Ridgemont Highlands Gr1 winning stallion Potala Palace underscored the enormous value of his R5000 service fee when his only lot to sell at this week’s National Yearling Sale fetched R475 000.
The bargain basement service fee will remain intact for the coming season.
Singspiel’s smart son Potala Palace
The Hemel ‘n Aarde bred lot 328 – a full-brother to the smart Ashley Fortune galloper Dalai’s Promise – is out of the Tara’s Halls stakes winner Competitor and was purchased by Yvette Bremner’s PE -based Dippin’ Blu Racing for R475 000.
A son of Champion Singspiel, the winner of the 2011 Gr1 Premier’s Champion Stakes over subsequent star sire Gimmethegreenlight, and a half-brother to this season’s Gr1 winning filly Front And Centre, Potala Palace produced his first stakes winner when the aptly named Palace Of Dreams won the Gr3 Pretty Polly Stakes earlier this year.
Potala Palace in action
The big sale came to an end, after a day of solid trading on Friday at the TBA complex at Germiston.
And while there were slight declines in the statistics for the 2019 National Sale, the overall aggregate of R139 030 000 – the National Sale’s aggregate reached R140 345 000 last year – was very much on par with the figure achieved last year.
A handsome clearance rate of over 80% was also a handsome takeout from this year’s National Sale, which saw the average price drop from R362 649 to R320 346 and the median fall from R200 000 to R175 000.
Team NYS 2019 (Pic – Candiese Marnewick)
Bloodstock South Africa’s Gary Grant was realistic about the sale’s overall results, saying:” The results of the 2019 National Sale are an accurate reflection of the uncertain political and economic political situation at the moment. We remain very grateful for the ongoing support from a number of major international buyers, and once again would like to thank the vendors for the high-quality drafts they have offered at the National Sale.”
