Whenever one has occasion to contact Summerhill Stud, there is a little frisson of breathless expectation. You always feel you are in for a treat. And somehow, Mick Goss and his team always deliver !
The reason for this week’s call was a press release from the bastion of Thoroughbred excellence bearing news of a new arrival. And not any new arrival mind you (although it’s pretty hard to choose a favourite from the Summerhill line-up), but a son of More Than Ready.
We’ve just had the news that celebrated Gimmethegreenlight has settled into his new Varsfontein home in the Western Cape and now KZN have upped the ante by announcing their own representative of the More Than Ready line – Dr Jim and Fitriana Hay’s spectacular stallion, Traffic Guard.
People Person
They say that people may forget what you say and do, but never forget how you make them feel. I don’t think anyone embodies this more than Mick Goss. Mick (with his beautiful wife Cheryl) is above all, a people’s person. A host par excellence, time spent with Mick is always brisk, entertaining and energetic and you come away somehow re-energised and bristling with ideas. He is, in a word, expansive. He likes to talk and get to know you, and better still, connect you with someone else you might find interesting if at all possible. With his prodigious legal brain, he seems to store a plethora of information and the twinkly blue eyes and broad smile belie the fact that those synapses are always firing, filing information and making connections – it’s part cordial host, part raconteur, part natural curiosity, but mostly just who he is.
Despite the fact that I’ve really only spent one day up at Summerhill, Mick is kind enough to remember the SO (and his big camera !) and my dad (coincidentally visiting just up the road) and enquire with genuine warmth after both. It is incredibly flattering, as well as humbling, that the Midlands Magician, with a million other things on his mind, remembers a nosey journo from a brief visit almost a year ago.
His people skills are a unique and special talent and a large part of his recipe for success in general and the latest Summerhill coup in particular. Dr Jim and his wife Fitri Hay, are well-known personalities on the international racing scene through their successes with Cape Blanco and Fame and Glory. Although they most recently hit South African headlines when Summerhill graduate Mahubo won the Listed Three Coins Up Stakes at Aqueduct in New York), the Hays relationship with Summerhill goes back a long way. Mick of course takes an interest in friends and their ups, downs and successes – particularly where horses are concerned and often sends personal notes of thanks or congratulations. His personal touches are what leave the most lasting impression and it seems the Hays are no less immune than the rest of us !
Rising Star
Handsome Vinery stallion More Than Ready had caught Mick’s eye back in 2008 already. While the More Than Ready star has been rising meteorically for some time, the arrival of Sebring really shouted his arrival on the world stage. Of course fame and accessibility seem to enjoy an inversely proportionate relationship – when one goes up, the other goes down and opportunities for purchasing More Than Ready progeny became scarce as hen’s teeth. However, in his meticulous way, Mick had noted that the Hays had a rather striking More Than Ready specimen in their string. And when Traffic Guard put in a particularly eye-catching effort in the Gr1 Irish Champion Stake in 2009, running the world’s best three year old, New Approach, to a half length at level weights, Mick dropped the Hays a note of congratulations, adding in that if they ever needed a home for the handsome colt, that they should think of Summerhill. It’s funny how those little touches matter. And register.
Traffic Guard enjoyed a long and illustrious career, spanning five years, several countries, different surfaces, and chalking up 5 wins in the process. He was perhaps at his most glorious in defeat – putting up some memorable duals, often conceding tremendous weight. His courageous track exploits earned him a Timeform rating of 123lbs and a description as a “big, strong, lengthy horse” and a “smart performer”. And when the time came to retire him, the Hays remembered Summerhill.
To say it is a good choice is something of an understatement. Stud farms are not awarded the title of Champion Breeder for nothing, nevermind seven years running ! But such success does not happen without careful planning to maintain the highest standards of excellence. Continuing their policy of only standing stallions of quality racing class, Traffic Guard ticks all the right boxes.
Traffic Guard is out of Street Scene (by Zafonic, who needs no introduction), a half-sister to Chief Advocate, winner of South Africa’s Gr1 Topsport Bloodline Derby in 1991. With a pedigree of that calibre, they are expecting a lot of interest. As a physical specimen, Mick describes the stallion as a handsome and robust individual who really fills the eye. He has a good, equitable temperament and head stallion man Greig Muir says that has settled in well at Summerhill.
Showcase
While July is a red letter month on the racing calendar, most people block out the days following the Vodacom Durban July for a trip to the Midlands. This year is no exception and Summerhill will be hosting their annual stallion showcase on Sunday, 8 July. As mentioned, Mick takes his reputation as best host in the country pretty seriously and an invitation to the stallion day is highly sought after. It is true South African hospitality at its very best.
Last year the stallion day had to share the headlines with the opening of the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence and this year it will again be staged in the school’s beautiful amphitheatre.
Proudly South African, education and community upliftment have been two key concerns as well as two keys to success in the Summerhill story. There are three long-standing learning institutions on the farm – a crèche, a preparatory school, and a life skills mentoring class, which is proud to have awarded 40 overseas scholarships to date to people who’d never ventured too far from the boundaries of Mooi River in their lives.
The addition of the Al Maktoum School of Management Excellence is a source of immense pride. The school launches its 3-day Winter programme on Monday the 9th, which again boasts an impressive line-up of speakers including industry luminaries such as David Raphael, Mary Slack, Dr John McVeigh, Altus Joubert SC, Graeme Hawkins as well as specialists in the fields of bio-farming, genetics and an update on the latest PCR test and export protocol information.
If our best bloodstock, combined with our best host, topped off with that latest news, views and information from the movers and shakers in the racing industry aren’t enough to tempt you, I can’t find any better recommendation than the words of Alec Hogg who commented “Mick’s always positive approach leaves you feeling better than when you arrived.”
So stay a while in the Midlands and let Mick work his magic. You won’t be sorry !
