The market proved strong and buoyant throughout the two days of trading at the 2016 National Two Year Old Sale, which was concluded at the TBA sales complex in Germiston on Friday evening.

The aggregate, average, and median prices all enjoyed notable increases and the sale concluded with a record average for a South African two-year-old sale.

From R22,872,000 in 2015, the aggregate for the sale increased this year to R23,920,000 – despite the fact that 80 fewer lots were catalogued.

However it was the growth in average and median prices which proved particularly encouraging, with the average rising 35% from R89,344 to R120,808 this year, and the median rising by 30% from R50,000 to R65,000.

The sale topper was a son of Silvano, consigned by Klipdrif Stud on behalf of Willem Engelbrecht jun, Lot 218, who is out of winning Jallad mare Boston Tea Party. He was knocked down to Form Bloodstock for R2,100,000. Named William Junior, the handsome bay is a half-brother to four winners, including Grade 2 Betting World 1900 hero Solid Speed (by Dynasty) and Grade 3 Jubilee Handicap runner up Rainy Day Blues (by Western Winter).

Boston Tea Party is a full-sister to Grade 1 Premiers Champion Stakes winner Talahatchie.

Klipdrif enjoyed a magnificent sale because not only did they consign the sale topper, they also consigned, as agent, the sale’s top-priced filly.

Lantana Lady was knocked down to Varsfontein Stud for R800,000. Her popularity came as no surprise. A daughter of former champion sire Captain Al, Lantana Lady (Lot 45) is a full-sister to Listed Java Handicap hero Fulcrum and a three-part sister to Captain Al-sired Equus Champion Captain’s Lover.

Form Bloodstock ended the sales as the leading buyer – with the Cape-based organisation purchasing eight lots for R3,955,000.

Not surprisingly, Klipdrif Stud (as agent) ended the 2016 National Two Year Old Sale as leading vendors –with the Robertson-based farm enjoying a truly magnificent sale. Klipdrif (as agent) also sold a total of 15 two-year-olds for a gross total of R4,995,000.

Former champion sire Silvano, South Africa’s second leading sire by stakes in 2015-2016, was the sales’ top sire. The son of Lomitas had seven lots which grossed R2,975,000 for an average of R425,000, and he topped the sires’ standings ahead of Captain Al, Ideal World, Sail From Seattle and Judpot.

Michael Holmes, who ran the sale in partnership with the Equine Group, was upbeat about the sales’ positive outcome. “It was a well-supported sale, and the turnover increase markedly from last year,” he said. “The positive spin from the sale was that all sections of the market held up well – and for that, we must thank both the vendors, who presented a quality horse for sale, and our many loyal buyers. The Two Year OId Sale attracted interest from both local and international buyers, which included Robert Chung from Hong Kong, as well as our loyal Dubai, Kenyan, Mauritian and Zimbabwean patrons. This adds further positive proof of the appeal of the South African thoroughbred.  Sale graduates qualify for the two R 1-million races to be run in August next year at Scottsville.” – TBA

Most owners would give their eye-teeth to own a horse that pays its way and is not a continual drain on the pocket. There are a few that fit that bill when they line up in the seventh at Scottsville on Sunday where a win adds up to more than just a stakes cheque.

With many close to a future in the breeding paddocks the fillies and mares handicap that heads the card is seriously competitive with one more win on the pedigree CV worth another few thousand rand to the owners on retirement and possibly even more in the sales ring.

Respect At Bay has been a consistent earner for her owners and Garth Puller’s runner looks ready to add to her record. She has been close-up in every start since her last win and last time out only found the progressive Elusive Enchantment too hot to handle. She has another light weight on Sunday and a good record over course and distance.

The Pat Lunn-trained Timeous is lightly raced and has had one outing since a break where she was running on nicely behind Strategic Move on the Greyvile poly. The Lunn yard has been a little quite this winter but now that the visiting trainers have packed up and gone home one can expect an upswing from the stable and both of their filly’s wins have come over Sunday’s course and distance.

Dennis Drier has got his season off to a flier with four winners at Scottsville last Sunday and he saddles Well In Flight. She finished behind Elusivenchantment at her most recent outing but flyjumped out of the gate which cost her precious ground. She drops in class here and with Kegan de Melo in the irons she rates as another likely winner.

Mamasita races in blinkers for the first time and being an older mare they may be what’s needed to bring the best out of her.

To sum up, the list of possible winners is a long one but Respect At Bay has a lot in her favour and is taken to get home ahead of Timeous and Well In Flight.

The ten-race card has attracted huge fields and punters will have their skills well and truly tested as there does not appear to be a single outstanding bet on the card.

In the opening leg of the Pick 6 Marshall That made good improvement at his second start and from a good draw in a weak field should be right there. Angel Landing showed up well at long odds on debut. He should come on from that and can feature again. Purple Splash is lightly raced and was a close-up second over course and distance last time out. He has been rested but should feature in this field.

If there is a possible banker on the card it could come in the form of the Duncan Howells-trained Chicago Beat in the fifth. He was a late starter but made big improvement at his second outing and although draw a touch wide he looks to be a cut above this field. A possible danger is Sun Dynasty who has his first run for a new stable. He has shown flashes of ability in the Cape and can feature in this weak field.

There are many in with claims in the sixth. Ante Omnia shed his maiden on the poly last start but does appear to have some scope and can follow up. Promissory has consistent sprint form and did well in feature company last time out. With a claiming apprentice up he looks to be a big runner in this company. Paul Lafferty’s mare Pearl Emblem takes on males but is always game. She does have a difficult draw to overcome. Roy’s Taxi has the worst of the draw but has been close-up at recent outings and with a claiming apprentice up must also have a winning chance.

Drier looks to have another strong chance of a winner in the eighth. Top weight Cosmic Burst has drawn well and been consistent in strong company. She tries blinkers for the first time and on her best effort should be right there. Elephant Matriarch found her best form over the course and distance last time out and a repeat should see her into the money again. Ginger Biscuit has shown her best recent form on the poly but is never far back.

Kom Naidoo is in for a busy afternoon as he saddles 22 runners and he could sign off in the final leg of the Pick 6 with Oversure. The Mogok colt has been racing in top company and although a little way off the best he should be competitive in this field. Restless Rogue won well at second time of asking and Anthony Delpech has good form for the Howells yard. He looks to have some scope. Of the others, Shogun is lightly raced and showed up well last run when returning from a lengthy break while Omega Onslaught has held form since coming out of the maidens and with a handy weight can also feature.

Andrew Harrison

Scottsville has a ten race meeting on Sunday and punters will have to do some careful studying to win the exotics as some of the races are wide open.

In the third race the Duncan Howells-rained Pippin could get punters place accumulators off to a good start. She has improved with blinkers and took a firm hold of the bit without over racing when handy over 1600m last time out before staying on well. She should enjoy this step down in trip as it should allow her to stride freely in the early stages from a good draw, perhaps in the lead. She will stay all the way to the line. Liberty Market will be a danger because last time out she had to overcome a wide draw over this course and distance and, despite taking a bump and over racing for a few strides early on in a slow run race, she still managed to come from the back with a strong run to finish less than a length behind the winner Gordon’s Cungee. she has a slightly better draw this time, although there looks to be a lack of pace again which could be her undoing, so Pippin is preferred.

The first leg of the Pick 6 is a lot more difficult to assess, especially considering two of the contenders, Purple Splash and Buck Eye, are returning from layoffs. However the eye catcher her is St Peter’s Bay, who stayed on well over 1200m at Greyville last time to finish just over five lengths behind the decent sort Palladium. Trainer Doug Campbell has gelded him since that race at the beginning of May and said he had improved for it. He added he was fit and well and expected him to run a good race.

The first leg of the Jackpot could be fought out between the form horse on paper, Chicago Beat, and the horse who hails from the stronger centre of Cape Town, Sun Dynasty. The latter, who hasn’t raced since April and has his first outing for Weiho Marwing, has proven to be suited to 1400m and should be running on strongly. However, Chicago Beat is preferred as he is still unexposed and a look at his recent run over 1200m at Scottsville as well as his pedigree suggests he will relish this step up to 1400m. Being by Silvano he should be improving all the time too and Anthony Delpech up is a further bonus, although he does have to jump from a wide draw in his first race around the turn.

The standout horse in the next race, Pearl Emblem, also has a wide draw to overcome and beyond her it is wide open. She has a four point raise for her recent win to overcome but loves this 1400m course and distance and goes well for this 4kg claimer. Trinity Hall and Le Chat D’Amour should go close from good draws. The enigmatic Putchini can never be written off, while the expensively purchased Ante Omnia looks to be limited so does not make much appeal despite the Dennis Drier yard being in devastating form and Anton Marcus being aboard.

The highest rated race of the day is the seventh, a MR 86 event over 1400m, and like most fillies and mares handicaps it is is potential stumbling  block in the exotics. Punters shouldn’t be fooled by Keagan de Melo taking the ride on Well In Flight in preference to stable jockey Sean Veale as the former does a lot of work for Drier and it was decided to give him this good ride as a reward. She once finished about three lengths behind Silver Mountain over this trip and she is the first choice.

The last leg of the Jackpot is also a fillies and mares handicap, so is tricky. Ginger Biscuit has done well in sprint races which have plenty of pace in them, like this one, so she should give a good account of herself. However, there is a concern the handicapper might have her measure at present as she earned this 79 merit ratings through two wins. She has had four runs since without seriously threatening to cross the line first, although she has been thereabouts. Cosmic Burst is a blinkers strike so has to be included as she appeared to be promising early on in her career. Elephant Matriarch earned her place in racing’s wonderful story hall of fame last year. She burst through the rails at Greyville with her hood still on before her wild run ended with a plunge into a lake on the golf course. The hero who abandoned his golf game and rescued her was by an amazing coincidence named Don Olifant. Dennis Bosch rated her at the time as a “beautiful filly” with a bright future. She should be coming into her own now as a four-year-old, so could possibly follow up on her recent course and distance win despite a three point raise in the merit ratings.

The last leg of the Pick 6 and PA is also a tough sprint handicap. Panza, Shogun, Roy’s Air Force, Over Sure and Out My Way make the most appeal to clinch the exotics for those who are still running.

David Thiselton

Quine can add another chapter to her chequered career in the Racing.It’s A Rush Handicap at Kenilworth tomorrow.

This well bred Querari filly has won two out of three but there was a nine-month gap between her first two victories and in the Champagne last time she lost ground at the start while her rider came in reporting that she showed no interest in racing. Not exactly encouraging but the facts behind it all reveal a rather different picture.

“After winning first time she got loose on the track at home, did a cartwheel on the concrete, cut herself badly and fractured her pedal bone,” explains Andre Nel who had her ready to win on her return.

“In the Champagne three weeks ago she had so much against her – it was her second run after injury and she didn’t enjoy the soft ground. Even so she probably ran up to her rating.”

Nel, who had 53 winners in a brilliant first season as private trainer to Sabine Plattner, is worried that the going could again be detrimental to Aldo Domeyer’s mount. But the ground has been drying and no further rain is forecast before Sunday. Although she has an extra furlong to travel her pedigree suggests she will probably get it.

Baroness Mary, 66-1 when a close-up fourth on debut, will probably start favourite in the first and looks the one to beat. “I thought she would run a good race the first time and the price was probably just due to the riding arrangements,” says Brett Crawford. “She has come on since then and I am again expecting her to run well.”

Corne Orffer takes over but it looks quite close with Contessa Fantasia ( a head in front of the selection three weeks ago) and Elusive Touch who was little more than two lengths further back despite running green. “We are excited about this filly and she has come on quite a bit,” reports Adam Marcus.

In race two Nel has a big chance with Ovar who beat Olympian a comfortable length and a half last time. But the Vaughan Marshall runner is 2kg better and Craig Bantam claims a further 4kg. That may swing the balance. Another to note here is Le Harve despite his four month absence.

Justin Snaith, three winners here on Tuesday, should take race three with Glorious Goodwood who threw away his chance when favourite six weeks ago by dropping his head when the pens opened and losing at least two lengths. The extra furlong should be in his favour.

The lightly raced but improving Eleadora has three lengths to find with Brinkley in a modest race for the 2 000m maiden and Paddy Kruyer’s filly gets only marginal preference.

William Longsword showed plenty of promise on both his starts and may be good enough to beat Hammie’s Game in the Quinte Plus Handicap despite this being his first run for three months.

Michael Clower

The Sean Tarry-trained Avontuur Thoroughbred Farm Stud-bred Greys Inn gelding Legal Eagle won the most anticipated Equus Award, Horse Of The Year, at the glittering annual ceremony held at the Emperor’s Palace on Tuesday night.

The awards all had deserving winners, but at the same time there were a number of the usual hard luck stories.

The three horses who could be considered desperately unlucky were Smart Call, Abashiri and Mystic Spring, who in any other year would likely have had their names up in lights.

Legal Eagle received the Horse Of The Year award, as well as Champion Older Male and Champion Miler awards, due to his three Gr 1 victories. These included two weight for age Mile wins, in the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and the HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes, as well as a win in the Gr 1 R4 million Premier’s Champions Challenge over 2000m.

However, the Mauritzfontein Stud-owned and bred Ideal World filly Smart Call put up one of the best performances ever seen on the South African turf when annihilating the opposition in the Gr 1 J&B Met by 3,5 lengths. Among the vanquished were Legal Eagle, whom she faced on weight for age terms. Her Met win followed a comfortable two lengths victory over the champion filly Inara in the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes over 1800m, a race in which another champion filly, Bela-Bela, finished third.

Smart Call was merit rated 121 after her J&B Met win, one point above Legal Eagle.

However, if anybody ever deserved to be on the right side of a contentious award it was Tarry, as he has had to swallow a few bitter pills in the past. Tarry received the Champion Trainer award for the second time in succession. He was the first to break the 200-winner barrier in a season, sending out 209 winners, and he also smashed the record for stakes earnings. He gave a thought provoking speech with one of his points quoting President Rooseveldt in which the message was to urge people of the racing fraternity to work hard in the arena rather than criticise from the side.

The Champion three-year-old male was another category which was difficult to call. The nominees included SA Triple Crown winner Abashiri and the horse who had captured the imagination of the South African racing public in the latter part of the season, Marinaresco. The panel sided with the Mauritzfontein Stud-bred Mike Bass-trained Silvano gelding Marinaresco. Marinaresco captured two legs of the Cape Winter series, before travelling to Durban and putting up an astonishing performance in the Vodacom Durban July, coming from 17 metres off the pace to run a close second. He later flew home to win the Gr 1 Mike and Carol Bass Champions Cup cosily, despite having had his initial run blocked. Bass, who officially retired after a glittering career at the end of last season, received a standing ovation when joining the connections on stage to receive the award.

The Champion Broodmare went to the Highlands Farms Stud-based Our Table Mountain, dam of Gr 1 winners during the season Silver Mountain and Cloth Of Cloud. She thoroughly deserved the award, but in any other year it could easily have gone to the amazing Cheveley Stud-based mare Mystic Spring, whose daughter Bela-Bela joined the like of Rabiya, Secret of Victoria, Spring Lilac, Rafiya  and Touch The Sky as stakes winners she has produced. Mystic Spring did receive a consolation Exceptional Broodmare award.

Smart Call’s consolation was to be named Equus Champion older female and Champion middle distance horse, while Abashiri received a Special Achievement award for landing the SA Triple Crown.

The Champion Two-year-old filly went to the unbeaten Sean Tarry-trained Highlands Farms Stud-bred Captain Al filly Cloth Of Cloud. Among her three wins was a victory against the boys in the Gr 1 SA Nursery.

The Champion two-year-old male looked clear cut and duly went to another horse by Captain Al, the Vaughan Marshall-trained Klawervlei Stud-bred colt Always In Charge, who won the hotly contested Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville by three lengths.

The Champion three-year-old filly also looked clear cut and went to the Justin Snaith-trained Cheveley Stud-bred Dynasty filly Bela-Bela, who won the Gr 2 Daisy Fillies Guineas and the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000.

The Champion Sprinter went to the Coenie de Beer-trained Scott Brothers-bred Overlord gelding Talktothestars, who was merit rated 120 after winning the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint. The award completed a fairytale for small string trainer De Beer, who also owns Talktothestars.

The Champion Stayer was hard to choose as Abashiri completed the Triple Crown when winning the Gr 1 SA Derby over 2450m, while Enaad won the country’s premier staying race, the eLan Property Group Gold Cup over 3200m, as well as the Gr 3 Gold Vase over 3000m. The Gold Cup winner is usually a shoe-in for the award and it once again swayed that way as the Mike de Kock-trained High Chaparral gelding Enaad, owned and bred by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, was awarded the trophy.

Special achievement awards also went to Ormond Ferraris, who saddled his 2500^th winner during the season; the Glen Puller-trained CTS Million Dollar winner Illuminator (the award was accepted by owner Francis Carruthers and jockey Heavelon van der Hoven); the Mike Bass-trained filly Inara for winning three Gr 1s during the season all in different centres (Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban).

The Champion Stallion award went to the Drakenstein Stud-based sire Trippi.

Summerhill Stud won the Champion Breeders award for the tenth time, regaining it from Klawervlei who had won it for the last two years. Summerhill owner Mick Goss was there to receive the award and delivered a typically rousing speech. The dam of Legal Eagle, Young Sensation, was acknowledged with an Outstanding Broodmare award.

Lammerskraal Stud received an Outstanding Breeder award as breeders of Abashiri. The Print Media award went to doyen Charles Faull chiefly for his Thoroughpedia project.

The Champion Apprentice award was received by Callan Murray. The Champion Jockey award was received for the second time by S’Manga Khumalo.

Markus and Ingrid Jooste were once again champions owner. In the season they won nine Gr 1s, including the elusive Vodacom Durban July.

David Thiselton