Inaugural CTS Johannesburg Ready To Run Sale – Inanda

The last time I headed to Johannesburg for a sale, I woke to the sound of gunfire when an intrepid team of what I can only imagine were Oceans 11 wannabe’s stormed Emperor’s Palace. So when I boarded a flight to Joburg last week, I did so with a certain amount of reservation. However, figuring that lightning can hardly strike twice, I decided I’d surely be able to sneak in and out of the city before karma caught up with me. I nearly got away with it too.

Our captain cheerily announced that there may be some ‘weather’ at our destination. Of course, his timing left something to be desired, coming as it did, after the plane was already airborne, leaving his hapless passengers to look at one another helplessly and causing a minor stampede to the drinks cart. Unfortunately said drinks cart displayed a disconcerting lack of anything strong enough to see me through my impending doom, but as things turned out, the ride was surprisingly smooth and we touched down in Joburg in fairly good shape. Better yet, my suitcase was the first to appear on the conveyor belt. Much cheered by having cleared the first hurdle so easily, I set off for my hotel.

I’m obviously getting good at this travelling lark, because I was not accosted by any of the usual taxis or offers to direct me around the airport, so it seems I’m finally managing to fool at least some of the people, some of the time. I had to make one tiny navigational correction, but got to my hotel fairly promptly and feeling rather smug about life.

Cocktail

Emperor’s Palace

A quick pit stop for war paint and scaffolding and I presented myself promptly at the starting gates for the TBA cocktail party at 7:30pm. Bob Yearham’s Emperor’s Palace team had laid out a sumptuous spread around the swimming pool and under the leafy garden canopy and once Neil Andrews had steered us through the evening’s speeches and formalities, including a few words from the TBA’s new CEO, Kevin Woolward, everyone ensured that the hospitality was put to good use. Sales are always a fun time as it is a good excuse for trainers, owners and visiting dignitaries to gather in one place, swap stories and catch up on news and gossip. Racing can be a rather funny beast – no matter what happens out on the battlefield, manners and social niceties are still observed, so despite the rather obvious elephant in the room, I dare say a pleasant evening was had by all.

Debut

Inanda’s dramatic skyline

On Friday it was off to Sandton for CTS’s inaugural Johannesburg Ready To Run sale. The traffic was kind and having taken the precaution of grabbing a catalogue before setting off, I got there fairly smartly. The Inanda Club was founded in 1934 to accommodate the amalgamated Johannesburg Polo and Rand Hunt Clubs and is nestled in the heart of leafy, residential Sandton. Their website states that the founders were from the ‘Oxbridge’ set and I was interested to read that the buildings were modelled on London’s Roehampton and Hurlingham Clubs. A recently completed make-over added some new world gloss to the old world elegance and set against the dramatic Sandton skyline, delivered the sort of look and feel one has come to expect from CTS. Having suffered my first and hopefully last experience of soft-shelled crab at the Hurlingham Club, I was gratified to find Friday’s lunch mercifully crab free.

After the rather unwieldy bulk of yearling sale catalogues, the 100+ Ready to Runners were a nice, easily digestible number and I happily lost a few hours immersed in a kaleidoscope of pedigrees, coat colours and conformation assessments, chatting to the lovely yard staff and finding out what favourite lots were like to work with.

Waiting his turn

Horses are amazing creatures and I never cease to marvel at their resilience and ability to adapt to almost any crazy situation that us humans dream up for them. Yearlings seem to take it the hardest and arrive at sales venues half insecure, half confident, curious, but still a little shell-shocked by being wrenched from familiar surroundings and plonked somewhere entirely alien. The Ready To Run candidates are a little more worldly, with a number already having a sale or two under their belt as well as the added mileage of already being backed and prepped at a spelling facility. There were still one or two bewildered looking souls, but on the whole, the horses were well settled and seemed entirely at home in their temporary lodgings. I have been impressed with the Visionaire progeny to date, but there were plenty of lovely specimens and I inevitably wanted to take them all home with me. The stabling and viewing areas were cosy, which meant that the stable yard had a permanently busy, festive feel to it, and before we knew it, the first lot was ready to go through the ring.

A marquee was set up on the polo field below to house the sales ring and facilities and ready for the formalities to get underway at 4:30pm. The team has really got the hang of the new media and lots were led in with replays of their gallops posted on the big screen for anyone wanting a quick reminder. The sale was conducted very efficiently and as always, CTS were generous with their hospitality. There were a number of solid prices, but in the end, Var stole the show, when his son out of the Kabool mare Egyptian Reign brought the hammer down at R1,6 million. The last lots were walked through the ring just as the first few drops of rain started to fall and COO Adrian Todd expressed satisfaction with the figures for their first Johannesburg effort.

And of course there was still the opening day of the Breeders’ Cup to take in. Hootenanny and visiting jockey Frankie Dettori were popular winners of the Juvenile Turf, Goldencents posted a historic double in his final career outing in the Dirt Mile, female phenom Untapable dispatched with the Distaff field in devastating fashion before Rosie Napravnik announced her retirement.

Day At The Races

Rich Girl wins the Ready To Run Cup

Saturday was a fairly full day with 12 races on the card, but there were some interesting maiden plates, including a rather impressive win by Withbatedbreath for Mauritzfontein and the Gavin van Zyl yard with Keagan de Melo in the irons. Nerves and anticipation ran high for the Ready To Run Cup and it produced a real nail-biter. With Dreamuponadream closing like a steam train, Superman judged it to perfection to get Rich Girl across the line just in time.

Bezanova wins the 2014 Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile

The Charity Mile promised another exciting clash and proved a triumph for Peter and Jenny Blyth when the Clifton Stud bred Bezanova made off with the spoils. Congratulations to Chris Gerber for the shrewd purchase and Alec Laird and Weichong Mawing on a job well done. It was a great weekend for the underrated Bezrin, whose son Royal Colours notched his 6th win on the trot at Greyville on Sunday.

Majmu waved 2 fingers at her detractors in the Starling Stakes and won with greater authority than the official winning margin of 1.75 lengths may suggest. We can only hope that she’ll stay around a little longer for South African fans to enjoy.

Harry’s Son wins the Graham Beck Stakes

Harry’s Son could not have been more impressive in the Graham Beck Stakes, providing a welcome tonic for trainer Paul Lafferty and also inching Striker Strydom another step closer to that magical 5,000 mark. Trip Tease provided a poignant win for the Louis Goosen yard in the Golden Loom and well done to all concerned. Oh, and a belated happy 24th birthday to Alistair Cohen.

For anyone still standing, there was the second day of the Breeders’ Cup to absorb. There may have been a 9 race card, but most eyes were the Classic and the question whether California Chrome could redeem himself. In the end, the story of the race was more about the start than the finish, but Chrome did well to race wide all the way and still finish just over a neck third behind winner Bayern and second placed Toast Of New York. Go Chrome! And while we’re spreading the love, it’s also worth a mention that the Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Ocho Ocho Ocho by Street Sense is out of the Horse Chestnut mare, Winner.

BSA

Lot 27 – Unnamed (Bernardini – Coffee Shop)

Traffic forced a delayed start to Sunday’s TBA sale, but as with every cloud, this also came with a silver lining. The opportunity to rummage through the Museum’s prodigious collection of books and racing artefacts was too much to pass up and my notebook came away satisfactorily bulging with notes. While Germiston is perhaps not quite as salubrious as Sandton, the TBA complex is reassuringly comfortable and welcoming. It feels something like the first day back at boarding school, where you can barely wait to dump your bags and rush off to see your mates. I duly added my suitcase to the scores of luggage in the back office before heading off to join the fray.

Everyone has their favourite spot and naturally gravitates to their chosen area. I found Helen Divov at her usual Horse Books Unlimited station and stopped in to have a quick chat and relieve her of some treasures before settling in for the afternoon.

Lot 35 – Redcarpet Captain (Captain Al – Divine)

Again, a boutique catalogue was easily digestible and there was an interesting spread of sires, including my first opportunity to view a Russian Sage and get up close and personal with the Noordhoek Flyer progeny who have definitely inherited their sire’s stamp. The sale got underway at 1pm with a son of Go Deputy bringing the hammer down at R340k. Despite the absence of some big name buyers, the prices were surprisingly strong, showing a healthy increase in both the average and median prices. The top of the log was shared by a very impressive Bernardini colt knocked down to Alesh Naidoo and a son of Captain Al, purchased by Brian Burnard, both going under the hammer at R1,2 million.

Final score

The last lot passed through the ring at around 5pm and I was most of the way to the airport and congratulating myself on surviving the trip unscathed, when I got rear-ended. I had so nearly got away with it!

So at this stage it’s 2-0 to Joburg, but I’ll be back to try and settle the score again soon.