I read with interest your review on the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup last week, and I must thank you for the space you afforded this non-Black type event. Your correspondent was liberal with his space, but not such much with his praise! I quote;
“Of its four previous winners only 2009 hero, Pierre Jourdan has really proceeded to scale any great heights. But 2008 winner Smangaliso went on to score at Group level and 2010 runner up Igugu needs no introduction. What the future may hold for the highly unexposed 2011 winner Red Barrel remains to be unseen.”He hardly did the quality of the race much justice. While the outcome of this year’s event is a matter for the future, from the perspective of what its earlier graduates have achieved in their careers, we already know quite a bit about the first four runnings. Before I provide you with the detail, it’s worth noting that the Graded Stakes committee, in their deliberations about its Black type status, have already conceded that the average quality of the field stands up well to a Group 2, so let’s examine that statement in the context of the results:
1. The first renewal (2007): The winner was Umngazi, a subsequent Group winner in his own right, and who on the form of this race and the Byerley Turk (Gr.3) (before his ailments), was well up to the class of the runner-up, Imbongi. Imbongi was himself a dual Guineas winner, and a multiple Group winner in the UAE and Britain. Third in the event was The Big Ask, who was subsequently second in a Group 2; also in the field that day were Phunyuka and Mzwilili, as well as Galant Gagnant, a short head second to Russian Sage in the Daily News 2000 (Gr.1,) and Group placed Dubai performer, Art Of War.
2. Second renewal (2008): The winner was a subsequent Group winner, Smangaliso, while both second and third in the race, Fennerbache and Fakazi were Stakes winners. Also in the field were the subsequent Group winners Thekkady and the Group/Stakes placed runners, Mpumelelo and Hurricane Force.
3. The third renewal (2009): The winner was the multiple Group One winner, Pierre Jourdan, who was followed home by the Fillies’ Guineas and multiple Group winner, Fisani. Third home was Havasha, who followed up with runner-up spots in both the Gauteng and KZN Guineas. Unplaced that day were by the Group/Stakes winners Smanjemanje, Blue Voyager, Mannequin, Onehundred-acrewood and the Group/Stakes placed Mahubo and Ashjaan. This was something of a vintage renewal, I guess we’d have to concede.
4. The fourth renewal (2010): First home was the multiple Group winner, Hollywoodboulevard, and the runner-up was the Horse Of The Year, Igugu. Also in the field were the Group/Stakes placed Al’s Mark and Checkeche.
There were obviously several other quality performers among graduates of the sale which did not participate in the race, but remain a tribute to the sale itself.
I now wish to turn to another issue which has caused controversy, and that is the criteria for participation in Ready To Run Cup. The organisers and Summerhill have been labelled with all sorts of barbs regarding the composition of the field. Our role and that of our fellow stakeholders, has been nothing more than to build the sale and the race into major events on the racing calendar. However, it is fundamental to the success of both, that we maintain our distance from the selection of the field, hence our abrogation of that responsibility to officials of the NHRA, Phumelela and Gold Circle, who in my opinion, have chosen well in Roger Smith, Patrick Davis and Graeme Hawkins.
Their mandate was clear from the beginning, and that was to select the best field over 1400m on the standside track at Turffontein on the first Saturday in November. I needn’t tell you that there are any number of factors to consider in arriving at their assessment (including merit rating), and their task is an unenviable one. Quite apart from having to apply their minds to the field, they have to deal with the emotions of the connections, and there are many horses which sit on the cusp of selection, and inevitably can’t be included because of the first constraint on the race, and that is its limitation to 16 runners.
If the form of your prospective candidate is at a distance well short of the 1400 metres, or if your performance is on the sand and is not backed up on the turf, it’s always open to you to prove to the selection panel that you are worthy of a place, by revealing form compatible with that required for inclusion, in advance of the event. If you don’t, you risk the prospect of being omitted, unless there are other convincing factors which are glaringly obvious to the selection panel.
There are always going to be disappointed individuals, particularly when there’s R2 million on the table, and that is understandable. However, it serves little purpose to point fingers at individuals who in the end, are only doing their best. We do the dignity and the integrity of the selection panel, all of whom are acting in a voluntary and gratuitous capacity, no good at all by levelling unwarranted accusations against them. While at Summerhill, we are used to the fact that when you are at the top of the pile, you catch the most wind, our credentials as champions of the cause of the underdog, are well advertised. We come from an underdog background ourselves, our business has been built around the smaller players, and the outcomes of the five renewals of the Ready To Run Cup to date, stand “3-2” in favour of the smaller owners and smaller yards.
C’est la vie
– Mick Goss,
Summerhill Stud
