Vardy Sibling Highlights Cape Premier Yearling Sale

Timing is everything in the world of bloodstock, and Vardy, whose victory in last weekend's L'Ormarins Queens Plate (G1) coincided with the birthday of his Leicester City footballer namesake, has a half brother to be offered at the Jan. 16 Cape Premier Yearling Sale in South Africa.

More than 200 horses have been cataloged for a unique event situated in Cape Town's International Convention Centre, a vast hall close to the city's waterfront, where stabling facilities are assembled from scratch in a handful of days.

There is an atmosphere of cautious optimism; South African racing is continuing its attempt to overcome issues of funding and quarantine, but a number of significant international owners do have horses trained here, and interested visitors seen so far include Bjorn Nielsen, Fiona Carmichael, Peter Doyle, John Ferguson, and representatives from the Hong Kong Jockey Club. How many more are active will play a big part in determining the sale's success.

"It does look like a good-quality catalog of horses, and there seems to be a really good vibe. There are some international faces, all the locals are here, and people are complaining that they can't get to look at horses, so from a sales company perspective, that's always a positive," Cape Thoroughbred Sales' chief executive, Wehann Smith, said.

"It's always strong at the top end, and I'm looking forward to seeing how well we hold up in the middle market. I think, looking at the spread of buyers at the sale and the people who are down, that's going to be stronger than for the last couple of years. That's my hope, that it's reflected in a good increase in the median."

Vardy was a graduate of this sale, and his sibling (Lot 174) is being offered by Klawervlei Stud, one of South Africa's powerhouse operators. He is a son of rising star stallion Gimmethegreenlight, an Australian-bred son of More Than Ready , and the mare has also produced the stakes-class Eros's Girl.

"That couldn't have been better timed, and it's a 'Win and You're In' for the Breeders' Cup, so it would have been fabulous if Vardy could get across to run in that, but he'll end up being one of the favorites for the (group 1 Sun) Met," Klawervlei's John Koster said.

"As a stud, we ran first and second in the race, which was also fabulous for us. Old Captain Al (the deceased sire of runner-up One World) keeps producing for us, and now this year we've got his son William Longsword. Judging by everyone's comments, he seems probably the most popular first-season sire here, which is great."

Klawervlei is also offering the only entry from a stallion based outside South Africa in a daughter of Zoffany (Lot 106) out of winning U.S.-bred mare Sweet Trip.

"She came out in utero," Koster said. "The mare was a very good mare, she bred a very good grade 1 winner in America called Rail Trip, and Zoffany is doing extremely well at Coolmore.

"There should be a lot of interest in her, and she can obviously carry on breeding. There's also a Silvano filly (Lot 110) out of Thunder Dance—she was a dual grade 1 winner out of Shadow Dancing, (who) was also a dual grade 1 winner and a half sister to Captain Al. That's one of the strongest families in South Africa, so she's quite special."

Drakenstein Stud is another with a particularly strong draft. Though manager Kevin Sommerville was reluctant to pinpoint particular lots, it is clear that another Silvano named I Want It All (Lot 99) out of the Giant's Causeway mare Song of Happiness is high among expectations.

"The nice thing is that different people seem to have their favorites among them, but he's certainly one we like," he said.

Which horse will be the sales topper remains to be seen, but there is definite quality about the draft from Avontuur. It is home to Vardy's sire, Var, and another of his progeny, a neat gray colt out of the useful Pam Amm (Lot 46), was one to catch the eye.

This is something of a transition period in terms of the stallions on offer as Dynasty, another top-class racehorse and influential sire, also died last year, and the like of Maine Chance's resident Querari has already been making a strong pitch for a prominent position.

It is reflected in the past and present theme for the draft of Ridgemont Highlands, the breeding vehicle of the family of former international cricketer Craig Kieswetter.

"Everyone will say it, but we're excited about them all," he said. "We've got a lovely Dynasty colt (Lot 67) out of the mare Red Kaschka, and Dynasty in South Africa is like gold dust.

"We've got another one out of Chevauchee (Lot 165), who is pretty much one of my parents' favorite mares, the first black-type winner in the farm's silks, so there's quite a bit of affection and emotion there.

"We sell the colts and keep our fillies, and there's nothing else left in the tank back home. We also have some by Rafeef. It's his first crop being sold, and having a share of him as a farm, we're excited at what he's throwing out there.

"It's the 10th edition of the sale, so I think breeders have become accustomed to preparing horses for January. This is the second year it's been a one-day event—it worked really well last year. We've always done between 225-250 horses, and the idea was always to create an evening event, but I felt that the second day kind of lacked the same enthusiasm as the first day.

"When you walked into that sales ring on Day 1, Lot 1, it was full with a real atmosphere, but the second day felt like you had to kick-start it again. It's a busy time in the middle of the summer Cape season, with Met Day still coming up, so there was no need to waste a day."