Global Participation At Cape Sale

Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA–a selection of the best-bred South African yearlings were assembled in the Convention Centre near Cape Town's waterfront on Wednesday for the single-session Cape Premier Yearling Sale, and 217 yearlings came under the hammer with trade proving more steady than spectacular.

Last year, a Frankel (GB) colt came out top when selling for R4-million ($289,205/£221,401/€254,049) and that figure was again the highest price achieved this time around when Anthony Stroud signed for a daughter of the late Captain Al (SAf) from Klawervlei Stud.

At last year's sale, 28 horses sold for R1-million or more but that number dropped to 17 on Wednesday, and that fact no doubt contributed to the 26% drop in turnover to R82,110,000 ($5,937,026/£4,544,930/€5,215,079). Overall, 191 of the 217 offered yearlings changed hands resulting in a clearance rate of 88%, down from the 2018 equivalent of 93%. The average dropped by 14% to R429,895 ($31,083/£23,795/€27,304), but the median of R300,000 ($21,691/£16,605/€19,053) was unchanged.

Wehann Smith, chief executive officer of Cape Thoroughbred Sales, was keen to take the positives from proceedings while still acknowledging certain difficulties in the market.

“There was such a positive vibe before the sale that perhaps our expectations were slightly high,” he said. “Taking everything into account, it was still a good sale; the standout horses made good money and there was a very diverse buying bench, particularly with regard to international buyers. The dream and concept of this sale is that it acts as the showcase for South African bloodstock and I think we are still on the right track with that. The majority of breeders seem fairly happy and that is a good sign and suggests the middle market is quite healthy, so that is a positive. I think the single session worked well. We will take a while to digest it but there seemed to be good momentum until the end.”

The sale topper was offered as lot 192 and had the physique to match her world-class pedigree. Her dam Pagan Princess (SAf) (Fort Wood) has already bred two Group 1 winners from four runners who have all won. Her two standout performers are this filly's full-brother William Longsword (SAf) (Captain Al {SAf}), winner of the G1 Cape Guineas, and the G1 South African Fillies Sprint winner Real Princess (SAf) (Trippi). “She was bought for a longstanding client who has links to South Africa,” revealed Stroud. “She is a very nice filly and is going to the Snaiths to be trained. It's great to be here and to be involved with the sale; CTS do a fantastic job and if they could just get the export situation sorted the whole thing would take off.”

Stroud later contributed another R2-million to the aggregate when he bought lot 182. The colt by Var was offered by Maine Chance Farms and is a full-brother to the G1 South African Fillies Sprint winner Sommerlied (SAf) (Var).

Amanda Skiffington always makes her trips to Cape Town worthwhile and in the space of 11 lots the agent struck for three yearlings headed by lot 49, a colt from the last crop of Captain Al (SAf). Skiffington was pushed to R2.2-million for the Ridgemont Highlands consignee who is the second produce of the winning Galileo (Ire) mare Exotic (Ire), who scored on debut for Aidan O'Brien at Galway in 2013.

“I knew he wouldn't come cheap because they are not making them anymore, but he's a lovely horse,” said Skiffington, who was acting on behalf of Fiona Carmichael. Having signed for lot 56, a colt by Flower Alley for R275,000, Skiffington then engaged in a bidding skirmish with Peter Doyle as the pair traded blows for lot 60, a son of Global View. Skiffington eventually won the battle for the Klawervlei Stud-offered colt for R1.3-million. His sire, an American graded stakes winning son of Galileo (Ire), is represented by his first crop of yearlings.

“I'm very happy as the three we bought were our first, second and third picks of the day. I saw the Global View colt last week at Klawervei Stud and I thought Fiona would really like him. He is a lovely horse, quite flashy with a lot of presence and all three yearlings will go to Brett Crawford,” Skiffington said. Later in the session Skiffington added a fourth yearling to her haul when she signed for lot 94, a colt by Soft Falling Rain (SAf) that cost R800,000.

Drakenstein Stud's filly (lot 183) by its resident stallion Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) is the first produce out of the minor winner Song Of Happiness (SAf) (Giant's Causeway), but her physique and presence saw her come out the second-highest priced yearling of the day when she was knocked down to Nick Jonsson for R3.2-million. Jonsson is part owner of G1 L'Ormarins Queen's Plate winner Do It Again (SAf) (Twice Over {GB}), who is favourite to make it a Group 1 treble in The Sun Met on Saturday, and he commented, “She cost more than I expected but she is lovely and walks like a dream. She comes from a fantastic farm that breeds great horses and I think it is inevitable that Duke Of Marmalade will get a good horse in South Africa.”

Jehan Malherbe of Form Bloodstock made his presence felt when successfully bidding R2-million for lot 152, an imposing daughter of G1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner Var. Offered by Avontuur Farm the filly is out of the prolific winner River Jetez (SAf) (Jet Master {SAf}), whose 12 wins included the 2010 running of The Met. As a broodmare she has produced the high- class stakes winner Rivarine (SAf) (Var), and Malherbe was delighted to acquire the relation to a former South African Horse of the Year in Pocket Power (SAf) (Jet Master {SAf}).

“She is a lovely filly, she is a sister to a top horse and the dam was a champion; what's not to like?” He said.

The filly will go into training with Dean Kannemeyer and having signed for a number of lots throughout the day Malherbe was in a good position to give his opinion on the state of trade.

“There is plenty of money out there for the good horses–it's not quite as straightforward for the less popular ones but that is generally the case everywhere these days,” he said.

For Pippa Mickleburgh, the manager of Avontuur Stud, the sale of lot 152 was a bittersweet moment. “It's a bit of a shame that a farm has to part with a filly of that calibre but I guess we can't keep them all. I actually thought she might make a little bit more but it was a fair price and she is going to a good trainer in Dean Kannemeyer,” Mickleburgh said.

The first yearling to break the seven-figure mark was a daughter of Uncle Mo that sold to Linda Shanahan and Deryn Pearson for R1.5-million. Lot 23 was offered by Klawervlei Stud out of the Smart Strike mare Care To Dance. Another Coolmore stallion whose progeny were popular was Camelot (GB), and it took John Freeman's bid of R1.6-million to land lot 46, a filly out of the well-related Fastnet Rock (Aus) mare Egyptian Sky (Ire).

Grant Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock was instrumental in selecting the stock for the catalogue, and he bought one of the two Frankels on offer: lot 100, a chestnut filly from Klawervlei Stud, who was hammered down for R1-million.

“I travelled around all the farms in September viewing their yearlings and it was a fascinating experience to meet all the breeders and I was most impressed with how they do things,” Pritchard-Gordon said. “It was also interesting to see how all the yearlings have developed in the meantime. The Frankel filly in particular has done very well since I first saw her and I was delighted to get her. She will stay here to be trained.”

Peter Doyle and his wife Anna are also perennial visitors to Cape Town at this time of year and Doyle's spending on Wednesday was headed by lot 123, a colt by Futura (SAf) that cost R1.2-million and was bought in conjunction with Diane Nagle. Another returning customer was Yorkshire native Chris Hirst, who is based in Thailand but has horses in training in England with Archie Watson and also in South Africa. Aided by John Kilbride, Hirst acquired two yearlings to add to his South African string. The pair got off the mark early when buying lot 2, a filly by Oratorio (Ire) for R350,000 and later on they added lot 90, a colt by Time Thief (Aus) that cost R225,000.