It was an exceptionally busy week with the Cape Thoroughbred Sales, shortened a little bit with one day being taken off and a few less numbers. The CTICC is a first class venue with wonderful parties and some fantastic drinks do’s. Most importantly, it has probably the best lot of horses in the country on show, writes Joey Ramsden.
It was an absolute pleasure viewing them: one can view the horses under lights and in a comfortable temperature and on a completely flat surface: no grass, no gravel or uneven ground which lets one view the horses at a faster speed than usual.
We got to see some fantastic horses with fantastic pedigrees. It was wonderful to see some of the top-priced lots going to new bidders.
I wish new owner Piet du Toit all the luck
While we have all been surprised at the amount buffalo is sold for to the big players in South Africa, it was lovely to see some of the money coming back into horseracing from one of the leading buffalo consignors. Fantastic! Well done to Wehann Smith and Kuda and all involved. Let’s hope he gets the luck he deserves and enjoys the game and comes back for more as there is no other sport like it.
The breeders really do know how to get them ready just that little bit earlier than they have had to do in the past. There is some wonderful stock on show and it made life difficult when having to compile a short list for any prospective clients one might have been lucky enough to pick up along the way. It really has moved the game here in South Africa up a couple of notches and has given us all a good kick up the butt as to where we are heading in the future.
Mike Sharkey of Highlands Stud with Tom Callaghan
Mike Sharkey and Klawervlei had a particularly strong draft and hopefully were richly rewarded for their hard work. Pedigrees here have completely changed. When I arrived about twenty years ago, we were dealing with a lot of second hand American stock, which had been imported for various reasons.
We are now dealing with proper breeding stock, sired by proper sires, which makes it that much more difficult to choose and also that much more expensive. But we are now dealing with proper racehorses and horses that without doubt have a future, not just here but on any international stage. Obviously we are southern hemisphere based and the southern hemisphere is the place where we are going to be most busy. It is just a shame that we cannot get out there and show our stuff.
Let’s hope that all starts changing in the very near future. If we are to rely on getting the Olympic games in fifteen year’s time, we might as well shoot ourselves now because that is optimism at its extreme.
We had quite a nice sale and it was great to be amongst friends, competitors and fresh faces competing for some really smart bloodstock.
The sales then led into the Saturday racing with the Cape Flying Championship, won by a very special filly in Alboran Sea. It was a great race and a tight finish ensued. We were lucky enough to see her in Melbourne and also thought she was quite smart but sadly in the end did not have enough to land her. Well done to Jessica, Mary and her team. She really looks a smart filly for the future.
Brutal Force – brute of a horse
It was great to get our own back on the Sean Tarry trained Zambezi River with Brutal Force in an exciting and close finish.
Sean and I are great friends and competitors and if there was one person I probably did not want to beat, it was him. But Brutal Force got his head in front where it counted. We had one huge setback earlier on in his career and to have got him back took a special team effort by all at Goodhope Racing. It was one of those rare occasions where one can walk around with one’s chest out and feel really proud.
At 600kgs, he really is a massive horse but try prodding him and you will break your finger because he is solid muscle. However, one cannot be a racehorse on firm ground at that weight and we are going to have to do something about him.
He is a special horse as he is kind and a beautiful ride and a true gentleman. I shall make sure I am away on the day that the unkindest cut of all has to done. Once again, thank you to Markus and Ingrid for buying him and sticking with me and having faith. Let’s hope he makes a proper racehorse for the future.
We have Met Day ahead and it is an extremely busy time. We galloped many of our horses on the grass on Saturday and now it is a matter of easing back on them and using the treadmills and trying to freshen them up for the big day. We have some smashing runners. We did try to not have too many this year but when I opened the race card and saw how many we do actually have, I almost fainted. But there you go: I want Met day to be a success and I want to have winners on the day. It is our shop window and as I have said before, one cannot buy shop windows no matter what the price.
Dean Kannemeyer – one of the big yards looking for a good Met day
All the big boys are out in force: Dean Kannemeyer, Mike Bass and Justin Snaith and all are hoping to be successful. Met day is a superb occasion and the course is in amazing condition. It looks to be a great day’s sport ahead.
Sadly, after Met day it all goes a bit flat. However, we have the Magnum Mile to look forward to and it will be an interesting race. There could be some real heavyweights in there as we all want to win that as well. I think it could be quite a special end to what has been a really competitive racing season. All the guys at work are really geared up and looking forward to Met day.
Computaforms and race cards are becoming as rare as hen’s teeth and one dare not leave one’s race card lying on the desk. If you turn your back, it disappears. It is almost like playing a game of poker in those old western movies. When you are sitting at your desk, you need to have a knife or gun handy or a pistol in your sock to keep guard over your Computaform. It is that highly sought after.
www.joeyramsden.com
