CTS Introduces Gold Rush Committee

A committee has been appointed to oversee and manage preparations for the 1600m CTS Gold Rush, which will take place on Cape Met Day, March 28.

CTS Gold Rush was launched at the 2021 Cape Premier Yearling Sale, held at the beautiful De Grendel Wine Estate.

Read more about gold rush conditions here

Based on the same principle as Everest in Australia, the CTS Gold Rush offers 16 ticket holders (prospectors) the opportunity to race for the huge stake. The race is open to graduates of the 2021 Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

The Committee’s role is to ensure that Ticket Holders and their respective Runners are acting within Gold Rush’s published Terms and Conditions and that necessary contractual obligations are met.

Presentation of the committee:

Chairperson: Jacques Chowles is a trained accountant, wealth manager and commercial real estate professional who has combined his love of racing with his professional background and serves as Sales Director for CTS.

Run: Pippa Mickleburgh, Managing Director of Avontuur Estate, has long been one of South Africa’s leading thoroughbred breeders. Admired for her wealth of family tree knowledge, she is popular for her personality and no-nonsense approach.

Run: Ken Nicol, former NHA handicapper, former Turf Talk editor and freelance racing freelancer, brings his industry knowledge and experience.

legal: Hein Hattingh is a founding member and Managing Director of In2Assets, the industry leader for property auctions in KwaZulu-Natal. He practiced law for 10 years before entering the auction industry in 2001 and will assist the committee with legal coverage as required.

Operator: Donovan Everitt, Commercial Marketing and Events Manager at Cape Racing, has been a driving force behind improving the hospitality and experience of racehorse owners and his expertise in this area is of great value.

Operator: Justin Vermaak, SA Racing’s dynamic all-rounder, has extensive experience as a racehorse syndicate manager, bloodstock agent and owner race manager. He was recently appointed Head of Racing Operations for Cape Racing.

Participation in the first CTS Gold Rush involved purchasing one of the 16 available Prospector tickets.

The gold rush is not limited to the sixteen prospectors. Jacques Chowles reiterated, “Everyone who bought a horse at the 2021 Premier Sale has a chance to participate in the rewards. When you’ve acquired a promising race car, the prospectors will kick down your door to negotiate, either outright purchase or a partnership deal.

There will be exciting opportunities for the connections of all promising young runners. Winners will receive a lucrative R5 million grand prize.”

The first CTS Gold Rush Log will be released in the next few days so prospectors can begin their search for the horse they believe will be most likely to bag the grand prize.

Chowles added, “The committee’s primary role will be to finalize and approve agreements between ticket holders and owners of promising runners. We look forward to supporting everyone involved in this most exciting and innovative project for CTS and the racing industry.”

Excitement is already building among the 16 Prospectors and Bass Racing’s Mark Bass, who bought the 9th ticket, commented: “We are delighted to be part of the first Gold Rush initiative. We have some options and promising horses to choose from in the stable so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out as I think it will go to the end. Money speaks in this case, so everything will boil down to negotiations. It’s a great initiative from CTS.”

Crawford Racing bought the 13th ticket and Brett Crawford said: “We have a couple of possible contenders who qualify. We have to get started with them soon and the journey promises to be exciting.”

Sandy Arundel earned the 15th ticket and commented, “We have three stallions going into the billing; They will leave their current base in KwaZulu-Natal to join Eric Sands in Cape Town. We hope they become good runners – the concept is new and exciting. In any case, we will be open to negotiations.”

The 16 Prospectors for Gold Rush 1 are:

David Aberry

Central route trading

Chris van Niekerk and Bernard Kantor

Suzette and Basie Viljoen

Ridgemont Highlands stud farm

Hollywood Betting

Pieter Graaff and Ken Truter

Chance Farms in Maine

Bass Racing and Ian Longmore

Rikesh Sewgoolam

Stud Drakenstein

Laurence Werners

Crawford Racing

Klawervlei stud farm

Sandy Arundel

Playgate SA

• Cape Thoroughbred Sales press release dated August 10, 2022