The Emperors Palace Ready to Run Sale 2011
Mike on October 20, 2011 EMPERORS PALACE READY TO RUN SALE
TBA Sales Complex, Gosforth Park, South Africa
6 November 2011
Two million rand is a lot of money, no matter what you’re worth. That’s the value of this year’s Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup to be staged on 5 November at Turffontein racecourse, making it the third richest horserace in Africa after the Vodacom Durban July and the J&B Met.
When you consider the odds of getting a shot at a winner in the big race, restricted as it is to entries of the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale with only 180 horses on offer, it’s comfortably the best deal in Thoroughbred Horseracing worldwide.
Graduates of the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup are part of the folklore of South African horseracing; the shining example being the “one-two” finish to this year’s Vodacom Durban July, Igugu and Pierre Jourdan. Pierre Jourdan was South Africa’s biggest earner in 2010 at R3.8 million, while SA Triple Tiara princess and South African Horse Of The Year, Igugu, took home in the region of R5.5 million for the season just completed. Not bad for purchase prices of R60,000 and R1 million respectively.
iKind Media client, Summerhill Stud, has been at the forefront of the development of the Ready To Run Sales concept for the past 25 years.
The concept of selling a ready-made racehorse was unique enough, but in its relatively short history, the Summerhill team have introduced multiple “world firsts” into the recipe. Locating the Ready To Run Gallops on a stud farm (as opposed to a racecourse), had never been done before; filming each horse in full-flight and broadcasting via their website, television and on DVD, was a pioneering innovation; connecting the sale to a dedicated race was a first-off; and then making it the richest race of its kind in the world, was another “topper”.
Summerhill assembled a formidable panel of judges to select their top picks and to then share their selections with the public. Big South African horseracing names on this year’s panel included Mike de Kock, Michael Roberts, Sean Tarry, Graeme Hawkins, Jehan Malherbe, Dean Kannemeyer, Joey Ramsden and USA specialist racehorse picker, Kip Elser. A first at any sale of any kind, anywhere in the world.
South Africa’s Champion Breeders also introduced a six-instalment payment scheme some thirteen years back (in one form or another), and it remains the only concept of its kind in the world. Besides the R2million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup restricted to graduates of the sale, Summerhill gave the event the best trophies in racing, and introduced five dedicated trials country-wide, so that race aspirants could qualify for the big race without facing the danger of elimination. That doesn’t happen anywhere else, either.
In business and economics, innovation is the catalyst to growth hence the standing of the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale as the best of its kind anywhere in the world.
Click the thumbnails above to view four iKind Media-produced promos as part of Summerhill Stud’s marketing campaign for the 2011 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale featuting past graduates of the sale, Igugu, Pierre Jourdan, Imbongi and Fisani.
blog.summerhill.co.za/ready-to-run-sale-2011
| Summerhill Stud - Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale | Credits |
|---|---|
| Editor | Devin Carter |
| Composition, Animation and Graphics | Matt Nefdt |
| Music Arrangement | Devin Carter |
| Producer | Michael Nefdt |
| Footage | Tellytrack |
| Photography | JC Photographics |
