as no surprise when he topped the second session, with the hammer falling at R2 million. By Group 1 Vodacom Durban July winner Dynasty out of the Vodacom Durban July winner Dancer’s Daughter, he epitomises the adage of breeding the best to the best. Signed for by John Freeman, the colt will be trained by Justin Snaith, who also trained his dam. Brother Jonathan Snaith was extremely pleased to have acquired the handsome grey. “We trained the mom and he looks just like her. We are very excited to have one of her produce in our stable, after missing her daughter last year. With a beautiful conformation, he was our pick of the colts at the sale.” Mike Sharkey, manager of Highlands Farm Stud confirmed that it was only the second time in South African history that a yearling was by a July winner out of a July winner. He cheekily added that the colt should have been named Triple D! “He is a lovely yearling and a great walker. He was a late foal and I look forward to seeing him furnish into a proper horse.”

Just three lots earlier, the top filly of the second session, consigned by equine vet, Dr Bennie van der Merwe of Moutonshoek was knocked down to trainer Gavin van Zyl for R1.7 million. Lot 147, the aptly named Eros’s Girl, is by Captain Al out of the unraced Jet Master mare Cupid, herself a sister to multiple Group 1 winning filly Ebony Flyer and a half sister to Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Captain’s Lover. Dr Van der Merwe was thrilled, calling her a lovely well put together filly and a great mover. Van Zyl was extremely happy to have picked up such a well-related individual and added that if she runs like the other females in the family she will be a champion.

Third on the buyers list after the sale, Chris van Niekerk’s Rainbow Beach Trading signed for Lot 179, the exquisite bay Trippi colt, Trip to Heaven (R1.4 million) and Lot 197, the flaxen maned chestnut colt from the last crop of champion Sire Jet Master. Both will be trained by Sean Tarry. Out of the imported Cee’s Tizzy mare, Helleborus Blue, Lot 179 is a half brother to Group 1 winning two-year-old The Hangman. Tarry was very pleased to have acquired the brother to his star, commenting that the colt is a classic type and if he has half the ability his brother has, he will be very good. Van Niekerk, who also owns 2012 Vodacom Durban July winner Pomodoro, was very pleased with his purchase. “As much as we think we have a champion in The Hangman, we believe that we have a more refined individual in Trip To Heaven”, he said. Speaking on behalf of vendor Highlands Farm Stud, manager Mike Sharkey added: “He is a quality individual, he looks just like his sire and being the half brother to The Hangman, Chris van Niekerk just couldn’t stay away.” Having trained Mythical Flight, a very speedy Jet Master colt with a flaxen mane and tail, Tarry was the one who could not stay away from Lot 197. “He is a strong colt from a good female line and of course with a flaxen mane and tail. We hope he is as good as our last Jet Master with a flaxen mane and tail”, he said.

Andreas Jacobs’ Maine Chance Farms consigned Lot 216, another chestnut Jet Master, who was knocked down to Gareth Pepper for R1.4 million. Named Legato, the colt is out of the Jallad mare, Lyrical Linda, a mare very near to Jacobs’ heart. “She was my first Group 1 winner in South Africa and she is very special to me. I was thrilled when she produced such a beautiful individual”, he commented. The young bloodstock agent had to wait patiently until the end of the second day, before signing for the colt on behalf of KwaZulu-Natal trainer and ex Mauritian Champion jockey, Robbie Hill. With Hill’s daughter getting married on Saturday, he wisely decided to stay at home.

Cape trainer Vaughan Marshall could not believe his luck when Lot 226, the strapping son of Var and full brother to Champion Sprinter Val De Ra, was knocked down to him for R1.1 million. “It is wonderful to have an owner like Ken Truter, who buys me horses like this. We are thrilled to have got him, as we thought he would go for much more”, said a grinning Marshall.

Angus Gold purchased six yearlings for Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Stud South Africa, signing for Lot 81 (R375,000), Lot 92 (R800,000), Lot 170 (R600,000) and Lot 206 (R900,000), before some spirited bidding landed him Lots 230 and 232 right at the end of the sale. Consigned by Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm, both are by Champion Sprinter Var out of very speedy mares. Lot 230 is the first foal of Silvano mare Mochachino, who scorched to victory in the Group 2 Camellia Stakes over 1160m at Turffontein. Despite being a first foal, Gold commented on how precocious the filly looked. “She is a very racy filly and she looks sharp. If she were in Australia, she would be a Golden Slipper filly. Mike de Kock loved her and we are very happy to have her.” Lot 232, named Mastermind, reminded Gold more of his damsire Jallad, than his sire Var. “He was a lovely horse, a big strong powerful colt from a fast family. He reminded me a lot of Jallad, who we bred and raced in the UK.”

Gold is no stranger to the Cape Premier Yearling Sale or to South Africa and explained his continued support. “We are very happy to be buying here, as the yearlings are very good value by international standards. The objective is of course to take the horses to Dubai if they are any good. We got lucky with Soft Falling Rain, who was Champion Two-Year-Old Colt and who easily won his first start in Dubai. It is early days yet, but from Sheikh Hamdan’s viewpoint, South Africa is a good value alternative to buying in Europe or America.”

CAPE PREMIER YEARLING SALE
Cumulative Statistics

	2013	2012
Catalogued	234	350
Offered	220	294
Sold	203	238
RNAs	17	56
RNA %	7.7%	19%
Highest Price (ZAR)	3,250,000	2,800,000
Gross (ZAR)	98,510,000	106,835,000
Average (ZAR)	482,892 (+19.8%)	403,151

For more information, please visit :

www.capethoroughbredsales.co.za

PIERRE JOURDAN SEEKING SUMMER CUP SIZZLE

Pierre Jourdan poses with Phumza Tiya ahead of the 2012 Sansui Summer Cup
(Photo : Peter Morey Photography)

SANSUI SUMMER CUP (Grade 1)
Turffontein, Turf, 2000m
1 December 2012

David Thiselton
Gold CirclePierre Jourdan could be a big runner in tomorrow’s Grade 1 R2 Million Sansui Summer Cup in which he carries 58kg off a merit rating of 106 compared to topweight of 60kg off a merit rating of 116 last year. He is also long overdue a change in luck.

The Summerhill-bred gelding was slow away in his last start, the Peermont Emperors Palace Charity Mile, when squeezed out and then badly bumped by a horse coming across which made it hard for him to make up the ground in the fast going on the day. He also met interference in his previous start in the Grade 3 Joburg Spring Challenge over 1450m and could have finished second instead of fourth behind the classy Link Man.

The Gary Alexander yard must be wondering if Pierre Jourdan will ever get a clean race as he also had bad luck through the Champions Season, including in the Vodacom Durban July. However, he is now four points down the merit ratings since his last win in last year’s Charity Mile and he has the in-form maestro Piere Strydom aboard.

In last year’s Summer Cup, Pierre Jourdan finished last, but it appearedded on that occasion that he was over raced. Although Alexander said he would have preferred him to be a touch closer to the inside, the wide draw of 13 is just about ideal for Strydom who will be able to choose where he wants to be and is a master of slipstreaming. Alexander also hoped that he would at least have a chance of staying out of trouble from that draw and added that his first two runs of the season were preparation runs for this race and despite his rough race last time out, Pierre Jourdan had returned sound. “He is doing well and his prep has gone quite nicely,” Alexander said. “He hasn’t done too much wrong.”

Alexander felt he had a few other chances on the day. He reckoned the Trippi colt No Prisoners, with Strydom up, would be a “big runner in that field” in the second, where he is quoted as even money favourite. He gave Radiant Rock “a place shout” in the tenth, despite odds of 33-1, as she “always without fail tries her heart out.” He added that the 2000m trip would suit Mystic Tigress, a 10-1 shot in the eleventh.

Extract from Gold Circle

STALLIONS : STATS AND FACTS

John Messara
(Photo : Racing NSW)

“Data comes in all sorts of forms,
and because there’s new history being made every day in racing,
it’s constantly evolving.”

Time was when stud masters judged stallions on intuition, and breeders mated their mares on a cocktail of gut feel, dosages, and the assignment of numbers to female families, cosmology, rattlesnakes and a potion of magic elixirs. Quite amazingly, and despite the mountain of scientific data and the genetic advancements science had made, racehorse producers have long displayed a preference for the myths and urban legends this mystical beast has generated over centuries, in deciding where to send their mares.

It’s a comparatively recent development (successfully exploited by Australia’s John Messara, a man who unsurprisingly came from a financial and stockbroking background,) that analytics first made its appearance in our world. In Messara’s case, you need only look at the history of his Arrowfield Stud, to know that it works. He was the man behind Danehill and his three champion sire sons, Redoute’s Choice, Flying Spur and Danzero, and let’s not forget, he also bred Zabeel, who alongside his sire Sir Tristram, is without peer among the greatest stallions New Zealand has known.

At Summerhill, we rely on a whole lot of inputs in arriving at our mating strategies. We look at the broodmare and her history in an attempt to assess the character she produces, we consult with trainers, jockeys and our own staff to get their impressions of the family and/or the sires’ progeny. We have the marvellous advantage of working with the offspring of both parents in our Ready To Run Programme, and that teaches you a host of things about their constitutions, their minds, how they move and how quickly they learn. We employ our intuitions, directed at soundness, temperament and the likely physical outcome in a mating of specimens. And then, like Messara, we consult data, reams of it.

Data comes in all sorts of forms, and because there’s new history being made every day in racing, it’s constantly evolving. So it doesn’t matter that it’s the end of the breeding season, these things are of interest 24/7, and when they’re of value, you can be sure this team’s alert to them. Just recently, Broodmare Manager, Annet Becker updated our stats on some of the more established stallions in the land, and this is what they look like:

South African Stallions Lifetime Stats

*Up to and including foals born in 2009.

There are a couple of interesting numbers emerging from the update. Clearly, there is a soundness correlation among those sires that generate the most runners from foals and their percentage winners. Significantly, Kahal and National Emblem, who produced the bulk of their runners whilst at Summerhill, are rivalled only by Western Winter in their percentage of horses which get to the track. That might have something to with environment and management, as it is borne out by a broader set of figures covering the progeny of all sires at Summerhill. Western Winter, Fort Wood, Dynasty and Silvano are by some distance the most consistent getters of Stakes winners (exclude Trippi in this case, because he’s only had the one crop, and while his numbers are astonishing, they need to be repeated over a period of time). You might have thought Jet Master’s percentage Stakes winners would be higher, but quite clearly, his great attribute is his ability to get the very big horse, which he’s done more regularly than any other of his contemporaries.

Our readers are invited to comment on these numbers, and to ask whatever questions you wish. We have the data, and we can present these numbers however you want, so let’s hear from you. Have a great KwaZulu week if you’re in our vicinity - there’s a bit of warmth about at last, and our conception rates have climbed dramatically in the last few weeks.

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

READY TO RUN ROARS

Gross revenue and average prices reached record highs…
(Photo : Heather Morkel)

EMPERORS PALACE READY TO RUN SALE
TBA Sales Complex, Gosforth Park, South Africa
2nd and 4th November 2012

Extract from Sporting Post

Gross revenue and average prices reached record highs at last weekend’s 2 day Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale at the TBA Sales Complex. Of the 202 catalogued 2-year-olds some 169 were sold, grossing R38million. That translates to an average price of R229k, up 20% on the corresponding sale last year. Remarkably, the average was just fractionally less than what was achieved at the 2012 National Yearling Sale (R233k).

Top price was R2million for an Australian-bred colt by Tale Of The Cat. The youngster is the first foal of his US-bred unraced dam, from the female line of Dancing Brave, and had been bought earlier this year in Australia for A$42k.

Local heroes Jet Master, Var and Trippi filled the next three places, price-wise. A half brother by Var to Gr.3 placed Stakes winner Jet Jamboree made R1.6million, a handsome return on his R600k purchase price at the Cape Yearling Sale in January of this year. Even more profitable was the pinhook on the full sister by Jet Master to multiple Gr.1 placed Stakes winner Lizarre and Gr.3 placed Lake Arthur. She made third top-price of R1.5million, having been bought at the 2012 Cape Sale for R350k.

Trippi’s 2-year-old son out of Sportsworld mare, Spoil Sport, was listed as a R300k vendor buy-back at the 2012 National Sale. The youngster, who is full brother to multiple 2-year-old winner Yellow Card, was knocked down this time at R1.1million.

Gr.1 winner Ivory Trail had been catalogued and withdrawn at both the Cape Sale and the National Sale in 2012. The wait proved worthwhile, as the Cheveley-bred fetched a cool R1million here.

The last of the millionaires was a Fastnet Rock 2-year-old out of a Sadler’s Wells daughter of Champion European sprinter Habibti. The youngster is half brother to German and Italian Gr.1 winner Morshdi, and had made the shortlist of most of the judges at the Ready To Run gallops three weeks prior to this sale.

The overall median price at the sale went up to R150k, from R90k and R100k in the two previous years. Colt’s median increased to R180k from R110k in the both previous years. Fillies didn’t lag, with their median going to R130k, from R90k both previous years. These figures were much the same as those at the Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale of 2012, where the overall median also was R150k, with colts slightly less at R170k, and fillies on par with R150k.

The traditional Ready To Run Sale, with its massive annual restricted-race incentive, has truly come of age. The presence of 2-year-olds by top class international sires (who do deliver!) and the pin-hooking opportunities (on both the local and international stock) will no doubt continue to make the original Ready To Run one of the major events of the year.

READY TO RUN
Top Prices

Price	Year	Horse	Sire
R2.2million	2008	TRAFALGAR LEGACY	Rock Of Gibraltar
R2.1million	2009	UTHAWINI	Galileo
R2million	2012	DIE KAT	Tale Of The Cat
R1.6million	2012	VARIETY ROMP	Var
R1.5million	2012	MYSTICAL STAR	Jet Master
R1.5million	2011	CAPE ROYAL	Royal Academy
R1.5million	2008	INSASA	Galileo
R1.3million	2010	FRONTINO GOLD	Hussonet
R1.1million	2012	TULBAGH TRIP	Trippi
R1.1million	2010	VEROCCHIO	Royal Academy
R1million	2012	ILITSHE	Fastnet Rock
R1million	2012	10HUNTER’S GLEN	Jet Master
R1million	2011	DUKE OF MEDINA	Rock Of Gibraltar
R1million	2010	DON’T BE SILLY	Dansili
R1million	2010	DANSILI EXPRESS	Dansili
R1million	2009	IGUGU	Galileo
R1million	2008	BLUE VOYAGER	Muhtafal

AP ARROW (2012)

Horse	Dam	Price
FLIGHT CHECK	Diligence	R320,000
ARCH RIVAL	Competitive Edge	R320,000
SWISS ARROW	Swiss Pearl	R250,000
ALLAQUIVER	Nadira	R240,000
AYESSAYPEE	Mythical Madame	R240,000
LIGHTNING EYE	Chase The Light	R200,000
AUTODROME	Resolutiva	R180,000
10RAINBOW RED	Rainbow Red	R180,000
FLIGHT WARNING	Qaphela	R180,000
BOMSIGHT	Buttonhole	R160,000

ADMIRE MAIN (2012)

Horse	Dam	Price
IKIMASU	Espinado	R340,000
ADMIRAL’S EYE	Surfer’s Eye	R340,000
TAKUSHI	Stolen Beauty	R280,000
TWO TEN JACK	Aces Wild	R180,000
THE SQUAD	Amabokoboko	R120,000
SENSEI	Best Behaviour	R110,000

MULLINS BAY (2012)

Horse	Dam	Price
SUGAR BAY	Sugar Biscuit	R450,000
WATERS EDGE	Rainbow Lady	R250,000
BELLA’S BOY	New York Folly	R160,000
SKUKUZA	Sphalaphala	R150,000
TOAST OF THE TOWN	Favoured Nation	R150,000
SHOUT OUT	Elation	R120,000
BRIDGETOWN PORT	Shiyabekhala	R120,000
STORM INCOMING	Hlabalela	R110,000
WYSIWYG	Model K	R100,000
INTOXICATION	Excess	R100,000

SOLSKJAER (2012)

Horse	Dam	Price
WESTERN FLASH	Western Flash	R320,000
SECRETS TOLD	Flying Magic	R160,000
OLE GUNNAR	Wig Wam	R150,000

Extract from Sporting Post