Ready To Run Sale Success

 The venue all set for clients to arrive!

Here comes the first string of horses!

This is Coral Bay, the filly I rode that was hotter than hot. She is out of Mullin's Bay and Quaphela. She sold for 110,000 Rand ($11,000) Not bad!

 Summerhill's 2014 Summer Ready To Run Sale was a smashing success! This was my first ever Thoroughbred racing bloodstock sale, and it was fascinating! Not only did I have the pleasure of attending, but I was also hired by the bloodstock agent, Michael Holmes, to work the sale. Michael Holmes is hired by Summerhill to sell the horses. This means that he provides the auctioneer and essentially runs the sale. He is responsible for deciding who can buy horses, the amount of credit extended, and he collects the money from the clients. During the sale, my job was to go up to clients once they bought a horse and have them fill out a paper stating who they are, how much they paid and get their signature ensuring that they did in fact purchase a particular horse. It sounds pretty easy, but it proved to be a bit difficult at first. The sale moves fairly fast and you really have to pay attention in order to keep track of who is biding. The bidders don't wave around their bidding cards like how you often see auctions depicted on television. I actually couldn't tell at all who was bidding until the auctioneer would address them. A bid can be a simple nod of the head or a flick of the wrist. It will take me a few more sales to get the hang of spotting bids. Luckily, the auctioneer was very good about addressing who bought the horse, but he often referred to them by name, which of course didn't help me at all considering I don't know the who's who of South African racing and breeding... yet. I do know that some of South Africa's top trainers were present. One of the clients felt the need to arrive in style. He landed in a private helicopter about an hour before the sale, and I was told that last year he arrived in a flashy red Ferrari. Now that's how you make an entrance! Another guest that stood out was the King of Lesotho (yes, its an actual country. Google it.) He was accompanied by about 10 body guards who had to be given their own table! It was an honor to be in the presence of such important people in the world of Thoroughbred racing as well as royalty. The entire event oozed class, especially the horses.

As the sale got underway I started to gain confidence in my job. I had some trouble at first finding the buyer of each horse, but the bid spotters were very helpful in pointing them out. Eventually, I learned the names of most of the buyers in the room and especially the buyers who were buying the majority of the horses. The room was also relatively small so I didn't have to walk very far to get to each buyer. The first few horses went quickly and then all of a sudden chaos erupted outside.  As the sale continued on inside, Lot 8 decided he wasn't ready to be sold and wanted to stay a Summerhill a bit longer. So he broke loose from his handler and ran around the grounds in a frightened panic, all the while sending his 2 year old sales buddies into mass pandemonium. The horse that happened to be in the ring at the time lost it. I'm sure he was thinking something along the lines of "Woah! What's going on out there? Why are my friends running? I better stick my tail in the air, prance around, arch my neck, blow through my nose, paw the shavings and attempt to get the heck out of here! Is it a horse eating tractor? Did one of the humans finally turn on us? Is there a lion? (I mean it is Africa after all so I suppose he was justified in thinking this)" Through all the chaos, the sale went on and they had to skip Lot 8 until he was captured and hauled into the ring around Lot 17 or so. That's what happens when you have to deal with hot 2 year old Thoroughbreds! That's racing! The Summerhill crew handled it in true professional fashion and no one panicked (except the horses, of course). That was the only major mishap of the entire sale. All 91 horses were ushered into the ring to be sold, but not all were sold. The horses that were not sold are still here for sale at Summerhill. I may or may not have my sights set on one particular horse (that's in my budget!) that I think would make a fine graduation present to myself (please don't tell my parents ;) ). But for now, all I will say is we'll see, we'll see.

Another highlight from the sale was when I sat down to eat lunch with the lady I worked with and she told me about her son who is a jockey here in South Africa. She explained to me that all jockeys go through the South African Racing Academy which is fairly close to Summerhill. I expressed to her my interest in riding as a jockey. She offered to introduce me to the head of the South African Racing Academy who just happened to be attending the sale (What luck!). I spoke with Mr. Bailey and he was a very genuine man who was excited about my interest. He invited me to spend a week at the school riding and training with the current apprentice jockeys. Gah!! I'm so excited! The last thing he said to me, with a giant smile on his face was, "You will be the first ever American Apprentice Jockey in South Africa! That's great!" It's amazing what opportunities can fall in your lap. I am very blessed and thankful to find so many open doors.

It was such an awesome experience to work my first ever racing bloodstock sale here in South Africa! This experience has opened my eyes to the endless possibilities that the Thoroughbred racing industry offers. My ultimate goal is to use my remaining two and a half months to seek out all those possibilities and decide in which direction I should head after graduation. Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen...

P.S. On a side note I have ordered my international honor sash, cap, gown and tickets for graduation. I can't believe I'm graduating college in three months! Woah!!