The story of Northern Dancer being passed over by yearling buyers is one I keep coming back to. Even at a modest price he was deemed too small.

Breeder E.P. Taylor’s strategy at Windfield was to pre-price all his yearlings, which were then offered by private sale off the farm. Anything that didn’t sell went into training for his account. We all know how well that turned out for him with Northern Dancer, but the little bay that won two legs of the US Triple Crown was by no means the only homebred star that Taylor raced.

The part that intrigued me was this thing of private sales off the farm, whereby all the yearlings were pre-priced and then the horsemen made their choices.

Circumstances relating to this year’s crop of Normandy yearlings have thrust us into a similar situation (although I’m not suggesting any parity with the mighty Windfields Farm).

The first – potentially disastrous – occurrence was our yearlings breaking through a fence on the night of 2 August. Fortunately, there were no broken legs, but a few picked up cosmetic scarring as a result of cuts and scrapes.

Then, after entries had closed for the BSA Cape Yearling Sale, we discovered that our much-loved sales channel, the Race Coast October Two-Year-Old Sale, would no longer have a breeze-up section.

Therefore, we have 15 yearlings that are available direct off the farm. Sires represented are Legislate, Jet Dark, The United States and more.

Our participation in the conventional yearling auction programme remains intact, with five yearlings on Race Coast’s Premier Yearling Sale in March.

We don’t ‘push’ our sales yearlings at the best of times, but the group of 15 is available to view pretty much as nature intended. They cover the spectrum from August to November foals. The immaturity of some will reward the horsemen who can cast ahead to imagine fully-grown racehorses.

It goes without saying that they represent our best families, including those of Equus Champions Rio Querari, Mother Russia and Winter Solstice, not to mention Grade I winners like Sergeant Hardy.

Pricing starts at R80k, with an average price that’s in the vicinity of regional sales.

It’s first come, first served. We look forward to showing them to you!

Please contact Oscar Foulkes (083 297 3402 or oscar@normandystud.co.za).