Mike de Kock had a disappointing Betway Summer Cup Day, with the well-fancied Dave The King, Greaterix and Silver Sanctuary running below expectations. But there are silver linings to every cloud, and the stable sent out two promising winners earlier this week.
Mike said about Dave The King: “We discovered blood in his trachea, he hasn’t bled before and perhaps the very warm weather had something to do with it, we can’t say for sure. He came to his best in the winter season in KZN last year, perhaps he is just simply better suited to a cooler climate. We won’t be going to the King’s Plate with him, rather focus on building him up again in 2025. Same for Silver Sanctuary, you can draw a line through her Cup run.”
Greaterix set the pace and was outgunned by champion filly, Quid Pro Quo, finishing third. “He went too hard early and pulled up a bit distressed. But we couldn’t have beaten the winner, she is a really top class filly who looks like she’ll defeat anything they bring to challenge her. Greaterix will be back, he has a good career ahead of him.”
Three-year-old Heather’s Boy rounded off his hat-trick in a 1600m contest at
Turffontein on Tuesday with merit of form in his win over the older runner, Guy Gibson. Jockey Craig Zackey believes Heather’s Boy will come into his own over 2000mn, which puts a race like the Cape Derby on his radar, but he will be going via the Grade 1 Cape Guineas. Mike said: “There is a seriously good horse in Cape Town, Vaughan Marshall’s One Stripe, but this is what racing is about. One has to measure your runners against the best, so we’ll take our chances.”
Mike will be travelling to Cape Town next week for Heather’s Boy’s arrival from Johannesburg, and to oversee his preparation for the Cape Guineas, scheduled for next Saturday, 14 December.
Mike has only two runners this weekend, both on the standside track at Turffontein.
Cherry Oh Baby returns to the track, having been rested since March. She’s in Race 2 over 1160m. Mike commented: “She’s a filly that has shown us a certain amount of ability but she’s had niggles, hence her long absence from racing. She returns fresh, will need the run and will prefer further, but she can earn a stake, she should run well.”
Calantha (Race 8, 1160m), races for a syndicate of ladies, who are excited about her career. She’s also had her setbacks and had to undergo knee surgery earlier this year, but she’s better off for it and her comeback run in November was encouraging. She is 2kg better off with Mike and Adam Azzie’s filly Francine for a 1.25-length beating, and Mike said: “She has been all good since her surgery, we’re expecting another good run. She’s won over the course and distance and is in with a chance.”
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The Cape summer season is in full swing and the classic races kick off at Kenilworth on Saturday with the running of the Grade 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas. This race will take place without champion filly Quid Pro Quo, who has a campaign in Johannesburg mapped out for her. The good form fillies who ran behind her in Graded races last season are likely to frank the form in this prestigious race.
Dean Kannemeyer’s Gimmie’s Countess, who was unlucky not to have won the Grade 1 Alan Robertson Championship last June when she was unable to get a clear run and still finished within a length of Quid Pro Quo, looks to have a touch more class than her rivals and could bag her own first major success.
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