THE preparations for the Emperor’s Palace Summer Ready To Run Sale, to be staged in the Al Maktoum School Of Management Excellence at Summerhill next Wednesday 22^nd , are well underway. The catalogues were posted last Monday, together with DVDs of the gallops, and there are all sorts of bullish sentiments emanating from the home of the champion breeders. 

Last week Summerhill’s Ready To Run supremo, Tarryn Liebenberg, suggested that the catalogue was up there with the best Ready To Run publications of the past, and that is very quickly evident at a glance. There are close relatives to champions Icy Air and Bridal Paths, millionaires Catmandu and Amphitheatre, and Stakes performers Salutation, Ecole Militaire, Nondweni, Coastal Waltz, Similitude, Dignify, J&B Met hero, Angus, Ice Axe, Cape Tango and Poppy, and a number of smart updates from siblings to several of the candidates.

Tarryn Liebenberg. (www.summerhill.co.za).

According to Liebenberg “there’s a lot of talk from the training yards of the first runners by Mullins Bay and Stronghold, which reinforces the presence in the catalogue of Kahal, presently the nation’s fourth leading stallion, and the perennial top-flight performer, Muhtafal. We’ve already witnessed a winner, as well as a sparkling debut performance from a Joey Ramsden first-timer from the progeny of Stronghold, and if anything, our expectations for Mullins Bay’s stock were slightly ahead”. Michael Holmes, who convenes the sale as part of his Horses In Training show, tells us “there’s already solid interest in the Ready To Run, so word of the gallops is already out. There are some exciting prospects in the line-up, and if last year’s sale is anything to go by, there will be real value for those looking for it. Ever since the catalogue hit the street, there’s been a noticeable increase in the bookings of tables at the sale”.

While the Summerhill management are understandably reluctant to single out any individuals, the grapevine is banging a bongo drum with strains that include fillies by Kahal (Lots 26, 36 and 49;) Mullins Bay’s daughters (lot 20,  a three quarter sister to last week’s impressive Gary Alexander winner, Classic Ilusion and lots 34 and 39), two by Muhtafal (lots 11 and 21) and two very well related Stronghold fillies (lot 22 and 44). The appropriately named Kahal colts, Fly First Class (lot 18) and No Worries (lot 31,) and the Ravishing filly (lot 45) look particularly smart on the Summerhill website (www.summerhill.co.za) and click the Sales tab and then Ready To Run. 

The truth though, lies in their performances at the gallops, and for our money, there’s plenty more to this draft that the grapevine can cope with.

Please contact Michael Holmes Bloodstock and ask for Edwina (031 309 5522) or Megan Romeyn on 083 601 5242. Table bookings on a first-come, first-served basis.