One of the biggest gambles in racing is buying a horse. It takes a real leap of faith to spend significant sums of loot on an untried yearling based purely on pedigree and appearance/conformation. Buyers with hefty budgets try boost the chances in their favour by focusing only on the best- bred youngsters without physical faults, yet there are no guarantees. Indeed, some of the most expensive yearlings turn out to be slow-pokes and complete liabilities.
On the other hand, fortunate owners may luck into cheapies that defy their unfashionable origins or physical kinks. Some current examples in SA of thoroughbreds that are massively outrunning their prize tags and doing great things on the racetrack, include; the mare Running Brave (by Brave Tin Soldier) who was sold for a paltry sum (30K off the National 2 year old Sale) and has earned nearly R1.8 million as a multiple Graded winner, with speed scores between 105-107; Outstanding three year old filly, War of Athena (by Act of War) is at the top of her generation (s/s 104) and she too was a “gelukkie” for the same tag. Both were bred at Summerhill Stud.
Highly promising Cape Town colt, Kommetdieding fetched a similarly modest amount of 55K off the Klawervlei Farm sale and also looks destined for the top. This Michelle Rix/Crawford trained son of Elusive Fort won the Klawervlei Farm sale race at long odds when debuting in June. Next seen out in December over the same Kenilworth 1200m he hammered a strong field including Invincabelle and subsequent Cape Guineas winner, Russian Rock, despite being slow out and not having the clearest of passages.
Then, trying a mile on Saturday, he was again slightly slow to go but quickly rushed into contention. After racing handy, he drew clear under Sihle Cele’s hand ride to win unextended. Just like his previous start, it was worth another eye-brow raising speed figure of 101 – any three year old able to run in triple digits on my scale is top notch, and the exciting, Kommetdieding will go even higher as he matures.
In another example, Singapore bound Winter Series hero, Katak (by Potalo Palace) actually failed to raise a single bid when passing through the ring before changing hands in a low-key private agreement between trainer and breeder. He left SA unbeaten from five starts with a speed score of 107+ and is being targeted at lucrative stakes races in the Far East.
Whilst the differential between rising costs of keep and reduced domestic stakes widens unfavourably for owners, they can nevertheless take heart that in a buyers’ market, there are budding champions out there that don’t cost the earth!