JET STREAM TURBULENCE
Friday, May 4, 2012 at 3:10PM 
JJ The Jet Plane
(Photo : HKJC)
"From Dead Heats to Final Touchdowns"
This past week has been somewhat turbulent as the Highveld Autumn season came to a close with Champions Day at Turffontein and the Emperors Palace Bloodstock SA National Yearling Sale.
The sale ended slightly lower than last year, although mostly positive (and certainly the figures are more realistic since the TBA has taken the bold step of excluding vendor buy-backs in the overall sales figures.)
However, around the sales complex not all vendors were equally happy and the sale was a tough one for many of the smaller breeders. Champion Breeders and Vuma founders, Summerhill Stud ended as the 5th leading vendor with their yearlings selling for an average price of R323,077.
Saturday's Champions Day provided many thrills and a few disappointments. Mary Slack's, Wilgerbosdrift Stud had a phenomenal day, winning 4 of the 9 graded races with some of their exceptional fillies. Apart from their breeding, the performance of all four horses, trained by Mike de Kock, makes them very exciting broodmare prospects for the stud, once their racing careers are over. They will certainly be ones to watch in the future!
The Grade 1 SA Derby proved a nail biter, with Sean Tarry and Chris van Niekerk's Pomodoro just getting up to dead-heat with Alec Laird's Royal Bencher. Pomodoro was also bred by Chris and he is living up to his name and proving himself to be a very golden apple!
Our favourite Champ, JJ The Jet Plane, ran in the Computaform Sprint, after winning it in 2008 and going on to travel the world and back, lighting up the tracks wherever he went. Seemingly, he has shown that at the age of 7, with a merit rating of 122 and earnings of over R12 million, that he has nothing left to prove and would prefer to expend his energy as he chooses. The owners have decided to retire him and he will be living in the rolling green hills of Mooi River with Marc and Nicola Coppez of Balmoral Stud.
To Hennie, Coenie, Thea, Lucky, Natalie and the whole T&L Racing Stables team, it is the end of an unbelievable ride. No Jet Plane ever built could provide the thrills and once in a lifetime experiences that JJ has.
He has been a true champion and the Vuma team salutes you all - we have loved playing a part in his career and he has made us all truly proud!
AFRICA'S FINEST HORSEFEEDS
For more information contact :
Catherine Hartley : 083 640 1155
Email: catherine@vumafeed.co.za
