When Going Gets Tough Businessmen Buy Horses.

(From Moneyweb (South Africa) - AAGM)

Byline: Alec Hogg

Strength of the bidding at last week's National Yearling Sales caught many by surprise. Apart from a 31% increase in the aggregate, the five year old record price of R900 000, was shattered when furniture manufacturers Ebrahim and Yusuf Khan paid R1.7m for an imposing colt named Scarlet Pimpernel.

Half an hour earlier the Khans, who hail from Stanger in KZN, paid R1.2m for another colt, Battersea Park. Both horses will be looked after by young trainer Weiho Mawing (31), whose brother Weichong is one of the leading jockeys in Hong Kong.

The Khans' big spending overshadowed that of …