National Sale in the Spotlight

NATIONAL SALE IN THE SPOTLIGHT 
By Kelsey Riley 
Bloodstock South Africa hosts its annual Emperor’s Palace National Yearling Sale Apr. 27 & 28 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the timing could hardly be better. The sale comes a month after South Africa’s dual Horse of the Year Variety Club (SAf) (Var) and the country’s juvenile champion of 2011/12 Soft Falling Rain (SAf) (National Assembly) made a poignant advertisement for their nation with a 1-2 showing in the G2 Godolphin Mile at the Dubai World Cup, just a few hours before National graduate Vercingetorix (SAf) (Silvano {Ger}) put on a courageous display to be second to Just A Way (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}), the world’s highest-rated horse, in the G1 Dubai Duty Free. Vercingetorix looks to add his second international Group 1–in addition to Meydan’s G1 Jebel Hatta–when he lines up for tomorrow’s G1 QEII Cup in Hong Kong. 
The strong showing by the South Africans would not have come as a surprise to any dedicated follower of global racing. Instead, it serves as a reminder that the country continues to produce sound, tough horses in the mold of international Group 1-winning sprinters J J The Jet Plane (SAf), Ato (SAf) and Shea Shea (SAf); GI Matriarch S. heroine Gypsy’s Warning (SAf) and G1 Singapore Cup and G1 Dubai Duty Free winner Jay Peg (SAf), who can compete on the global stage.
“The key message we want to get across is that [South Africa produces] strong, tough, well-built horses,” said Tom Callaghan, CEO of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association. “We don’t really breed precocious. We breed more classic-type horses; that’s how our racing program is structured. But people love our horses because they’re strong and they’re tough. We don’t race on drugs, like Lasix, and we have some very good breeding stock here.” 
The National Sale catalogue boasts 529 youngsters by both proven and promising young sires, with pages that will jump out to international visitors. Callaghan said he expects the progeny of leading sires Var, Silvano (Ger) and Captain Al (SAf) to be as popular as ever, while 21 youngsters from the final crop of Champion Sire Western Winter (Gone West) will also be a highlight. First season sires represented include GI Northern Dancer Turf S. winner Just As Well (A.P. Indy) and GI King’s Bishop S. winner Visionaire (Grand Slam). International sires represented include Medaglia d’Oro, Exceed and Excel (Aus), High Chaparral (Ire), Stormy Atlantic and Tiger Hill (Ire). 
“Some of the pedigrees are quite internationally recognized now,” Callaghan said. “We’ve imported a lot of bloodstock, and this is a country that is taking its breeding and racing very seriously. It’s investing and it’s improving year upon year, and the results overseas prove that. Dubai was a fantastic result for us. We’re competing overseas and we’re holding our own, as we’ve done over the years.” 
   Callaghan noted the challenges and lengthy quarantine periods that the well-chronicled endemic African Horse Sickness places on the exportation of South African horses, claiming “we’re working on relaxing [the export protocols], so hopefully in the next year or two we’ll have an easier route out of South Africa.” 
The stronger presence of internationally recognized pedigrees has likely spurned the growing influx of international buyers at the National sale in recent years. South Africa has developed into a successful testing ground for identifying horses to send abroad, a tactic that has been employed with success by Sheikh Hamdan and his cousin, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum, in Dubai. Callaghan said he is expecting buyers to jet in from Germany, Sweden, the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the UK. 
“One of the things that is happening a lot now is that foreigners are buying here, testing the horse out by racing here, and if the horse is good enough they’ll export it,” Callaghan explained. “We pride ourselves on being a very good nursery. We have good conditions for racing, good horsemen, and it’s a good test of horses here. That’s something that’s a big selling point for buying in South Africa.” 
Callaghan noted the National sale has drawn increased attention from Hong Kong buyers. 
“Some of our clients in the East, what they love about us is they can buy a horse from us at a fifth of the price that they would spend in Australia, race it for a year or two, and if it’s good they’ll export it,” Callaghan said. “But it’s so cheap to race here that they’re not spending huge amounts of money testing a horse. So that’s one of our big selling points.” 
There is, of course, also strong incentives for the faithful local buyers. Bloodstock South Africa is entering the second year of its revamped Added Value Stakes Bonus Series, which will see R7.5 million (about US$708,547) available to this year’s Bloodstock South Africa sales graduates across 78 feature races restricted to 2-and 3-year-olds. The buy-in for the scheme is R5,000, selected at the time of purchase. 
“It’s a buy in at the sale, and horses will be eligible for 78 feature races,” Callaghan said. “If they win, they get a bonus that starts at R75,000 for a listed race, up to R150,000 for a group race, and that’s for an R5,000 buy in. We’re just trying to give back, and reward owners for excellence on the track. Especially because we’re a sales company that’s aligned with a breeders’ association, we’re very focused on trying to improve the breed and awarding quality on the racetrack.” 
The sale kicks off at 11 a.m. local time tomorrow and Monday. Catalogues, results and living streaming are available at www.tba.co.za