The Judges Have Spoken

They have an impossible task really, especially when the draft for this year’s Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale is as deep as it is.

It was the universal view at Friday’s gallops at Summerhill, that this was by some stretch the best catalogue the Ready To Run had assembled, so having to pick a handful of horses from those on display is at best, unenviable, at worst, downright outrageous. Nonetheless, the judging panel they’ve convened, is not only drawn from the country’s most astute and experienced horseman, but the bulk of them have had five years “practice” now, and the results tell us, they’re getting smarter at it with every passing year.

Given the size of the foreign-bred entry this year, at 25 the biggest of its kind at any sale in South African history, and our penchant as a nation for the Colonial belief that all things foreign are better (witness the Hollywoodboulevard/ Igugu exacta in last year’s Ready To Run Cup), it was inevitable that a number of the judges’ choices would include the imports. It’s a tribute then, to the local breds that the “hardy annuals”, Kahal and Muhtafal, as well as Silvano, Tiger Ridge and Victory Moon, stood their ground in the vanguard of selections.

But it was the performances of the two first crop sires, Mullins Bay and the ill-fated European champion, Stronghold, that took the numerical honours. There were five Strongholds among the elect, while Mullins Bay was the outright victor ludorum, with no fewer than eight first choices. Before the judges delivered their verdicts, the man who’s regularly referred to these days as the world’s best trainer, Mike de Kock, labelled the Mullins Bays and the Strongholds as standouts. When he speaks, we’d do well to listen.

International guest Kip Elser is one of the leading exponents of the art of preparing Ready To Run horses

Horsemen the world over are forever looking for a new edge in life, and these two young stallions, former racehorses of the highest calibre, look like the goods. “Hot” stallions are the prime currency of the horse trade. They triumph over Wall Street crashes and lift rough mares, and their very names tempt buyers into abandoning price limits arrived at so carefully in the calm of the hotel room the night before. So how do you pick them before the rest of the world? There are some who gave up long ago, who believe that Lord Byron had hot stallions in mind when he penned “Luck’s All”.

Difficult, you might say, particularly when you have to guess whether or not the youngster being paraded before you at a conventional sale, will turn his good “walk” into a good “run”, when that time comes.  The beauty of the Ready To Run, is that you can actually see them in their quicker paces, (as against what you think you can see), you can judge their actions, their turn of foot, and in many respects, their demeanours and their “tick of the heart”.  That’s what I’d call a leg-up!

Here’s how the panel voted: