BSA salute their sales
BLOODSTOCK South Africa (BSA), Mick Goss of Summerhill Stud and Mike Holmes have all been pleased with the results of their recent Sales.
The BSA's Val De Vie sale was held on February 22 in surely one of the most spectacular settings of any sale in the world at the Val de Vie Estate, which is known for its polo ambiance, and is situated in the beautiful Paarl Franschhoek Valley.
BSA's CEO Kevin Woolward was pleasantly surprised by the figures which returned an aggregate of R15,86 million at an average of R191,000 and the median was R110,000.
There were a few teething problems, including with the new buyer's card system. The latter problem has already been addressed and will be sorted out in time for the BSA National Yearling Sales. The new buyer's system has bar-coded buyer's cards and I-Pads are used to scan the cards to confirm they are valid and that the buyers are within credit limits. Upon signing for a horse, the buyer immediately receives a receipt from a portable printer.
The scanning was not working efficiently at the Val de Vie Sale and this has already been rectified. Furthermore, at The National yearling Sales receipts will only extend to one page and the writing will be big enough to read clearly. There will also be five I-Pads and portable printers in use instead of the two they had at Val De Vie, so the system should run a lot more efficiently.
Next year's Val de Vie Sales ring will be next to the polo field instead of in the ballroom, which proved to be too small and some patrons could not see the horses from their tables. The walkways will also all be rubberised. BSA have a new lifestyle partner in Sun International's Maslow Hotel in Sandton, who have replaced the former partner, Emperor's Palace.
Maslow Hotel will accommodate buyers at the Nationals and other Johannesburg Sales. Shuttle transport between the hotel and the sales is still being negotiated, but in any event there will be transport provided. BSA have changed the start of the Nationals to 1 p.m which will give buyers time to view horses before the start and it will also mean the sale will finish each day after peak hour traffic.
Mick Goss reported a 24% increase in Summerhill's Michael Holmes Bloodstock Ready To Run February Sale which was held on February 24.
Goss said, “As with most sales of this sort, the upper end made decent money, though there were some real bargains lower down. “This sale has a history of producing a couple of smart performers for little money, and we're sure it will be a similar case going forward. We felt this was a quality catalogue, and overall, in the current climate, we'd have to be satisfied with the outcome.’’
This sale's most celebrated graduates include the like of No Worries, Flyfirstclass, Corredor, Coby, Sithela, Tomorrow's Miss, Rooinooi, Vulcan, Greasepaint, I Got You Babe and many more.
Goss was pleased to see the sale well attended and all of Wendy Whitehead, David Nieuwenhuizen, Therese Mitchley, Kumaran Naidoo and Garth Puller were trainers that brought around ten or more buyers with them, while Deez Dyanand also brought a group of buyers.
Nieuwenhuizen picked out the Way West filly Blackberry Wine at last year’s sale and secured her for R10,000. She has already won two races and Nieuwenhuizen therefore won the annual Best Value award. Interestingly, Nieuwenhuizen bought two lots this year, both for R10,000.
Gavin van Zyl and his chief owner Brian Burnard bought No Worries off this sale and were active again this year.
The Mike Holmes Shongweni Horse In Training Sale was held on February 25 at the Shongweni Club. Holmes was thrilled with the results, especially the “Not Sold’’ figure which showed just six lots unsold compared to 135 sold. “All sales recently have been strong,’’ said an upbeat Holmes.