R1.25M EMPERORS PALACE READY TO RUN CUP

Meet Oscar Pistorius on Friday evening
at the Ready To Run Cocktail Party, Emperors Palace
(www.oscarpistorius.co.za)

A record entry of 41 nominations has been received for the “buzziest” race on the calendar. There were 102 subscriptions for the race following last year’s Ready to Run Sale, and not far short of half of these have made the entry stage. This is a marvellous response to a sale which is billed as offering “the best odds in the World”, and of getting a run for a stake of this sort.

The nominations are :

34 HURRICANE FORCE (3C) 58.0 98 A Charles Laird
13 MPUMELELO (3C) 58.0 97 S Tyrone Zackey
5 #THE GENERAL (3C) 58.0 87 A Gary Alexander
18 #FENERBAHCE (3C) 58.0 85 A Gary Alexander
12 SULTAN OF SONG (3G) 58.0 82 A Lucky Houdalakis
19 AUGUST EIGHT (3G) 58.0 80 A Barend Botes
6 FANTASY FLIGHT (3G) 58.0 80 A Dominic Zaki
17 GOLDEN WEB (3G) 58.0 77 BA Mike Azzie
40 MDANSI (AUS) (3G) 58.0 76 AT Mike de Kock
10 JACKSON’S DRIFT (3G) 58.0 74 A Paul Matchett
1 MADE YOU LOOK (3C) 58.0 74 ST Tyrone Zackey
27 TRIGGER (ZIM) (3C) 58.0 73 A Roy Magner
3 MISTER SOFTEE (3G) 58.0 72 BA Glen Kotzen
20 AFONSO HENRIQUES (3G) 58.0 70 A Dianne Stenger
21 THOMOND (3G) 58.0 67 A Roy Magner
7 #BURN UP (3C) 58.0 0 A Gary Alexander
24 #CAESOUR’S HEIGHTS (3G) 58.0 0 A Geoff Woodruff
8 #CHEN YIN HO (3G) 58.0 0 A Mark Dixon
30 #OFF THE HOOK (3G) 58.0 0 A Michael Miller
11 *RED POWER (3C) 58.0 0 A Sean Tarry
16 #SAZIWAYO (3G) 58.0 0 A Brett Webber
29 #STAY SONIC (AUS) (3C) 58.0 0 A Tony Rivalland
38 FAKAZI (3F) 55.5 94 A Paul Matchett
22 THEKKADY (3F) 55.5 92 A Sean Tarry
23 SMANGALISO (3F) 55.5 86 A Michael Miller
26 SISHEBO (3F) 55.5 84 A Gavin van Zyl
25 GOLDEN SCOLD (BRZ) (3F) 55.5 83 A Paul Matchett
35 #BELLAGIO (3F) 55.5 80 A Mark Dixon
37 THUNDERING LADY (3F) 55.5 77 A Mike Azzie
41 ZANZABEE (AUS) (3F) 55.5 73 BA Corne Spies
33 KAHA BIRD (3F) 55.5 72 A Ernie Anderson
4 KIMBERLY CRUISE (Z (3F) 55.5 72 A Paul Matchett
15 VAMPIRE (BRZ) (3F) 55.5 69 A Paul Matchett
39 COME DANCING (3F) 55.5 67 BA Penny Kimberley
32 THUNDER CLAP (3F) 55.5 63 A Brian Wiid
36 #DAKAR (3F) 55.5 0 A Brian Wiid
31 #GUP’S GIRL (3F) 55.5 0 A Brian Wiid
14 #MKHANGISI (3F) 55.5 0 A Geoff Woodruff
9 #NYANISO (3F) 55.5 0 A Tony Nassif
28 #RED CAVIAR (3F) 55.5 0 A Mike de Kock
2 #SPIRIT IN THE SKY (3F) 55.5 0 A Michael Miller

The connections of these horses will be gathering on Friday evening at Emperors Palace to meet the celebrities, all of whom are household names of South African society. As a teaser we mention a few Percy Montgomery, Jake White, Oscar Pistorius and many more.

“Click here to watch the Oscar Pistorius Nike Ad”

The Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup : A Drawcard for the Big Names

Jake White and Julie Alexander at Race Day 2007
( www.phumelela.com )

With the gallops now firmly behind us, the Summerhill gang are heads down as we enter the final stages before our big weekend at the end of the month and the beginning of the next one. The horses leave next weekend for Germiston, and so will most of those connected with them. We’ll be on hand to show the horses to would-be investors throughout the week commencing the 26^th October, and of course we’ll all be there to greet you, feed you and water you up to and including the sale on Sunday, 2^nd November.

One of the highlights of the weekend is Big race day on the 1st, when we’ll witness not only the R1,25 million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup, but the first of the big Graded race programmes announcing the beginning of the Spring season in Gauteng, the “top biller” alongside the Ready To Run Cup being the R500,000 Charity Mile, over 1600m. There are nine Summerhill horses among the 33 entries (just short of 30% of the field,) all of them graduates of the Ready To Run. Quite remarkable.

However, before we even get to RACE DAY, we have the cocktail party on Friday evening the 31^st October, which honours the runners in the “Cup”, where the confirmed invitees included several of South Africa’s biggest celebrities including Rugby World Cup heroes, Percy Montgomery and Jake White; Nelson Mandela’s much loved granddaughter Zinzi; Radio and Televison personality David O Sullivan, Johannesburg’s biggest social drawcard Edith Venter; Miss SA’s Claudia Henkel and Vanessa Carreira (two of the best of recent times, and in Vanessa’s case, from nearby Estcourt), celebrity couple Danny K and Leanne Liebenberg, television personality Kuli Roberts, outstanding comedian Siyabonga Ngwekazi and two of South Africa’s best known modelling faces, Tammy-Anne Fortuin and Liezel van der Westhuizen. There are others in the wings, and we’ll announce their names over the next couple of days, as we get closer to the event.

What it all boils down to though, is that this is no “commoner garden” horserace. There’ll be any number of top trainers, jockeys and breeders in attendance, together with the owners of most of the Ready To Run field.

JAKE WHITE : A Toast to the Coach

Memories of the 2007 World Cup
Victorious Springbok Coach Jake White celebrates with IRB Player of the Year Bryan Habana
(Rugby Heaven)

At an intimate gathering Monday night at the Rupert’s household in Somerset West, Mick and Cheryl renewed their acquaintance with victorious World Cup winning coach, Jake White and old-time friend and Avontuur Stud owner, Lindy Taberer. A delightful evening in convivial company, and when they got down to the rugby, they agreed to play by Clarence House rules, which means they could talk about coaches and coaching and the general state of rugby, without worrying about secret recordings or blackmails for positions in national teams, as we’ve read so much about in the press of late.

While we’re not sure he could be persuaded to take up the “hot seat” again, “The Coach” is in great shape, and was on his very best of form. A touch bruised, mind you, after 45 minutes on the park, as a substitute in the “Legends” match against Scotland. Jake was among youngsters Joost v.d. Westhuizen, Breyton Paulse, and despite Ian “Macs” assurances he wouldn’t ask him for more than 5 minutes of game time. Jake knows how fickle coaches can be!

The reassuring thing is that he wants to renew his association with this year’s Emperors Place Ready To Run Cup, where he, John Smit, Schalk Burger, Francois Steyn and Jean de Villiers joined us a week after their big party in Paris last year.

So it’s more than on the cards that we’ll have Jake aboard again for the first Friday and Saturday in November, at both the Ready To Run cocktail party at Emperors Palace, and the “Big” meeting. As a victim of the horse racing business already, he could even land up having a dabble when the horses enter the ring on the Sunday.

While it’s still to be settled finally, we’re looking to celebrate the swansong of Percy Montgomery on the same couple of days, as part of a fine blend of nostalgic “oldies” (How does the thought of “Os” sound?) together with a few of the new kids on the block.

Of course, our net will not be limited to the rugby fraternity alone. Like the “Ready To Run”, which has a horse for everyone, we’ll have a celebrity to appeal to most tastes, so watch this space in the weeks ahead.