On 26 January 2011 many years of hard work and training will finally come to culmination when three of the Western Cape’s five grooms’ cooperative schemes will sell their thoroughbred horses at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
The grooms’ cooperative weanling scheme is a result of the grooms training programmes which was started eight years ago by the Cape Breeders Club. The training on horsemanship and general life skills was complemented by a mentorship programme for the grooms on business management, account keeping and taxation funded by the Department of Agriculture in the Western Cape. The mentorship programme also saw three co-op chairmen from the Western Cape joining Racing South Africa’s export marketing mission to the United Kingdom (UK) in September 2010, allowing them to receive valuable information and forming international contacts.
This mentorship programme was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Western Cape and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Gerrit van Rensburg attended the official launch of the grooms’ cooperative scheme at the 2010 Equus awards. Minister van Rensburg says: “This is an exciting development and breakthrough for a black economic empowerment (BEE) scheme in the thoroughbred industry and we are very proud of their achievements.”
Profits made by the sale of the yearlings at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale will be reinvested into the cooperative for a period of three years during which time additional horses will be purchased and sold each year. At the end of the three years members will be required to vote on investment of profits. The Cape Premier Yearling Sale is expected to nett a total of R100 million in sales.
Enquries:
Petro van Rhyn
Tel: 021 808 5008
Cell: 071 231 7576
E-mail: petrovr@elsenburg.com
