Normandy draft - RTR Sale

On 17 November, 146 two-year-olds will go under the hammer at the CTS Ready to Run Sale (RTR). For aspirant racehorse owners, the sale is something of a no-brainer.

A key feature is that the vendors have paid the horses’ keep up to the point of them being close to racing.

For future owners, this cost saving is an obvious benefit, but the compelling reason for shopping at Ready to Run is that much of the guesswork is taken out of the process. The horses are physically more mature than they are in January or April, and buyers have the opportunity of seeing how they move.

As if this is not sufficient incentive, there is a race for RTR graduates on Sun Met day. Lest you think this race is solely for speed merchants, the inaugural winner was by a son of a Vodacom Durban July winner. The maths on the probability of getting a run is compelling – just 146 horses qualify for the 16 that will make up the final field of a race run just two months after the sale.

Later in 2018 is the Lanzerac RTR race, for a stake of R2.5 million, so the 146 have a high probability of racing for big prize money.

Normandy Stud is represented by 28 entries on the RTR sale. Their past record on the sale is a strong motivation for taking a close look at their 2017 draft.

The log leader for both upcoming RTR races is Wonderwall, a graduate of Normandy’s 2016 consignment.

Within 10 weeks of passing through the ring, he’d earned back two-thirds of his R320 000 purchase price. When he finished third in the Grade I SA Nursery a few months later, he took his earnings to just shy of R400 000. And a few weeks ago, less than a year after the sale, he banked another R250 000 when cruising home in the Grade II Spring Challenge.

Another notable graduate of Normandy’s 2016 consignment is Barrack Street, a dual stakes-winner within five months of the sale.

Their 2015 draft comprised just seven two-year-olds, of which three are graded stakes-winners – Sergeant Hardy, Nordic Breeze and Crowd Pleaser.

When the first ready to run sale was held (in 1989), Normandy were early adopters, with the top-class sprinter Knife Edge a notable representative of their draft. Two years later they consigned the graded stakes-winner Quick Wit. The stakes-winning fillies Azania and Rose Dancer were also members of early drafts. More recently, the R1 million earner, Cap Alright, was also a Normandy Ready To Run graduates.

This year they have their strongest ever representation at the CTS Ready to Run Sale in November, with progeny of Dynasty, Silvano, Var, Captain Al, Twice Over, Trippi, Gimmethegreenlight, What a Winter and more.


You can see their full draft here: www.facebook.com/pg/NormandyStud/photos/...m_id=124508514929933



Gallops are on 16 November, with the sale on the 17th.