Maine Chance Farms’ reigning champion South African sire Silvano’s son I Want It All topped Thursday’s Cape Premier Yearling Sale at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Consigned by Drakenstein Stud (As Agent), I Want It All (# 99) was knocked down to Nic Jonsson for R3 million.
Out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Song Of Happiness, and thus bred on the same Silvano/Giant’s Causeway cross as recent Gr1 Summer Cup winner Zillzaal, I Want It All is a half-brother to Dontworrybehappy, who was knocked down for R3,2 million at last year’s Premier Sale.
2020 topseller – Silvano colt (Pic – Cape Thoroughbred Sales)
His sire had three other lots fetch R900 000 plus, and Silvano ended the 2020 Cape Premier Yearling Sale selling six lots for a gross total of R6 800 000.
Sales ring success is nothing new for Silvano, who has been champion sire in South Africa four times and who currently leads this season’s sires list.
The triple Gr1 winning son of Lomitas is the sire of the record breaking Masaki, who was knocked down to Shadwell South Africa for R9 million to top the 2019 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.
In terms of the overall sale, as expected in the current climate, things were down year on year.
The average price per lot was down 25% on 2019, while the aggregate fell 32.4%.
In 2019 some 17 lots sold for R1 million or more at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale, while this year just five passed the magic million mark.
“Considering the economic climate, both macro and micro, we came into the sale with limited expectations,” said Wehann Smith, CEO of Cape Thoroughbred Sales.
“But all said and done, it’s still a significant amount of money (sales totalled R56,490,000) and we still see a R3-million colt and a R2,2-million colt and two fillies over R1 million in trying times as positive.
Wehann Smith
“The most positive thing of all, as I went through the buyers’ list, is that there’s certainly new money and certainly new international money so internationals are faster to seize the opportunities than us locals, with exports opening up soon.”
A “first” for the sale is that a South African-bred yearling was bought specifically for the Australian market and will be travelling to that country, after a stop in both Mauritius and the UK, to race.
All That Jazz, bred by Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm, is a daughter Trippi out of former champion South African sprinter Val De Ra and was sold New Zealand-based agent Ric Wylie, for R1,65-million.
Smith confirmed that going back to a two-day sale was not on any agenda.
“No, as long as we’re under 250 lots we will certainly continue to complete the sale in one day,” he confirmed.
There were some new sires on the sale and Smith was not unhappy how they sold.
Ridgemont Highlands first season Redoute’s Choice stallion Rafeef equalled the mark set by Vercingetorix at Nationals in 2018, when the hammer fell at R2,2 million for a colt (#145, see above) purchased by international bloodstock agent, Amanda Skiffington.
“In terms of sire power, we’ve also got accept that we are in a transition phase. There are no Captain Al’s anymore, there were very few Dynasty’s on the sale and Silvano is 20 something so does not have a full book of mares. Trippi is 20 something with fertility issues.So we are now relying on the Gimmethegreenlights, Queraris and What A Winters – the next generation – to step up and take over those names and I don’t think our markets are at the point, as it showed today, that people are willing to pay the really big numbers for those sires,” he told Tabnews.
At this sale 232 lots were catalogued, after withdrawals 216 were offered and 173 were sold. In 2019 226 were catalogued, 216 offered 192 sold,
The aggregate was R56,490,000 (2019 – R83 560 000), the average R326,531 (2019 – R435 208) and the median R250,000 (2019 – R300 000).
