CLASSY IGUGU TO TACKLE SOUTH AFRICAN TRIPLE TIARA
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 05:18AM 
Click above to watch Igugu winning the Joburg Spring F&M Challenge (Grade 3)
(Image : JC Photos/Eco-H2O - Footage : Tellytrack)
“…there will be plum pickings overseas
later in her career.”
News from Mike de Kock Racing is that top class filly, Igugu, is likely to make her return to the racetrack at the end of February in the R500,000 Gauteng Fillies Guineas (Grade 2); the first leg of the South African Triple Tiara.
The long-striding three-year-old is enjoying a well-deserved break after finishing second to Ebony Flyer in the Cape Fillies Guineas (Grade 1) at Kenilworth on 4 December last year. In the weeks following the Guineas a 50% share of Igugu was acquired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum of Dubai.
“There is no reason for concern,” he commented. “I don’t want to race Igugu just for the sake of winning local features when there will be plum pickings overseas later in her career. She’s talented with a bright future ahead of her and we have a long-term plan for her.”
“We decided to bypass the latter part of the Cape season because we don’t want to risk over-racing her. I made a mistake running Mother Russia virtually through four seasons in 2009 and 2010 and she went off the boil in the middle of last year. Saturday’s L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate showed that her rest did Mother Russia the world of good, but we’ll be racing Igugu sparingly, I don’t want to risk facing a similar situation.”
“We’re all looking forward to her return but we will stick to our long-term goals,” he added.
Igugu, an import by Galileo from Zarinia (by Intikhab), has won three of five starts including the Joburg Spring Fillies and Mares Challenge (Grade 3) and has earned R643,125 in stakes. Her mame means “Jewel” in Zulu and she fetched R1 million at the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.
Extract from Mike de Kock Racing
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