MIKE DE KOCK ON 2010 DURBAN JULY FORM

River Jetez - J&B Met 2010
(Photo : Gold Circle)

VODACOM DURBAN JULY
Greyville, 31 July 2010

David Thiselton Gold CircleVodacom Durban July pundits around the country will be asking during the next two weeks “where is that German octopus when we need him” and the man with seven horses in this year’s race, Mike de Kock, agreed that the form leading into the big race also has him “stumped”.

Mike de Kock began by saying that he was happy with his horses’ draws. “We’ve got the whole field covered although the 19 and 20 draws have been reserved for me as usual.” Talking of the pace he said, “They tell me Red Rake likes to stride along, but I’m not sure that suits him best. We might actually want it slower for some of our horses, but we will discuss tactics closer to the time.”

He confirmed that all seven of his horses were doing very well before adding, “I have no real fancies among them. The weights might have swung aganst some of the three-year-olds, but have swung into Lizarre’s favour. If you look at his last race in the Pinnacle Plate he went close despite the slow pace, so it was a very good run. Now he has a pull in the weights with the older horses there (although he doesn’t have a pull with the three-year-old winner Flying Tristram). He also has a pull in the weights with Irish Flame and Bold Silvano from the Daily News 2000. He has an obvious chance, but then he is drawn 20.”

“Bold Silvano and Irish Flame are both very, very well. There are two schools of thought regarding the three-year-olds these days. Firstly history would say they have a lot to do at the weights. But secondly a lot of the best older horses have left the country, which could be why the three-year-olds have been dominant. The race this year is also at the end of the month which gives the three-year-olds a weight-for-age advantage. The three-year-olds have campaigned much more against the older horses this year due to the race being at the end of July. But I can’t really make my mind up about them.”

“The form is so topsy turvy. Bold Silvano beat Aslan in the Greyville 1900, but Aslan’s subsequent form hasn’t seen that form stand up. Orbison was well beaten in Jo’burg, but then comes and runs the race of his life in the Champions Cup.”

“But in that race two horses that turned for home in the first three were first and second and the second horse, Galileo’s Galaxy, was previously well beaten in a Pinnacle Plate and only just scraped home in a Graduation Plate against Directorate. But then again Flying Tristram’s form when beating Orbison in the Cup Trial stood up as he then won the Pinnacle Plate against Fort Vogue, Rudra, Lizarre and Aslan. The form is so upside down it has me stumped, but it is the three-year-olds that have thrown it like that by beating older horses.”

De Kock’s views on the three-year-olds have particular meaning this year as five of his seven runners - Irish Flame, Bold Silvano, Lizarre, Happy Valley and Ancestral Fore - are three, with his couple of older horses, Red Rake and Rudra, both being five.

De Kock said of the dangers from other yards, “The one horse that sticks out like a sore thumb to me is River Jetez. Whatever beats her will win. She is the one horse the handicapper has not been able to get his paws on to.” Regarding whether he reckoned River Jetez would stay a true 2200m or not, he said, “In 2008 she hit the front too soon and is an older stronger filly today.”

He did not see the Jeff Lloyd July jinx as a factor in River Jetez’s chances, “Muis Roberts had a July jinx but that didn’t stop him pipping me in 1997!” The Roberts-ridden Super Quality beat Golden Hoard by 0,75 lengths in that race and also ended something of a July jinx for the Ferraris family.

De Kock also mentioned Pocket Power, saying that although he was virtually eight-years-old he was yet to run a bad race.

2010 DURBAN JULY WEIGHTS ANNOUNCED

Pocket Power - “His Exploits are Legendary”
(Photo - Gold Circle) 

VODACOM DURBAN JULY
31 July 2010

Pocket Power has been allocated top weight of 60kg for “Africa’s Greatest Horserace”, the Vodacom Durban July, to be staged this year on 31 July at Greyville Racecourse.

Nicci Garner writes that Pocket Power’s rating has come down three points in the last month positioning South Africa’s ruling champion with a seemingly open run at an event he has already contested three times notching up a win, a fourth and a fifth placing.

The weights for the country’s premier event were announced yesterday and there were few surprises, although trainer Mike de Kock, who has won the race twice before - with Ipi Tombe in 2002 and Greys Inn in 2004 - will not be too thrilled with the 56kg his ruling favourite Irish Flame has been allotted.

Three-year-olds may have managed to win 10 of the last 20 renewals of this Grade 1 race, but none have succeeded in winning under weights in excess of 53kg. Even taking into account the across-the-board 2kg raise, Irish Flame will need to be exceptional to win under that impost.

Irish Flame will be piloted by Kevin Shea, who has now won the SA Derby and Gold Circle Derby as well as the Daily News 2000 on the son of Dynasty. He believes he is on the best horse : “The July is not easy. I’ve got a good ride and I think I’m on the best three-year-old at the moment.”

“I think my stable companions are the horses to beat. I respect horses like Pocket Power and River Jetez but I think our stable is going to have a very strong hand in the July - and if they’re all well on the day, I think they’re going to fight it out,” said Shea earlier this week.

Mike de Kock’s other big hopes in the Durban July are Greyville 1900 winner Bold Silvano (55.5kg), Gold Cup winner Ancestral Fore (55kg), Happy Valley (54kg) and new recruit Lizarre (53.5kg).

All four of them, as well as Rudra who will receive just 0.5kg from Pocket Power, are nearly guaranteed runs in the race and De Kock said on his website earlier this week : “The handicappers have not been lenient on the three-year-olds. They’re lumping the weight on them as if they don’t want them to win.” He also admitted that they had been on the boil for a long time. “But these horses are fit. They have to go out there and the best horse on the day will win.”

Herman Brown’s progressive and highly regarded Orbison galloped into the July picture last Saturday with his impressive win in the Champions Cup when Galileo’s Galaxy (who will be 2.5kg better off if he runs in the July and has attracted big money subsequently) finished second with Pocket Power (1.5kg better off) third and De Kock’s Bold Silvano (1.5kg better off) 3.75 lengths back in fourth. On the bare evidence, Orbison must be fancied to beat his conquests again.

Herman Brown, who will be taking Orbison to Dubai for the 2011 Dubai International Racing Carnival, said yesterday: “He’s a good horse and the way he won last Saturday was promising. He did it with some authority. Plus, he’s still improving. I believe he’ll be better at four and five than he is at three because he’s a tall, leggy horse who hasn’t developed his full strength yet.”

“But the Durban July under 55.5kg? The three-year-olds have become the heavy-weights in this race. It wasn’t long ago that the three-year-olds got 50 and 51kg - and maybe the handicappers are going overboard.”

“The three-year-olds are a decent bunch, though, and seem to be doing quite well,” he continued before suggesting a lack of depth in the older generations was the reason the three-year-olds looked so good.

Brown continued : “As it stands, the draw will be very important. If Orbison can draw in the first five or six it’ll make all the difference. Then I’ll say he’s one of three horses with a big chance in the July.”

Pocket Power’s stable companion Fort Vogue is currently the second favourite for the big race. The four-year-old will meet Irish Flame at level weights, while the Bass champion’s full-sister to Pocket Power, River Jetez, who has also been well backed in ante-post betting, is set to carry 1kg less.

Sean Tarry’s Summer Cup winner, Aslan, who was only pipped by Bold Silvano in the Greyville 1900 (often considered a good pointer to the July), has also attracted a good deal of money and, with 54.5kg. His supporters will be thrilled with their investment.

Important dates to note :

8 July 2010 : First Declaration
15 July 2010 : Final Field to be announced on Tellytrack
22 July 2010 : Public Gallops at Greyville Racecourse
31 July 2010 : Vodacom Durban July at Greyville Racecourse

VODACOM DURBAN JULY WEIGHTS

Horse	Age	Kg	MR	Trainer
POCKET POWER	7 G	60.0	117	Mike Bass
RUDRA	5 H	59.5	116	Mike de Kock
FABIANI	4 G	56.5	110	Glen Kotzen
IRISH FLAME	3 C	56.0	113	Mike de Kock
FORT VOGUE	4 G	56.0	109	Mike Bass
BOLD SILVANO	3 C	55.5	112	Mike de Kock
ORBISON	3 G	55.5	112	Herman Brown
RED RAKE	5 G	55.5	108	Michael De Beer
ANCESTRAL FORE	3 G	55.0	111	Mike de Kock
RIVER JETEZ	6 M	55.0	107	Mike Bass
ASLAN	4 G	54.5	106	Sean Tarry
FOREST PATH	4 G	54.5	106	Stephen Page
LOVE IS IN THE AIR	4 F	54.5	106	Mike Bass
HAPPY VALLEY (ARG)	3 G	54.0	109	Mike de Kock
CAPTAIN SCOTT	4 G	54.0	105	Alec Laird
LIZARRE	3 C	53.5	108	Mike de Kock
GRAFTON STREET	8 G	53.5	104	Mike Stewart
RUSSIAN SAGE	5 H	53.5	104	Justin Snaith
BULSARA	3 G	53.0	106	Gavin van Zyl
ECHOHAWK	3 G	53.0	106	Dominic Zaki
GALILEO’S GALAXY (AUS)	3 C	53.0	106	Charles Laird
TALES OF BRAVERY	3 G	53.0	106	Vaughan Marshall
AL’S DEPUTY	3 G	53.0	105	Kumaran Naidoo
FLYING TRISTRAM	3 G	53.0	105	Charles Laird
EXHILIRATION	3 C	53.0	104	Dominic Zaki
SERVICE ACE	3 G	53.0	104	Mike Bass
STRAIGHT FORWARD	3 G	53.0	102	Mike de Kock
VERTICAL TAKEOFF	4 G	53.0	101	Sean Tarry
GALANTHUS	3C	53.0	100	Tyrone Zackey
KILLARIDGE (ZIM)	5 G	53.0	100	Weiho Marwing
NOBLEWOOD	5G	53.0	100	Stephen Page
STRATEGIC NEWS (AUS)	6 H	53.0	100	Herman Brown
WINTER’S NIGHT	3 G	53.0	100	Neil Bruss
DELLOTTO	3 C	53.0	99	Kumaran Naidoo
SPEED FOR GOLD	5 G	53.0	99	Dennis Drier
BOUQUET-GARNI	4 G	53.0	98	Gavin van Zyl
FORT PETERSBERG	3 G	53.0	97	Dominic Zaki
KING FERNANDO	3 G	53.0	96	Doug Campbell
SUPERFEDERATION	4 G	53.0	94	Gary Alexander
CALL TO COMBAT	4 C	53.0	91	St John Gray
SALUKI (GB)	4 G	53.0	91	Michael de Beer
WITTENBERG	3 C	53.0	90	Gavin van Zyl
CITIZEN DANTE (AUS)	5 G	53.0	87	Glen Kotzen
ROYAL ROCKER (AUS)	3 G	53.0	82	Tony Rivalland
TOP MARK (BRZ)	3 C	53.0	0	Mike de Kock
HERE TO WIN (BRZ)	3 F	52.0	102	Mike de Kock
GOAT	4 F	52.0	101	Paul Lafferty
IMPERIOUS STAR	3 F	52.0	99	Glen Kotzen
SANGRIA GIRL	5 M	52.0	98	Greg Ennion
FLIRTATION	3 F	52.0	97	Mike de Kock
EQUIPARADA (ARG)	3 F	52.0	94	Mike de Kock

Gold Circle 6 July 2010

ORBISON : CHAMPIONS CUP VIDEO AND RESULTS

Click above to watch the 2010 Champions Cup (Gr1)
(Photo : Gold Circle - Footage : Tellytrack)

R750,000 CHAMPIONS CUP (Grade 1)
Clairwood, 1800m, Turf
3 July 2010

RACE RESULT :

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	ORBISON	54.0	106	1	R Danielson	Herman Brown
2	2.50	GALILEO’S GALAXY (AUS)	54.0	106	10	F Coetzee	Charles Laird
3	3.25	POCKET POWER	60.0	119	11	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
4	3.75	BOLD SILVANO	55.5	112	9	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
5	6.50	CAPTAIN SCOTT	56.0	105	3	S Randolph	Alec Laird
6	8.00	RED RAKE	56.5	108	7	R Fourie	Michael De Beer
7	8.75	SMART BANKER	60.0	116	6	A Marcus	Charles Laird
8	12.00	RUDRA	57.5	116	4	K Shea	Mike de Kock
9	13.50	NOORDHOEK FLYER (SNL)	56.5	112	2	K Neisius	Dean Kannemeyer
10	14.75	FABIANI	56.5	111	8	P Strydom	Glen Kotzen
11	80.75	DAN DE LAGO	55.0	111	5	P Whitmore	Charles Laird

POCKET POWER, ROGER FEDERER AND THE CHAMPIONS CUP

Pocket Power
(Photo : Gold Circle / Summerhill Stud) 

CHAMPIONS CUP (Gr1)
Clairwood, 1800m, 3 July 2010

Pocket Power finds himself in exactly the same position as six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, who made a surprise exit from the championships in the quarter finals on Wednesday, beaten by Czech Tomas Berdych.

Jack Milner writes that in his post match interview, Federer revealed that he had been suffering from a number of niggling injuries during the course of the tournament, something quite rare for the winner of a record 16 Grand Slams. 

The truth is that Federer, despite still retaining his zest for tennis, is getting on and the younger set have raised the bar considerably. 

Pocket Power’s trainer Mike Bass says that his charge still loves his racing, but he is almost eight years old and the competition is becoming tougher. So the champion is now at the crossroads and he will need to prove in Saturday’s Grade 1 Champions Cup over 1800m at Clairwood that he can still give the youngsters a run for their money. 

Everybody knows that if he brings his A-game to Clairwood then the Jet Master gelding will be tough to beat. However, that is no longer a certainty and as this event is a conditions race, he has to give weight to all but Smart Banker. 

Pocket Power’s exploits are legendary. He is one of the greatest horses to ever race in this country and I will be among those cheering for him at the 200m mark. However, jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe will need everything to go according to plan from No 11 draw, and will hope Pocket Power can find his celebrated finishing burst. 

Bass believes Pocket Power has come on from his Gold Challenge run, in which he finished third. “It’s harder to tell as he gets older. But he’s looking well. He’s drawn badly again as he always seems to be at Clairwood. I suppose the effect of the draw will depend on the pace.”

The dangers look to be Mike de Kock’s pairing of Bold Silvano and Rudra. Bold Silvano was not only a fast-finishing second to stablemate Irish Flame in the Daily News 2000, but beat a field of older horses to win the Betting World 1900m at Greyville. He looks ideally distance suited and has just 55.5kg to carry. 

Rudra ran on well in the Gold Challenge over 1600m and will prefer this extra 200m, although he may still need a little further. He gets 2.5kg from both Pocket Power and Smart Banker and Kevin Shea will jump from a No 4 draw. “According to the merit ratings they are both very well in at the weights and they’ve both had very good preps,” said De Kock.

He also said he was not worried about incurring a penalty for the upcoming Vodacom Durban July. “They are well handicapped so if they do win, any merit rating raise given will depend on who they beat. But I don’t believe in being blasé about future Grade 1s. You can out-scheme yourself in this game and you should take what you can get at the time.”

Smart Banker finished a short head off Pocket Power in the Gold Challenge but is better than that run suggests. According to trainer Charles Laird, his charge needed that outing. “I was easy on him after his hard race in testing going in the Champions Challenge at Turffontein. But it’s not going to be easy for him at the weights. Giving a horse like Rudra 2.5kg is going to be very tough. But he’s well.”

I find it difficult to get enthusiastic over the chances of Noordhoek Flyer and believe he is not value at his price, despite all the enthusing of trainer Dean Kannemeyer. He has only taken on three-year-olds and could even battle to beat them in this field. Whatever the excuses he was slammed 3.25 lengths by Bold Silvano in the Daily News and is now 1kg worse off. He is even held by Galileo’s Galaxy on their Guineas run at Kenilworth and Laird has indicated that the Galileo colt could be the stable ace.

“Galileo’s Galaxy came off a long break and needed his last two runs. He is ready for this race and at his best I would not put him far behind the best we have. This is the race we earmarked for him. Anton Marcus is very fit but finds it hard to get down to 54kg these days, so he’s taken the easier option and rides Smart Banker,” explained Laird. 

 FINAL FIELD

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	POCKET POWER	60.0	119	12	B Fayd’Herbe	Mike Bass
3	SMART BANKER	60.0	116	6	A Marcus	Charles Laird
4	RUDRA	57.5	116	4	K Shea	Mike de Kock
5	NOORDHOEK FLYER (SNL)	56.5	112	2	K Neisius	Dean Kannemeyer
6	FABIANI	56.5	111	9	P Strydom	Glen Kotzen
7	RED RAKE	56.5	108	7	R Fourie	Michael De Beer
8	CAPTAIN SCOTT	56.5	105	3	S Randolph	Alec Laird
9	BOLD SILVANO	55.5	112	10	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
10	DAN DE LAGO (AUS)	55.5	111	5	P Whitmore	Charles Laird
11	GALILEO’S GALAXY (AUS)	54.0	106	11	F Coetzee	Charles Laird
12	ORBISON	54.0	106	1	R Danielson	Herman Brown
	Late Scratching
2	BIG CITY LIFE	60.0	118	8	SCRATCHING	Glen Kotzen

SUPER GUINEAS SUNDAY

Left : Pierre Jourdan : Gauteng Guineas (Gr2)
Right : Fisani : Gauteng Fillies Guineas (Gr2)
(Photos : JC Photographics)

TURFFONTEIN RACECOURSE
28 FEBRUARY 2010

Mick GossOn the self same weekend in 2008, I was startled out of deep slumber by the kind of jolt none of us understand. In Australia for the Melbourne sale, my time zone had me 9 hours ahead of South Africa, and it was a “Guineas” premonition that sat me up. Affiliate to Sky Channel revealed the last moments of the Gauteng Guineas, and voila! Imbongi surged to the front in that instant, and it was over in strides.

Last night (back in Melbourne again) it was an SMS from my daughter Bronwyn, that raised the alarm. We all knew we had a big hand with Pierre Jourdan in the Colts version, but at 1.15am this was a bit earlier than we expected, Fisani it was, of six Mike de Kock entries in the Gauteng Fillies Guineas, who’d repelled the thrust of the “Aussie”, Generous Aura, to take the R500k event with a courageous rally, providing His Highness Sheikh Mohammed with his third Classic winner inside of a fortnight (following Musir and Raihana) in the UAE.

No Red Bull required to keep the eyelids open for the R1 million colts edition, and this time, Pierre Jourdan was clinical, getting away from his erstwhile Summerhill paddockmate, Havasha, by three, and destroying the hopes of Australia again as compatriots Galileo’s Galaxy and Flying Tristram struggled on for the minor money. It’s always good taking on the boys from Down Under, but even better when you’re in your own backyard.

This was a helluva result for Summerhill in general, and for the Emperors Palace Ready To Run in particular. The first three protagonists home in the R1,5 million race by that name, was the Fillies Guineas first, and first and second in the Colts Guineas. No matter your politics, this was a shattering blow to those that would deny the nation’s fourth richest race, its Black type status any longer. Only a bigot could resist henceforth, and we must hope that the powers that manage these things, will finally acknowledge the need to join the rest of the world, and give the race the recognition it deserves.