BSA – back at Val de Vie for 2016
With a new team and new venue, the BSA Cape regional sale made a solid return at Val de Vie in 2015. There were teething problems to be sure, but the team promised to grow and improve and Valentine’s day 2016 gave them the opportunity to deliver on that promise.
With a bit of rain overnight, Sunday dawned mild and breezy – a rare treat for a mid-February day in the Cape. The venue of Val de Vie is situated a wheel-turningly pleasant 60 odd km from Cape Town with the route winding past several wine estates for an early celebratory / late commiseratory drink. Access through the main gate had been speeded up this year (definite thumbs up there guys) and it was interesting to drive through the estate and note all the developments since my last visit.
Logistics
Val de Vie polo – some players stayed to watch the sale
The stabling complex was situated in the same spot as last year – across the car park from the main Polo Club restaurant – and Jenny van der Hoff and her team had done sterling work to produce a veritable rabbit out of a hat and conjure an entire stable yard out of nothing. Last year’s lovely pop up café under the trees was back, even though the coffee vendor did disappear disappointingly early.
In the main building, big sales favourite Cally Hotson had set up shop in the foyer and hadn’t even finished unpacking before she was inundated with treasure hunters. The terraces had been partially covered by a large Bedouin tent, which was an inspired touch, affording a good view of the polo fields and yearling parade as well as respite from the sun. There was no VIP lunch this year – instead everyone was left to sample the wares from the Polo Bar and you could either sit in the main restaurant, picnic out on the terrace or find a cosy spot in the ballroom, which lent a laid-back, Bohemian air. The sales ring had been laid out at the end of main building – between the ballroom and the polo pavilion – which made the layout a lot more spacious and was a lot more user-friendly for the horses. The Val de Vie team had done a beautiful job of decorating the venue and in keeping with the surroundings, it was stylish and welcoming. It was fun to watch some of the polo, particularly as some of the polo crowd stayed to watch some of the sale, adding to the ‘day out in the country’ feel.
The Horses
But enough about the setting, what about the horses? With a comfortable 118 yearlings catalogued, of which 11 were Select, there was plenty of time to wander around the sales yard, catch up with friends and even pull out a horse or two before the main event got under way. Although the day started fairly quietly, the golf buggies were kept busy, ferrying an increasing number of people to and from the stable yard and there was an interesting spread of trainers and buyers from across the country.
Malan du Toit and his trusty team were there to caretake any fractious youngsters, with Copper King in particular doing a sterling job. Despite a fairly lengthy walk from the stabling complex to the sales ring, the yearlings coped admirably, with only one hiccup all day when Daytona’s lot 114 broke loose from his handler and went for a gallop across the polo fields.
The sale
Sensible new sales ring
Back at ‘HQ’, formalities kicked off promptly at 2:30 with Alec Laird securing the first lot, a Gimmethegreenlight colt from Varsfontein for R180k. By and large the select section of the catalogue delivered and was where most of the interest was centred. Bearing in mind that it was a regional sale and that the sales company can do no more than facilitate what they are given, it seemed for the most part that those who were prepared to bring good, commercial horses, realised good, commercial prices, with the middle and lower brackets struggling and reserves forcing many to leave the sales ring unsold.
What the figures say
What the figures say
Of the 118 horses catalogued, there were 11 withdrawals, 3 vendor buy backs and 33 horses that failed to find new homes. The aggregate was R9,92 million (down from last year’s figure of R15,78 million), the average was down from R192k to R139k) and the median dropped from R115k to R100k. However, there was a new record set for the sale at R1,5 million (up on last year’s highest price of R1,2 million). Varsfontein As Agent were the leading vendors, consigning 3 lots for a total of R1,69 million, while Adriaan Van Vuuren’s Misty Meadows topped the buyers list, signing for 3 lots for a total of R1 620 000. Var was the leading sire by aggregate, followed by Tiger Ridge and What A Winter. The price by average painted a slightly different picture, with Var still on top, followed by Captain Al and Trippi
TBA CEO Kevin Woolward felt there were several mitigating factors, including the fact that there were more horses catalogued than last year, with 11 Select yearlings compared to last year’s 30. The crucial middle and lower market was largely missing and he felt that the state of the economy may have played a role. As usual, there were many lessons learnt and with breeders feeling that the sale comes too early in the year, among the changes for next year, the TBA will be giving serious consideration to moving the date. There have been a number of staff changes at the organisation with particular attention being paid to the bookkeeping side of things. Kevin confirmed that payment is demanded by 30 days. Any payments later than 45 days will be charged interest, after 50 days a final demand will be issued and anything over 60 days will be repossessed.
Talking horses
Lot 11 Princess Peach (Captain Al – Princess Tobin)
The talking horses of the sale also delivered, with Varsfontein consigning the sales topping filly and colt. As it’s polite to let ladies go first, I’ll start with the filly. Princess Peach (by Captain Al out of the Badger Land mare, Princess Tobin) was the last of the eleven Select Yearlings on offer and was knocked down to Glen Kotzen for R700k. Susan Kalmanson confirmed that Princess Tobin was purchased at a dispersal sale for the late Peter Mills. “It’s a proven nick and as a full sister to a graded winner, Princess Peach has already got paddock value,” she said. Princess Peach was a high quality, correct, athletic and racy filly with a good walk and looked worth every cent of her purchase price. I believe Princess Tobin currently has a Master Of My Fate filly at foot. Changing into her TBA Chairman’s hat, Susan commented that the market had been tough, with strong competition for good horses, but that overall they were satisfied with the prices they realised.
Satisfied purchaser Glen Kotzen said Princess Peach was his pick of the sale and cheekily added that although he’d have liked to get her for a bit less, he still felt he’d got a steal. “If she’d been at the CTS Book 1, I would have had to go a lot more. She’s got enough value in the pedigree to go straight to the paddock, so I’m very happy.”
Game changer
Lot 9 Varlocity (Var – Star Deputy)
The sales topping colt also came from the Select Section of the catalogue in lot 9. Named Varlocity (by Var out of Star Deputy) the robust chestnut colt is a half brother to Gr1 winner War Horse and Supreme Cup winner Deputy Jud and he comes with a good story as he was bred by Varsfontein’s assistant stud manager and his wife, Jaco and Carolyn Erasmus. .
Star Deputy was owned in partnership by Messrs Ratner and Salzner and originally trained by David Payne and latterly by Snaith Racing when Payne emigrated to Australia. The story goes that the connections were desperate for the filly to earn black type, which she did in the 2002 Listed Queen Palm Handicap. Her next start was in the Gold Circle Oaks, where she fell after the pull up and broke her fetlock. The connections spent a fortune on costly surgeries to save her life and when the time came they felt she deserved a home at Varsfontein and approached stud manager Carl de Vos. Carl asked whether Jaco could have the mare, the connections said yes and the rest is fast becoming history. With some assistance from Carl, Star Deputy was sent to visit Victory Moon and produced the Gr1 winning War Horse in 2009. War Horse, originally known as Batian, fetched R275k on the inaugural Cape Premier Yearling Sale. Star Deputy’s 2010 foal was a colt by Black Minnaloushe named Cat in Command who sold for R225k at the 2012 National Yearling Sale and now has 5 wins to his credit. In 2011 Star Deputy produced a strapping chestnut colt by Judpot who would go on to be named Deputy Jud and sweep all before him to win the 2015 Supreme Cup for Adriaan van Vuuren and Michael Azzie.
Special from the word go
Jaco Erasmus (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
While stud management jobs may not be the most glamorous in the world, they do offer perks such as working in the outdoors and the opportunity to supplement your income by breeding your own horses. With the R450k they received for Deputy Jud at the 2013 National Sales, Jaco and Carolyn put the money back into their mare and booked her to Var. Jaco explains, “The mare has staying blood and was one of those relentless gallopers, so she needs speed, which is what we’ve got from Var. I designed this foal to be my Variety Club – a galloping miler – and he’s been special from the word go.”
“The mare has been through hell and back, but despite everything, she’s as honest as they come and takes every year. In 2013, she scanned in foal at 35 days and then colicked and had to have a colic op. Her system went toxic and for three days it was touch and go, but somehow they pulled her through. Under those circumstances a mare will usually lose the foal, but when we scanned her again, he’d doubled in size – he’d not only survived, he’d thrived! He was a great, big bull of a horse. He weighed 62 kgs at birth and from the moment he got up, there was just something about him. With some horses you just know.”
“He’s also got the most incredible temperament. Most weanlings won’t come anywhere near you, but he would come right up out of the group. He has this way of resting his head into your body and there’s a spot behind his ear that he loves you to scratch. He’s totally bombproof.”
Special connection
Deputy Jud – selected by Kyla van Vuuren
“After Deputy Jud I’m just so grateful to Adriaan van Vuuren and Michael Azzie. In fact, Adriaan’s daughter Kyla chose Deputy Jud and when this colt came up for sale I sent him an email and said I thought this was quite special. Adriaan replied that he unfortunately couldn’t make the sale, but when I saw Mike here, I knew.”
Varlocity had attracted a lot of pre-sale attention, so there was spirited bidding once he entered the ring, but the hammer fell the way of Michael Azzie on behalf of Misty Meadows at R1,5 million. After the sale Azzie commented, “We’ve obviously got Deputy Jud back home and although we’ve been struggling with a few niggles, we think very highly of him. I mentioned this colt to Adriaan and we decided that if he looked like a horse we’d buy him and we were fortunate to secure him.”
Jaco and Carolyn had the choice between offering the colt at the CTS Book 1 or the Val de Vie sale and chose to stick with the TBA. It seems their loyalty has been richly rewarded. The pair were hoping for around R800k for the colt and are understandably over the moon with the sales topping R1,5 million, which is a life-changing sum of money for a young family like themselves and Jaco proudly announced that his wife would be sleeping next to a millionaire on Sunday night!
It is an awfully long way from the sales ring to the race track, so this may only be the beginning of the story, but as beginnings go, it seems a pretty good one.
