Barry Irwin (hamishNIVENPhotography)
The 2018 CTS Cape Premier Yearling Sale proved an interesting event – both in terms of the prices as well as the buying bench, with an overall average at a shade over R500k and median prices of R300k for both colts and fillies.
Notable among the top buyers were the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Amanda Skiffington, Angus Gold and Team Valor’s Barry Irwin, who made a welcome return to the CTS buying bench.
Renewed support
Barry is renowned for cherry picking horses according to his ‘Colonel Sanders’ secret recipe selection process from an eclectic mix of international auctions and pedigrees. He has been notably absent from CTS for some time – what prompted his attendance this year? “I haven’t come for several years because I wasn’t comfortable with the CTS sales culture. When I heard there had been some significant changes and the promise of more to come, I figured things were moving in the right direction and wanted to show my support. I thought there would be some good bargains, which there were, and I believe in the South African bloodstock industry and wanted a hand in helping shape it going forward.”
Selections
Barry purchased seven lots for a total of R3,2-million. His Day 1 purchases numbered lot 12 (Gimmethegreenlight – Fragrant Al), lot 26 Duke’s Daughter (Duke Of Marmalade – Heart’s Content) and lot 58 (Captain Al – Linda My Love).
He elaborates, “By and large the pedigrees in South Africa, because they’re isolated, lack international commercial value and are just not fashionable. Because of that, when a bloodline shows up that is fashionable, people go crazy and whether the individual warrants the bidding or not, people go bananas. But I guess they’re looking at something I’m not. Pedigree to me is nice, but it’s not why I buy horses.”
Buying An Athlete
Asked to talk us through his selection process, Barry explains, “I buy individuals, not pedigrees. What I do is, my wife carries the catalogue and we go and look at all the horses. After we’ve looked them over, I may ask what a particular horse is by, but when we go back to our room and go over the selections, that’s when I find out what the pedigrees are. I would obviously like a nice pedigree, but for me, that’s a secondary consideration.”
“What I’m trying to do is buy an athlete. At a sale like this, they’re well raised and in most instances, well presented. There’s no-where else on earth I can go and get horses of this quality for US $25,000-50,000. In the USA, horses like this would cost five times that amount. There are some terrific looking horses here.”
What Caught His Eye
2018 CPYS Lot 58 – UNNAMED (Captain Al – Linda My Love)
“When I first looked around, there were three I really liked and about half a dozen I would have been glad to race. On the first day, I just bought the three I liked.” He continues, “I’ve bought plenty of Captain Al’s over the years and hip 58 fit the mould. Of all the sires I’ve seen since I’ve been coming here, Captain Al gets the most American-like horse. I always gravitate towards them because that’s what I’m used to. I like Gimmethegreenlight a lot too.”
“The horses I bought from this sale are all pretty much the same – not too big, not too small. They’re medium-sized, well-balanced horses that are well proportioned and walk well. There was only one larger horse, hip 12, a Gimmethegreenlight out of Fragrant Al. She’s going to be a big girl, but I thought she looked really good. She was a buy back that I bought out the back and Hassen Adams is keeping a leg of that one.”
Barry was particularly pleased with his second purchase. “Lot 26 is a Duke Of Marmalade filly that I thought I got an incredible deal on. The guy that bred and sold her is a friend of Jono Snaith’s and asked if he could stay in for a part share. I said I don’t really want to sell any of her right now, it was just such a great deal and I want to think about it for a while, but in the end I let Anthony Peter stay in for half.”
On Sunday, he bought lots 173 (Querari – West Coast Mama), lot 205 (Visionaire – Bint Susu), Lot 206 (Visionaire – Black Current) and lot 228 (Gimmethegreenlight – Country Girl). “Glen Kotzen asked me to look at a Visionaire colt he liked, and I found a filly I liked, which turned out to be by Visionaire as well. I was happy to buy them both because I own half the stallion and want to try and support him and I thought I got some really good representatives, especially the colt. While I was there, I wound up buying two more lots – a Gimmethegreenlight and a Querari – because they were going so cheaply.”
Value for Money
Barry is highly enthused about the value on offer on the local market. “I get so excited here. There’s no place else I can get quality like this at these prices. People here get down on horses too quickly. Take Var for example. He had some beautiful individuals that were just being given away – I don’t get it. I know Jooste was one of his biggest supporters, and I suppose him not being there hurt their average, but there were some terrific ones selling for peanuts.”
Barry’s purchases will all stay and race in South Africa, with the majority earmarked for Snaith Racing and the Visionaire filly and colt going to Mike Robinson and Glen Kotzen repectively.
Overview
There has understandably been a lot of apprehension and tension about Markus Jooste’s dramatic exit – how did he gauge the overall mood? “I think it was a perfect storm type situation in that Hong Kong had a very good reason to come here, based on what’s going on with their relationship with Australia, so the timing couldn’t have been better and helped the upper market.”
“From my perspective, the mood at the sale was buoyant. Everyone was talking about the elephant in the room of course, but people were happy to be there, and overall the mood seemed to be positive and optimistic for the future.”
“With some of the big players gone, there was an expectation that it would hurt the aggregate, but not the median. I predicted that if there was an accurate way to adjust the numbers of the past two years to take out the Jooste impact and then compare it with what happened this year, I think the figures would look pretty accurate.”
“I think there were other people like me, who had been sitting on the sidelines who have been encouraged to come back now that the playing field is a little more straightforward and I think that’s a really hopeful sign.”
