We’ve had a year filled with fantastic performances by offspring of our two sires Var and Oratorio, experienced some very positive Yearling Sales support from loyal buyers and saw potential champions born on the farm.
Chatting to Avontuur GM, Pippa Mickleburgh she mentioned that the high point for her this past year was the coming of age of Oratorio’s progeny, who are maturing successfully as expected and have kept him at the top spot for the past season.
“I am also thrilled that Var is holding his own and although slowing down, he’s been covering well and is still producing the good-looking horses we’ve expected from him. On the yearling sale side, the 2019 standout was the River Jetez filly called Delta Queen who was sold for a record price for Avontuur at the National Yearling Sale in April. We look forward to further successes next year and after an extremely successful breeding season with most of our mares safely in foal to some champion sires, I am full of hope,” she says.
It was a sad moment in September when it was announced that our champion race mare Sarabande was no more, but we like to think of the beautiful progeny she’s produced and obviously also the award-winning Sarabande Sauvignon Blanc Reserve which carries her name forward on the wine side, and it reminds us of her achievements. Saying goodbye to Miss Frankel, who is moving to her new home in Europe early in 2020 has been bitter-sweet. We believe that her future in the wider world looks bright, but on the other hand, it’s sad to say goodbye to this Frankel daughter who’s given so many so much pleasure in watching her develop.
When asked about her expectations for the new year, Pippa said; “We’re looking forward to the first Yearling Sale of 2020 in Cape Town in mid-January and we have some stunning yearlings to offer. But if I could have one wish for 2020, it’s that the lifting of the incredibly restrictive export protocols would be sorted out! This one single event, will turn our industry around for ever in South Africa!”
