CTS Flagship Sale (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
School holidays generally saw my generation dispatched to the family farm to visit my grandmother, where we presumably could run riot while our parents had a bit of a well-earned break. I was the eldest and to her credit, she did her best to try and impose some rules and boundaries, but by the time the fourth grandchild joined the fray, she was resigned to the approach of ‘anything for a quiet life’. A tribe of horse mad, unruly girls is not for the faint-hearted.
Well, if a quiet life is what you want, then Cape Thoroughbred Sales is not the place for you. CTS burst onto the South African racing landscape with their inaugural Cape Premier Yearling Sale in 2011. “A horse sale in the centre of Cape Town? In January? Madness!” was the judgement of many, but the team made it work. The breeders managed, the horses coped, the venue worked and the highly concentrated and dynamic team have kept the momentum going. The CTS ‘stable’ now boasts two Cape sales, two Ready To Run sales and even a Johannesburg yearling sale and each expansion has seen envelopes pushed and horizons expanded. Being a traditionalist, I’m always a fan of the original and so I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s renewal of the Cape Premier Yearling Sale at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The concept of a horse sale in the shadow of the mother city’s skyscrapers and flyovers still feels a little surreal, but I’ve grown quite fond of the CTICC. It’s easily accessible, there’s always parking and from a visitor’s point of view, it’s very, very user-friendly. The little shopping village has become an institution and is always an equine retail treat – Cally Hotson’s Horses In Art stand is a feast, Dawn and Lauren Smorenburg transform their Adawnment stand into an Aladdin’s cave of spoils and this year saw the addition of The Little Hattery. The on-site bar and coffee shop did brisk trade and if you couldn’t find anything to suit your fancy, a host of alternatives was just a short walk away.
The stud farms have also claimed their spots and become dab hands at setting up temporary residences in the massive hall. With sales also doubling up as informal ‘family gathering’ for owners, breeders, buyers and trainers from all over the country, they are generally busy, fun, noisy affairs and with the additional international interest that the Premier Sale generates, there’s even more fun to be had. There was a very visible international presence – even CNN turned up for a look around – and the results sheet reflects that most visitors were here to conduct business.
Wednesday
But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. With horses arriving from all over the country, the sales halls were buzzing with visitors, and yearlings and sales staff were kept on the hop right from the word go. The traditional pre-sale cocktail party was held at The Taj hotel’s imposing Bank Hall on Wednesday evening. While last year’s venue, the Twankey Bar, is charming, things did get a little cosy and it is perhaps a reflection of how the sale has grown that they required a larger venue this time round. As always, the hospitality was nothing short of generous. CTS Chairman Chris van Niekerk is a polished and charismatic public speaker and used the venue’s financial history to his advantage, joking that the incentive monies were secured in the vaults downstairs. He also took the opportunity to announce an exciting new initiative in which CTS will purchase broodmares from Coolmore, bred to a number of top European stallions to Southern Hemisphere time. If that wasn’t quite enough to whet the appetite, this was followed by news of an additional agreement for preferential access to one of Coolmore’s flagship sires, Rock Of Gibraltar. We have been promised further details in due course.
Met Gallops
All eyes were on Legislate last Thursday
There were possibly a few people ruing the generous CTS hospitality on Thursday morning as the annual Met gallops got under way at 7am on a mercilessly bright January day. With the CTS sale being positioned ahead of the Cape Flying Championship, it was fun to have a bit of Met flavour during ‘CTS Week’, rather than trying to process a double whammy of a big sale during ‘Met week’ and I think spacing the two out allows one to give each event its due individual attention.
The gallops availed fans the opportunity of seeing all the runners in the flesh, and even though the outing is clearly for exhibition purposes rather than giving anything away, it is still a wonderful opportunity to see all the contenders in one place and have the chance to appraise them all individually. Legislate was ridden by Richard Fourie and partnered by stablemate and fellow competitor, Astro News with Greg Cheyne on board. Unfortunately Astro News’ saddle slipped, robbing spectators and connections alike of seeing the talking horse really put through his paces, but he certainly looked fit and well and a post gallop scope revealed that he is on the mend after his Queen’s Plate setback. There was a lot of interest in Futura’s gallop and Bernard Fayd’herbe put him through his paces very smoothly. The Woodruff arsenal gave away little, with Tellina and Killua Castle flanking Louis The King on either side and all three horses crossing the finish line as one after an 800m steady canter. Gold Onyx has been in the care of Felix Coetzee during his tenure in the Cape and seems to be a picture of health. Of the rest of the Snaith runners – Arion and comeback kid Dynamic were both very workmanlike, while Jet Explorer looked as tough and tenacious as ever. It’s incredible to see him join the Met line-up after his horror fall last year. Johnny Rockets, who is not the soundest, can perhaps be forgiven for not looking the smoothest of rides for MJ Byleveld. The Bass contenders, Helderberg Blue and Paterfamilias (or Paterfamiliaris as some would have it) worked together, and despite looking a bit sweated up due to the rising temperatures, both acquitted themselves well. Punta Arenas, who finished less than 2 lengths third last year, galloped well within himself and Power King concluded proceedings with a short sharp gallop up the inside straight.
The draw ceremony, conducted directly afterwards, will have scuppered plans for some parties and in the absence of an obvious pacemaker, tactics will no doubt play a huge role this Saturday.
But back to the sale
Shrewd selector, John Kramer
CTS is already forging a reputation for producing ‘big’ horses and one has to say ‘hats off’ to sale selector John Kramer, who put together a really quality draft. Congratulations are also due to the studs – prepping yearlings for January is no mean feat – but the learning curve has been short and sharp as all the yearlings looked exceptional.
The sale was quick into stride and lot 3, a half sister to Vercingetorix by the late Western Winter, went to Good Hope Racing for R3 million. Congratulations to the Grooms Consortium that produced her and may she do you every bit as proud as her older brother. Lot 12, a half-sister to Met contender Helderberg Blue, also attracted fierce bidding, before the hammer fell at R2,2 million and the SA sales record fell at the very next lot when Highlands’ Dynasty filly out of champion sprinter Overarching, fetched R3,7 million from the Mayfair Speculators table. River Jetez’s first foal, a colt by Var, sold to Adriaan van Vuuren for R600k and Sean Tarry picked up a half sister to Russian Sage for just a fraction more. There had been a lot of talk about Winterbach Stud’s Var filly and she duly fetched R2million and Kerry Jack put in the final bid on lot 44, a Western Winter half brother to Thunder Dance.
Record breaker! 2015 CTS CPYS Lot 48 – Standpoint (Dynasty-Shina) sold for R5,2 million
However, no-one was prepared for the battle that ensued for lot 48, when Kuda’s Wehann Smith signed an SA record R5,2 million chit for Maine Chance Farms’ Dynasty colt out of an own sister to their flagship sire, Silvano. The colt was purchased on behalf of first time buyer, Piet du Toit, a game farmer from Rustenburg, who also secured lot 79 from Avontuur Stud, a half sister to top Cape filly, Cold As Ice. Full marks to Wehann, who invited Mr du Toit to the sale and congratulations to the purchasers – may you have a lot of fun with your new acquisitions. Mike Bass, who will be training both horses, said that they were among his top picks of the sale. When asked how he felt about the gigantic price tag he shrugged, ‘That’s what you get when two people want the same horse.’ At the hammer fall on lot 100, the aggregate for the first day’s trading stood at R60,2 million for 97 lots sold.
Friday
Lot 101 – Navarro (Silvano-A Star For Maria)
Day 2 proved equally hard, with the very first horse through the ring, a beautiful Silvano colt bred by Judy Brannigan and produced by Winterbach Stud, fetching R2,7million. With only 2 lots on the sale, this put Winterbach at the top of the vendor log by average, with a staggering figure of R2,35 million. A phenomenal achievement for a relatively new operation.
Barbara Sanne had been kind enough to show me lot 123, who she was quietly excited about. It was a Var colt out of a half sister to the first of her Dubai World Cup runners, Lucky Find. Mrs Sanne does not dole out praise lightly and when she speaks highly of a horse, it is worth keeping quiet and taking note. Luckily I’d had the good sense to do so! Mrs Sanne has produced some incredible horses on her Oldlands establishment without ever troubling the top of the sales log, so it gave me enormous pleasure to see him knocked down for R4million to Amanda Skiffington on behalf of Fiona Carmichael. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Barbara Sanne’s beautiful Var colt, Moonrise Sensation
The day saw several more high value lots, including lot 131, Klawervlei’s Dynasty colt out of an own sister to Captain Al, secured by Snaith Racing for R3 million and lot 135, Maine Chance Farms’ absolutely gorgeous Western Winter colt out of Fillies Guineas winner, Field Flower, who went to Form Bloodstock for R3,7million.
Of the foreign bloodstock, the High Chaparral filly (lot 102) went for R700k, the Canford Cliffs filly (lot 159) fetched R1million from Peter Doyle and sadly both the Bahamian Bounty and New Approach progeny were withdrawn. It was also a first opportunity to see the progeny of Gimmethegreenlight, Curved Ball, Gitano Hernando, Main Aim, Pathfork and Philanthropist. The SA market is usually cautious about freshman stallions, but Hassen Adams was satisfied with the sale of the first Gimmethegreenlights. The Pathfork progeny looked most impressive, although very few sold in the end and the Philanthropists also appeared to find favour with buyers.
Wrap-Up
2015 CTS CPYS Lot 135 – Unnamed (Western Winter-Field Flower) sold to Form Bloodstock for R3,7 million
Buyers needed courage and resolve to secure a horse and by close of business on Friday evening, figures reflected that day 2 had produced an even stronger R60,25 million for 90 lots sold. Congratulations to the CTS team and also a special note to highlight the website, which updated and posted results almost instantly.
I confess I was not entirely convinced by the big brash sale to begin with. I don’t trust horse events where one comes home clean! I guess it’s also the nature of racing people to be wary of new kids (and concepts) on the block until they have proven themselves. But since its inception, this sale has made big promises and it seems to be delivering. So it seems air-conditioning and a decent plate of sushi do work at horse sales after all.
