Quality horses. A good turnout. A winning venue. A great vibe.
That was the general consensus of opinion as the shadows lengthened over Kenilworth Racecourse on Sunday evening after the 2021 renewal of the CTS Ready To Run & Unbroken 2yo’s Sale.
“We are extremely happy and satisfied with the numbers achieved and the venue, which incorporated the 1881 Lounge and the use of the winner’s enclosure, was absolutely first-class,” CTS MD Grant Knowles told the Sporting Post after a busy long weekend of racing and breeding.
The topseller, #36, purchased by Garth Puller Racing for Hong Kong interests (Pic – Wayne Marks)
The fun started on Friday morning with the Ready To Run Gallops at Kenilworth and then flowed into Saturday’s racing, which produced a feature cliffhanger in the R900 000 CTS De Grendel RTR Stakes, with Fifty Fiver banking the big money by the proverbial paper-clip.
Knowles’ views were endorsed pre-sale by leading breeder Oscar Foulkes, who said that the long weekend of events introduced a sense of occasion, an important part of building the hype and excitement.
Mr Foulkes said that Kenilworth is also more central and is a racecourse with ‘a special place’ in South African racing.
Kenilworth – venue gets thumbs up from participants (Pic – Taubin Grove)
“As much as I like the atmosphere of ‘the country course’, I’m always nervous about young horses galloping on the less forgiving surface of Durbanville,” he added.
With an aggregate of R16 480 000 (up 33%), an average of R156 952 (up 43%), and a median of R110 000 (up 37,5%) , the Sunday numbers compared very favourably against the 2020 aggregate of R12 335 000, an average of R110 134 and a median of R80 000.
While the covid-stricken 2020 figures naturally need to be put into perspective, the 2021 stats measure up well considering 23% less horses went through the ring on Sunday.
The topseller was Drakenstein’s Querari colt Franz Lehar (#36) purchased for R830 000 on behalf Hong Kong owner David Hui and former SA-based trainer David Ferraris by KZN Champion trainer Garth Puller.
Topseller – #36 – classy Querari colt (Pic – Wayne Marks)
The athletic colt with a lovely action is bred on the same cross as graded stakes winners Head Honcho and Kampala Campari, and is a half-brother to the very smart Danilo Danilovitch. The speedy dam is Listed East Cape Fillies Nursery/Perfect Promise Sprint winner The Merry Widow.
A pleased Puller also purchased the Gimmethegreenlight colt Gimme A Diamond (#19) for R340 000 on behalf of owner Faizel Bhana.
He is bred on similar lines to the likes of Gr2 winner Hack Green and Breeders’ Cup winner Pluck, and is from the same family as leading sire Master Of My Fate and last season’s Triple Crown winner Malmoos.
Asked for his thoughts, the veteran said he had bought two very nice horses.
“Naturally, the first question for us as buyers at Ready To Run is why have they waited this long to sell? But I am happy with what I saw at the gallops, and they are both lovely colts. The sale was well organised and hats off to the organisers and the vendors for the professionalism and hospitality.”
While he appears to have adopted a lower profile in recent times, top buyer was Greg Bortz, who purchased 12 for a gross R3 030 000 at an average of R252 500.
Team Soetendal celebrated a good sale
Julia Pilbeam’s Soetendal Estate have become the industry leader in the prep of the Ready To Run youngsters and they led the Vendor Aggregate with 38 lots grossing R7 240 000 at an average of R190 526.
Drakenstein’s quartet grossed R1 600 000 at an average of R400 000.
On the sires front, William Longsword was top grosser through sheer weight of numbers – his lucky 13 grossing R2,4 million at an average of R184 615.
Newly crowned SA champion sire Gimmethegreenlight’s quartet grossed R1 730 000 at a sale-leading average of R432 500.
Vercingetorix has sired the last two winners of the Ready To Run Stakes and the Maine Chance flagbearer averaged R175 000 for his pair.
Next up in the CTS portfolio is the Cape Premier Yearling Sale – save the date for De Grendel on 6 February 2022.
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