I don’t think I’ll ever forget the visceral excitement I felt when Rio Querari did his pre-sale gallop for the 2018 Ready to Run sale. I was clearly not alone in being impressed by the way he set the track alight, given the spirited bidding that followed. He was close to being the top-priced Querari of the year, on any sale.
Normandy Stud’s Oscar Foulkes writes that he has no doubt that Vaughan Marshall would say the same about One Stripe’s gallop in 2023, prior to him going to a sale-topping R1.4 million to buy him. This was just two months after One Stripe had sold for a mere R150k on the August Two-Year-Old Sale.
Lot 50 – Rio Querari (Querari – Arctic Breeze) stretches at the 2018 sale (Pic – Hamish Niven Photography)
After testing a hybrid format (i.e. broken and unbroken) for a few years, CRS will this year be moving to primarily unbroken. My understanding is that for the minority that will be backed, gallop videos are going to be recorded.
This change follows on the strength in the unbroken category of the 2024 sale. These big prices, it must be pointed out, were by the usual tiny group of in-demand stallions.
Whether one calls the sale Ready to Run or Breeze Up, giving buyers the opportunity of seeing their prospective purchases stride out on the track, even if for only 400m, is enormously valuable in optimising risk factors. For vendors who don’t have access to Vercingetorix & company, it’s an opportunity to get considered for premium shortlists.
An example of this was Montein, who was a standout on the 2021 RTR sale. Despite being by Louis the King, Terry Andrews and partners had to bid well above R300k to buy him back. Money well spent.
Our draft of eight two-year-olds for the 2025 CRS Two Year Old Sale will all be backed. I believe that we have some great prospects and I’m looking forward to seeing them under saddle.
Oscar Foulkes – the author (Pic – Supplied)
In the interim, there’s the important step of naming them. Our yearlings are sold unnamed, but for this sale we always name them.
Here’s what we’ve decided upon …
- Profumo (colt by Legislate out of Two Hearts)
Two Hearts suggests romance, and with government’s role as legislature, I was looking for something that tied those together. The affair between John Profumo and Christine Keeler brought down a government in a scandal that became known as the Profumo Affair.
- Line Call (colt by Legislate out of Azarenka)
Azarenka’s dam was Centre Court, so tennis has been part of the family for a couple of generations. It’s a little bit of a stretch to lump tennis rules under legislation, but you get the picture.
- Bicameral (colt by Legislate out of Twice As Nice)
A legislative body with two chambers is described as bicameral. Whether it’s twice as nice as any other kind we’ll leave to political scientists to decide. This was a handy way of including the broodmare sire.
- Puhpowee (colt by Erupt out of Pelaya)
Puhpowee is a Native American word, meaning “the force which causes mushrooms to push up from the earth overnight”. Whether that counts is an eruption is moot, but there’s no equivalent word in English. I discovered this wonderful word in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s inspiring book Braiding Sweetgrass.
- Russian Fort (colt by Elusive Fort out of Matushka)
In the days of Russian Fox, the sire of Russian Muse (dam of Mother Russia and grandam of this colt), there were many horses with names that started with ‘Russian’. So, this choice involves a little bit of whimsy from my youth.
- Lady Nancy (filly by Legislate out of Lady Wylie)
Lady Nancy Astor was the first woman member of the British Parliament to take up her seat.
- America First (filly by The United States out of Miss Putin)
From the time this filly was born, I was posting on social media about possible names for her. I’m sure there are many ways of putting together US references with Putin, but I eventually settled on America First. To be clear, this is a cultural – not political – statement on our part.
- Sans Serif (filly by Futura out of Yekaterina)
Futura is the name of a widely used font. It does not have serifs (unlike Times Roman, which has the pointy edges/extensions on letters). Sans serif is the generic term that describes all fonts that do not have serifs (e.g. the text on the Sporting Post website is all sans serif).
I recall the moment when I settled on a name for ‘Rio’. While I didn’t have the same whole-body tingle as when he did his gallop, I felt extremely pleased with Rio Querari. I’ve lost track of how many Queraris I’ve named, but he was certainly the best named of them all.
If the name defines the racehorse, as some believe, I hope I’ve got a few right with these!
Ed – Cape Racing Sales announced recently that entries are now open for the Cape Racing Sales Two-Year-Old Sale, to be held on Saturday, 25 October 2025.
Entries close on Monday, 4 August 2025, and due to limited capacity and high demand, consignors are urged to enter early.
