KZN Breeders AGM And Announcements For 2013

KZN Breeders AGM And Announcements For 2013

The KZN Breeders Association held our AGM at the Nottingham Road Hotel on Tuesday and included a number of new announcements.

Two directors of the KZN Breeders Association have unfortunately resigned – Honourable Justice Alan Magid and writer Alec Hogg, owner and breeder, of the former Graceland Farm. KZN Breeders would like to thank Alan and Alec for standing on the board and we are grateful for the valuable assistance and knowledgeable insight they have provided during their time, they will be sadly missed.

The remaining Directors were unanimously re-elected, with Koos De Klerk remaining as Chairman of the KZN Breeders Association. The KZN Breeders would like to welcome Roy Moodley on board – we look forward to his contribution to breeding in KZN. Roy also recently purchased a farm in the Midlands to pursue his passion of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds.

The KZN Breeders website stats were announced, which saw incredible growth from 2011 with almost 45 000 visitors, nearly 25 000 of those unique visitors, and almost 200 000 pages read for 2012 – with hits of 2,4 million.

Newsmaker Of The Year for the KZN Breeders website went to Mike and Tanya McHardy’s white yearling colt, the rare Gran Blanco, born at their Rathmor Stud in September 2011 – which saw one of many articles written about him, have 1138 reads. Look out for him at the upcoming Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale in April.

Koos De Klerk also announced another exciting addition to the KZN Breeders Race Day for 2013 – which now sees a seventh race open for *KZN-bred two year olds (the nominations process has re-opened again, and closes 6 February).

After an overwhelming additional *140 entries for two year olds from the original nomination process opened in December, which originally excluded two year olds, a decision was made to include a two year old race for a stake of R200 000 – which will also see points earned for those horses winning or placing. The horses with the highest points will go through to the race on 30 June 2013 and the log will be published fortnightly on our website. *News recently in is that we have already recieved 165 entries for this race.

A separate R1-million race on Vodacom Durban July day will be held for all 2012 Suncoast KZN Yearling sale graduates (if the vendors had agreed to certain terms and conditions) who passed through the sales ring in the 2012 Suncoast KZN Yearling Sale. This race will be for two year olds and it is open to non-KZN-breds.

The sale last year has already seen two debut winners, with Ace Antonius (R40 000 purchase from Highlands Stud) and Jimmi Choo (pictured by Bezrin, bred by Cathy and Jonathan Martin of Hadlow Stud, sold for R50 000).

Another exciting development will see *KZN-bred yearlings going to the upcoming Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale being marked in the sales catalogues as “KZN-bred” – which will give the buyers a precise indication as to which yearlings will be eligible for our KZN Breeders Race Day in 2014 and other possible future initiatives.

Leading up to an epic racing and sales season in June and July, the KZN Breeders will be hosting our annual Golf Day at the Royal Durban Golf Course on 4 June, and a KZN Breeders Bowls Day at the Durban Bowling Club on the same day.

The KZN Breeders Golf Day last year was an overwhelming success, and fully booked with prizes valued at over R100 000. If you would like to play in either tournament, please contact Candiese for more details.

We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead for the all things KZN-bred!

*KZN-bred denotes horses that are registered with the KZN Breeders Premium Scheme. A yearling born in KZN or by a KZN resident sire is not considered a KZN-bred unless the horse is registered with the KZN Breeders Premium Scheme – subject to certain rules applying.

For enquiries if your horse is a “KZN-bred” please contact us for confirmation.