The National Emblem gelding Buy And Sell, bred by Bruce and Nadine le Roux’s Spring Valley Stud, walked away with the KZN Breeders, Horse of the Year award for the 2nd year running at a glittering banquet held last Friday evening. Buy And Sell’s dam, the late Trade Enquiry, also repeated last year’s feat of being named Broodmare of the Year.
KZN imported more stallions last season than the rest of the country combined and chairman of the KZN Breeders, Warwick Render, said that factors such as this and the record-shattering Emperor’s Palace Ready To Run Sale in the face of a tough economic climate epitomized the region’s soaring fortunes.
Render added that a telling sign of the regions’ increased depth was that their stakes winning or placed horses were produced by 32 different individual breeders.
These horses achieved 124 stakes wins or places, 21 of which came in Grade I races. The GrI winners among them were Buy And Sell, Wendywood, Gypsy’s Warning and Outcome.
Mick and Cheryl Goss’s Summerhill Stud won the Breeding Achievement Award in recognition of their fourth national champion breeders title.
A new name on the list of winners this year in the form of Yellow Star Stud, whose London News filly, Oracle News, won the Outstanding Female Sprinter award.
Yellow Star Stud is owned by Johannesburg money broker, Koos de Klerk, and his wife, Lorainne, who formerly worked for Summerhill. De Klerk owns the farm upon which Craig Ramsay’s Golden Acres stud is run and Yellow Star Stud’s mares stand on the same land.
Buy And Sell’s second career GrI win in the Champions Cup over 1800m at Clairwood, in which he defeated Pocket Power and Dancer’s Daughter, clinched his three awards as he was also named Outstanding Middle Distance Male and Outstanding Older Male.
Buy And Sell’s dam, Trade Enquiry, has produced two Grade I winners, the other being the Among Men filly Count The Money, and she currently has another promising horse-in-training, the 3yo Fort Wood filly, Bedloe’s Island, who, like Buy And Sell, is trained by Sean Tarry. Her last foal, a colt by Malhub, is now a 2yo.
Joining Spring Valley with four awards was the Rathmor Stud of Mike and Tanya McHardy.
They won the KZN Breeder’s Special Award for producing two GrI winners in Wendywood and Gypsy’s Warning. The latter garnered the Outstanding 2yo filly award, while the late Wendywood was named Outstanding Female Stayer and Outstanding 3yo Filly.
Summerhill collected 6 awards including their Breeding Achievement Award. The others were Outstanding Male Sprinter (Rebel King), Outstanding Male Stayer (Galant Gagnant), Outstanding 3yo colt (Imbongi), Stallion Of The Year (Muhtafal) and Stallion Prospect (Labeeb). The Stallion Prospect award raised one or two eyebrows as Labeeb is dead, but countrywide there was a lack of precocious 2yos produced by first-season sires last season.
A KZN first season sire, Bezrin, was however responsible for KZN Breeders Outstanding 2yo colt, Thunderflash, who was bred by Jonathan and Cathy Martin.
The Outstanding Middle Distance Female and Outstanding Older Female awards were both won by the Peter Brown-bred Garden Province winner, Outcome.
The Anita Akal Industry Award honoured Des Scott, who owned the likes of July winners Illustrador and Devon Air, and currently owns the exciting 3yo colt, Lord London. Scott Brothers bred another July winner, Politician, and Des, who has been on many racing boards in his time, was instrumental in establishing the TBA’s own sales complex at Gosforth Park.
The full listing of awards are as follows:
Outstanding 2yo Filly Gypsy’s Warning (Rathmor Stud)
Outstanding 2yo Colt Thunderflash (Mr & Mrs J Martin)
Outstanding Sprinter Female Oracle News (Yellow Star)
Outstanding Sprinter Male Rebel King (Summerhill)
Outstanding Middle Distance Female
Outcome (P Brown)
Outstanding Middle Distance Male
Buy And Sell (Mr & Mrs B Le Roux)
Outstanding Stayer Female Wendywood (Rathmor)
Outstanding Stayer Male Galant Gagnant (Summerhill)
Outstanding Three-year-old Filly Wendywood (Rathmor)
Outstanding Three-year-old Colt Imbongi (Summerhill)
Outstanding Older Female Outcome (P Brown)
Outstanding Older Male
Buy And Sell (Mr & Mrs B Le Roux)
Broodmare Of The Year
Trade Enquiry (Mr & Mrs B Le Roux)
Stallion Of The Year Muhtafal (Summerhill)
Stallion Prospect Of The Year Labeeb (Summerhill)
Breeding Achievement Summerhill Stud
KZN Breeder’s Special Award Rathmor Stud
Anita Akal Industry Award Des Scott
Horse Of The Year
Buy And Sell (Mr & Mrs B Le Roux)

2007 Awards

2006 Awards