Dean Kannemeyer
“I am not going to concern myself about the ones I didn’t get. Rather let me worry about the ones I did.” So said Cape trainer Dean Kannemeyer on his flight back to Cape Town, after an exhausting but rewarding week at the 2013 Emperors Palace National 2YO Sale that ended on Friday evening.
“We naturally tend to all be chasing the same sires and I, like most trainers, would love to train a string of Silvano and Dynasty progeny!” said Kannemeyer. Newly crowned champion sire Silvano dominated the sires list, both by aggregate and average. The Maine Chance son of Lomitas had 8 lots fetch R3 495 000 – at an average of R436 875.
Treasure
Kannemeyer said that the real value lay in uncovering the hidden gold:
“Everybody was talking about the new sensation Judpot, Antonius Pius and Sail From Seattle Also the Seventh Rocks. But there were only three representing the latter. Overall I must consider myself fortunate with what I managed to secure,” he said. “It was tough, very tough, and I am not sure about the lack of money that I keep reading about! The right horses always attract the interest and we got pipped here and there. But after the recent Champions Season line calls, I have become philosophical about the knocks! We have our eyes on the road ahead and are not looking in that rear view mirror. There is a whole new season of great racing in the Cape ahead of us that we are approaching with fire and confidence,” he said with a confident smile. Kannemeyer said that he felt that the general quality of this sale was notably better than in previous years, and he was pleased with his quartet of 2yo’s that would be going to Sorrento Stud in anticipation of going into his Milnerton yard in mid September.
“I see that the stats bear out my overall perception of improved quality. The 2013 aggregate rose 28% from last year’s total and averages were up over 20%. I am naturally disappointed that I didn’t get that beautiful Silvano colt of Gary Player Stud. We went to R950 000 and he was knocked down to Dennis (Drier) for a bar. He was the sales topper and is a smasher. But a budget, with a measure of flexibility of course, is a budget. We have always adopted that approach as the sales arena can be a dangerous place for the impulsive,” he said.
Golfing Great
Dean said that he was particularly pleased for the Gary Player Stud who consigned both the top priced colt and filly. They sold a daughter of the great European champion Yeats, to former Cape Chapter Chairman and well known owner and breeder, Ken Truter, for R450 000. Gary Player Stud Farm were leading vendors by aggregate after their 14 lots grossed a total of R2 555 000.
Magnificent
Touching briefly on his four purchases, Kannemeyer said that he was excited by a magnificent Dynasty colt that he had felt ticked all the right boxes. He was referring to Ambiance Stud’s Dynastic, whom he had purchased for a new owner from Europe: “He has a stamp of class about him and is athletic and scopy. He is out of a four time winning mare. We had to go to R500 000 but we were prepared to pay more. I’m very excited,” he said.
He said that he had his eye on the Sail From Seattle youngsters for some time and was thrilled to have picked up a colt from Ascot Stud for R130 000:
“A son of Gone West ,Sail From Seattle has all the credentials to make the grade as a stallion. He is beautifully bred and was a lightly raced high class sort on the track. This colt is racy and caught my eye repeatedly. I feel I have bought very well!” he said.
The third of the Kannemeyer purchases is a Seventh Rock filly from The Alchemy. “Everybody has been talking about the Seventh Rock progeny. There were only three of them on this sale and at R60 000 I would have been happy to pick up a few more of this type of racy beautiful filly. I have no doubt that she is going to develop into something really nice,” he said.
Name Game
Kannemeyer and his consultant, Jehan Malherbe of Form Bloodstock, are two of the most astute judges in the game. He conceded that while he is not influenced by emotional external factors like names, they were happy to pick up a handsome Mogok colt from Bush Hill Stud. His name? Shah Jehan, of course!
“They say, what’s in a name? Well sometimes these things happen for a reason! Unlike his namesake, he is an athletic specimen, and a nice looker too. We want to put him together as a fun horse. Sure we had to go to R75 000 for him, but the Mogoks have proven gems and great value for money. I mean, just look at what Mike De Kock did with a Mogok on Saturday in Chicago, as one example,” he suggested. “All told, it was a successful sale and time well spent. And it would be remiss of me not to mention the TBA’s CEO Tom Callaghan and his team. The service and the social aspect of it all is vitally important. One just gets a sense that there is new life and enthusiasm flowing in the whole set up. And that can only be good for the game,” he said.
