The 2025 Bloodstock South Africa August Two-Year-Old Sale, held at the TBA Complex on Thursday and Friday, 21/2 August, delivered both substance and quality, resulting in a resounding success for vendors and buyers alike.
In a first for South Africa, BSA created a new outlet for vendors and buyers locally, and internationally, by staging a virtual sale of select Mares and Fillies for Stud. Proceedings on Friday morning opened with a brisk, half-hour virtual sale session devoted to this select draft of high-end broodmares and fillies for stud. This innovative addition proved as popular as it was productive, garnering strong international interest.
Both the Mare and Fillies for Stud draft and the main two-year-old catalogue delivered results that spoke of depth and resilience in the marketplace. Prices ranged from a modest R20,000 to a record R4-million, with a broad and lively buyers’ bench ensuring that the sale once again catered to every level of participant. Most encouragingly, the figures compared favourably with last year and the recent past, signalling a welcome measure of consistency and confidence in the bloodstock sector.
That strength was reflected in the key statistics, with turnover and averages holding up well against recent editions of the auction, while several standout transactions helped bolster the overall result.
To start, the sale generated a total turnover of R80,5-million, just shy of last year’s R80,9-million. This was a particularly notable performance given that 46 fewer horses went through the ring this year. Demand was evident across the board, with only 9 horses passed unsold compared with 21 last year for an incredible clearance rate of 97%. There was a 12% increase in the average price per lot (R312,512 vs last year’s R280,156) and the median increased by an unbelievable 63% to R260,000.
The standout lot of the sale was Le Soleil (Lot 47), who entered the auction ring just before lunchtime on Thursday. He sparked a spirited bidding war that was ultimately won by Jono Snaith, on behalf of Snaith Racing. Le Soleil is a son of champion sire Vercingetorix and former champion race mare Clouds Unfold and Snaith commented: “This young colt turned heads the moment he stepped out of his box. He possessed a commanding presence and carried himself with the authority of a true ‘meneer’.
Snaith also secured two other colts and a filly for over R1-million apiece — all sired by Rafeef — and in doing so topped the buyers’ table with eight lots purchased for a total of R9,03-million, averaging R1,128,750. He remarked: “At the heart of this game, we are all searching for ‘the one’. Congratulations are due to the breeders, who continue to raise the bar with the quality they present, and to Bloodstock SA for staging yet another highly successful sale.”
Bolstering the buyer bench, Arun Chadha and Warne Rippon’s ASSM Racing Syndicate were out in full force over the two-day sale securing 19 quality individuals from a range of vendors for R7,3-million.
ASSM have long shown a knack for shrewd purchases in the middle price bracket, sourcing cleverly from both major and smaller breeders. At this sale they supported no fewer than 13 stud farms, securing the progeny of 11 stallions. Their haul included an R850,000 Rafeef filly from Winterbach Stud, a R160,000 Skit Skizzle colt from Bosworth Farm, and a colt and filly by Heavenly Blue, from Ascot Stud.
Varsfontein Stud was the leading vendor with 17 lots sold for R10,37-million at an average of R610,000 per foal, and Rafeef came out on top of the sire’s list with similar figures – his offspring fetched R10,72-million at R630,588 per lot sold.
Michael Holmes, CEO of Bloodstock SA, said he was delighted with the results and grateful for the strong support from both vendors and buyers. “The industry is pulling together, and it’s encouraging to see. We are pleased to be achieving our objective of catering to every level of the market. Our exceptional clearance rate reflects the fact that there were horses for every buyer which will go a long way to assisting the racing operators’ goal of increasing field sizes nationally.
Holmes expressed BSA’s satisfaction with the diverse spread of buyers. “It was wonderful to see the Eastern Cape trainers secure 25 horses and we also enjoyed strong support from Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and Kenya — markets where our footprint is now firmly established. Notably, Dr Lesley Sercombe of Kenya purchased four lots, investing just under R3-million.”
Holmes noted that the virtual Select sale of mares and fillies for stud will now become a regular feature of the August Sale. This is further proof that breeders are continually striving to improve their broodmare bands, with a strong measure of faith in the industry’s future.”
The next Bloodstock South Africa live auction will be the BSA Cape Yearling Sale on 1 March, 2026 at the South African Riding for the Disabled Association’s property in Constantinia. The popular monthly BSA online auctions will continue, the next one due in September.