R300K Raised at Ladies day

Ladies Day was celebrated in style this past Saturday at Kenilworth
Racecourse with over R 300 000 being raised for the Sunflower Fund.

The highlight of the very well-attended event was the auctioning of
‘Spending Spree’.
Special thanks must go to owners Marsh Shirtliff and Bryn Ressell who
donated this magnificent filly by Jay Peg out of a Jet Master mare, bred by
Hemel ‘n Aarde Stud.
Brett Crawford is once again donating his training services free of charge.

The Sunflower Fund is a non-profit organisation with a vision to give all
South Africans diagnosed with leukaemia and other life-threatening blood
disorders the chance of life, irrespective of their race and financial
circumstances. The Fund’s core purpose is to educate, recruit and raise
funds to build and sustain an effective and diverse South African Bone
Marrow Registry so as to improve the chances of life-saving transplants for
serious blood disorder sufferers.

Due to the 1:100 000 chance of finding a compatible donor, at least 100 000
donors are needed for a Registry to function effectively and in South
Africa, the Registry should ideally have 400 000 donors representative of
all ethnic groups. In South Africa they are currently on 70 000.

“We are so grateful to Kenilworth Racing for choosing The Sunflower Fund as
the beneficiary of the auction of the filly Spending Spree. We are
delighted with the very generous amount received for the auction on
Saturday 15 August. All monies received will be used to include new donors
onto The South African Bone Marrow Registry so if a child is diagnosed with
leukaemia or any other life threatening blood disorder, we hope they will
be able to find their donor match. The chances of finding your match are 1
in 100 000 within your own ethnic group. It costs The Sunflower Fund R2000
each time we put a new donor onto the registry. This generous amount will
enable us to recruit no less than 150 donors and will give hope to those
diagnosed with leukaemia or any other life threatening blood disorder,”
says Janine le Roux of the Sunflower Fund.

Thanks must also go to the other great sponsors which brought more glamour
and excitement to the day, including Land Rover, Betting World, Perdeberg
Wines, Desray Design, Samara Private Game Reserve, Club Travel, Elite
Charter, Dermalogica, Kitchen Aid, Nima Consulting, AMT’s, Rustica
Restaurant and African Extracts Rooibos.

South Africa’s own “Giggling Gourmet", celebrity chef Jenny Morris, was the
Master of Ceremonies for the Day and once again displayed her recipe for
success by ‘entertaining informatively and informing entertainingly,"
something she does with flair.

The food on the day was fantastic and additional entertainment was provided
by Dr Darren Green and Kim Kallie. The venue for the day, the Peninsula
Room, was beautifully decorated by the every talented Julie Killias events
team.

A further fundraising element from Saturday was the auction of ‘’Harper The
Horse”, a mascot that was glitzily dressed in keeping with the day’s
“Vegas” theme. The proceeds of R14 000 from the auction was donated to the
Horse Care Unit.

Not one of the ladies attending the races on Saturday left empty handed,
with great prizes being won and everyone receiving a goodie bag.
Due to Ladies Day fast becoming one of the most popular days on the Western
Cape racing calendar, plans will already be in place for a bigger and even
better day in 2016. Watch this space!