Bloodstock South Africa Newsletter September 2013 Edition 4:
The Equus Awards:
A glittering night was held at Emperors Palace to celebrate the Oscars of the Racing industry, and it was great to see new owners like John Jones and Brian Burnard scooping the Champion Colt and Filly prizes respectively. We need new blood in the sport and it is wonderful that they are succeeding so early in their racing lives.
Silvano won the coveted Champion Stallion title and he really has been beyond comparison this season, whilst Judpot received the Outstanding Stallion Award for his amazing debut season.
Well done to Lammerskraal Stud and their Blue Hen Akinfeet who won Broodmare of the Year .
Congratulations to Summerhill for winning their 9th consecutive Breeders Champions and well done to all nominees and recipients of awards and to the RA for putting on such a lavish function.
Emperors Palace National Two Year Old Sale 15th /16th August:
The 2013 Emperors Palace National 2YO Sale ended on a real high.
The aggregate, average, and median were all up well on last year’s figures, and the clearance rate was an excellent 81%. The 2013 aggregate rose 28% from last year’s total (R20 455 000) to R26 260 000. Averages were up 40%, and reached just a shade under R100 000 (R99 294). The lots not sold remained comparable with last year – 32 lots not finding homes (33 failed to sell in 2012).
The sales topper was lot 286, a son of champion Silvano. Consigned by the Gary Player Stud Farm, the beautifully bred colt was knocked down to KZN trainer Dennis Drier on behalf of Knut Haug for R1 000 000. Remarkably, the Gary Player Stud Farm consigned both the top priced colt and filly. The farm consigned lot 281 – a daughter of the great European champion Yeats, who was knocked down to owner Ken Truter for R450 000.
Top vendors at the sale, by aggregate, were the Gary Player Stud Farm, whose 14 lots sold grossed a total of R2 555 000. Leading vendors, by average, was Maine Chance Farms who sold three lots for an average price of R266 667.Misty Meadows were the leading buyers at the sale, purchasing 10 lots for R2 155 000. They finished clear of KZN trainers Dennis Drier and Duncan Howells.
Champion sire Silvano dominated the sires list, both by aggregate and average. The great sire had 8 lots fetch R3 495 000 – at an average of R436 875. Next on the sires log, by aggregate came Judpot, Antonius Pius, Dynasty and Sail From Seattle.
Breeders should take a very positive message out of this sale that the market is improving. However, the right horse for the right sale strategy has never been more evident than this sale. Buyers still got great value at this sale, and it will continue to be a sale that offers superior value. This sale was a very positive one for our industry, and I am absolutely ecstatic about the results. The passion and dedication that all of our patrons have for finding that champion that changes their lives is very humbling, and we appreciate every person’s support, be it breeders, buyers or under bidders.
As an aside we got some excellent feedback on the quality of the food served to breeders and buyers in The Triple Crown restaurant, which is all part of us trying to improve your sales experience. Bon Apetit.
The TBA Golf Day raising funds for the horse care units:
Thank you very much to Gary Player for helping us raise over R50 000 for the horse care units. Thank you too all sponsors and contributors – including Varsfontein, Moutonshoek , Kuda Insurance, New Turf Carriers, Dave Raper, Alec Foster and John Jones. A special thank you to Sean Tarry for purchasing a special edition Gary Player Masters collage which raised R20 000!
Emperors Palace Ready to Run Sale 1st Nov and 3rd Nov:
The Ready to Run sale concept ,or breeze up sale, as it is known overseas is really taking off globally and South Africa is no exception. This sale produces champions and we only have to think of Igugu to know this is the case. 4 of the top 15 rated 2 yr old’s of last season came from last years Ready To Run Sale and this shows the quality of racehorse that is coming off this sale.
Yes running for the jackpot prize of R2.5m is a huge drawcard ,but the quality of horse being entered on this sale means it is on an upward curve in terms of the racehorses it will unearth going forward. This years entries have some horses that are bred in the purple, and word has it some of the consigners on the sale have some of their best ever horses in their drafts.
Make a date in your diaries for this unique sale, and the race which can make the average man off the street a millionaire in a matter of minutes. This is the stuff of dreams..Please keep an eye on our website for further details.
Stallion News:
The divinely bred Eightfold Path(Giants Causeway –ex Divine Proportions(Kingmambo) takes up residence at Scott Bros Highdown Stud in Natal and is another exciting new stallion prospect in the province.
In other news Gitano Hernando , the well- travelled multiple Group 1 winning son of Hernando will take up residence at The Alchemy as part of deal with Maine Chance Farms and Novisara Stud. He is one of only 3 stallions at stud in South Africa descended from the Nijinksy line, the other two being Silvano and Bold Silvano. Maine Chance will continue to support him and he currently has over 50 mares booked for the season. The Alchemy welcome all enquiries.
Social Media updates:
Our new look website has grown unique visitors by 50% to a grand total of 47 000 year to date , and visitors to the site have doubled the amount of pages they interact with. This is a very positive sign that the site is offering viewers content they want, and that our marketing campaign is driving new users to the site.
Our Facebook page now has over 10 000 followers and growing, and our Twitter presence is mushrooming. Follow us at and interact with us on twitter/bloodstocksa1 and Facebook.com/tbaofsa .
I encourage all breeders and trainers and other service providers to create a strong social media presence as it really is the way of the future to advertise your business and grow your brand. I am happy to put you in touch with the service providers to assist you in this regard.
Horses for sale on
www.tba.co.za
:
The new passed through section on our website has been well received by our buying bench and is being well used. We have now launched a new section on our website offering horses for sale where we put buyers and sellers together. This is a free service for members of the TBA, with a nominal fee for non-members. Please send us details of the horse for sale and we will upload. Remember we are always on the look-out for Fillies for stud.
www.tba.co.za/bsa/classifieds.php
Formgrids – breeders section:
The TBA has sponsored the creation of the Breeders Section on Formgrids, and this section is being well used by many breeders, trainers, punters and stakeholders in the industry. This is a great tool to research your studs, stallions, sires and dams racing records and performance and I hope more of you will use this excellent service. There are some new tools coming where you can watch selected horses so keep an eye out for this.
www.formgrids.com/horse_breeding_information.aspx
Breeding news:
I know breeders are in full swing with foaling season and I encourage breeders to send us pictures of their foals so that we can share them on our social media platforms.
I have heard some excellent reports of new sire’s foals such as Gimmethegreenlight, Dan de Lago, Philanthropist , Golden Sword, Traffic Guard, Bold Silvano and Pathfork which is great news for our breeding industry as we constantly try and raise the quality bar. Well done to all the matriarchs who do all the hard work – quality broodmares maketh a champion!
Please note our sales dates for 2014 are published on our website on the home page under forthcoming sales.
24th/25th April Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale
22nd May Cape Mare and Mixed Sale
3rd and 4th July Suncoast KZN Yearling Sale
9th July KZN Mare and Mixed Sale
14th /15th August Emperors Palace National 2 yo Sale
31st/2nd November Emperors Palace Ready to Run Sale
Finally Harry the Horse from the Horse Care Units got auctioned at the TBA Golf Day to Mike Sharkey from Highlands Stud, and at the sale Harrys’ full brother got auctioned to Alan Smith from the Erico Verdonese stable. I really like this fundraising concept that was launched at this year’s Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale and thank everyone for supporting it so enthusiastically. I know our retired athletes appreciate all our efforts.
Happy Racing.
Tom
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