DAWN APPROACH DOMINATES QIPCO 2000 GUINEAS

Watch Dawn Approach winning the QIPCO 2000 Guineas
(Image : CNN - Footage : Racing UK)

QIPCO 2000 GUINEAS (Group 1)
Newmarket, Turf, 1609m
4 May 2013

After a few days that have done much to derail the Godolphin train, one of the operation’s finest buys of recent times Dawn Approach (Ire) (New Approach) sprung to the rescue with a dominant display in Saturday’s Group 1 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas.

Briefly threatened for favoritism in the betting market beforehand and in the race itself by Toronado (Ire) (High Chaparral), the unbeaten Dawn Approach, who had already garnered the Group 2 Coventry Stakes, Group 1 National Stakes and Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes, settled the so-called “match” in a matter of strides heading down into Newmarket’s “dip”. Surging away up the rising ground, the 11-8 favorite scored by five lengths from the enterprisingly-ridden 150-1 outsider Glory Awaits (Ire) (Choisir) and in doing so justified his breeder and trainer Jim Bolger’s description of him as “awesome” earlier this spring. More importantly, he was also providing Bolger’s Coolcullen yard with a long-overdue first success in this Classic.

“I didn’t expect him to win by five lengths, but was very impressed and, as you, the press, would say, I am blown away,” the elder Statesman of the Irish training ranks said. “He can only improve from here, as he has been very lazy at home and it has not been easy to get the right amount of work into him and be kind at the same time.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

SA RACING 'ON SHOW' ON SUPER SATURDAY

Click above to watch Shea Shea winning the Meydan Sprint (Listed)
(Image and Footage : Dubai Racing Meydan)

EMIRATES AIRLINE SUPER SATURDAY
Meydan, Dubai
9 March 2013

Star South African sprinter Shea Shea reigned victorious for Mike de Kock’s stable on Super Saturday at Meydan on an occasion at which members of trainer Saeed bin Suroor’s mighty Godolphin string overpowered the opposition in four of the seven thoroughbred contests, including two Group 1’s. Godolphin’s powerhouses ran gallant De Kock campaigners down in the dying stages of two races, preventing what would have been a massively successful evening for South Africa’s leading trainer.

All the same, Super Saturday proved to be another good advertisement for South Africa’s racing industry. In addition to winning the Listed Meydan Sprint over 1000m in track record time with the super impressive Shea Shea, Mike saddled three seconds and a fourth place.

The five-year-old gelding, Shea Shea, is owned in partnership by the Bidvest Group’s founder Brian Joffe and his long-time business associate Myron Berzack. They bought him for former South African Champion Trainer Geoff Woodruff, who prepared him for eight wins in his native country, including two Grade 1’s.

Shea Shea, ridden by Christophe Soumillon, won in spectacular fashion. He closely tracked the leaders approaching the 400m mark, then took command with a minimum of fuss. He won unextended, putting an easy 2.5-lengths between himself, the runner-up Sole Power and 14 other rivals. Among them were the individual winners of one Group 1 race, two Group 2’s, two Group 3’s and six Listed events. The manner of Shea Shea’s win was a huge thrill for his connections and supporters all over the world, but Mike enjoyed even better moments on the gelding’s return to the winner’s enclosure.

He said afterwards: “Brian and Geoff flew over to watch the race and to witness Brian’s pure joy was heartwarming. To see a man who conducts billion dollar deals almost every day of the week overcome with emotion and pride was hugely gratifying. Geoff, too, was proud as punch. He came along to support what was formerly his yard’s best horse and while it couldn’t have been easy, he participated with a touching enthusiasm. My sincere thanks go to Geoff and his team for teaching Shea Shea the ropes as a young horse, bringing him through the ranks so successfully and passing him on to us for his international exploits.”

Mike said that Shea Shea would be aimed at the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint ($1million) over the same course and distance on Dubai World Cup night, Saturday 13 March - the same race won by South African-bred JJ The Jet Plane in 2011. He added: “Shea Shea is a terrific horse. He just needed his Dubai debut on 31 January when he finished five lengths off the winner, gained experience on the track and wasn’t punished to finish closer. He’s made massive improvement since, working with him has been awesome!”

Mike was full of praise, too, for another South African-bred runner The Apache (Soumillon), who ran his heart out in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta over 1800m on turf, taking second to Godolphin’s formidable mare Sajjhaa, beaten only three-quarters of a length. He said: “The Apache is a much improved horse and he ran out of his skin. Coming to the 200m-mark he had the race by the scruff of the neck and we were getting ready to celebrate when Sajhaa came storming up to deny him a big win.” Champion mare Igugu was in the firing line at the business end, but ran out of steam again, confirming Mike’s pre-race assessment that she was still below best and that this run would serve to bring her to a peak.

Earlier in the day Zahee (Soumillon) had also fallen prey to a late-charging Godolphin representative, Secret Number, in the Listed Al Bastakiya over 1900m. “Zahee ran a cracker too. He gave his absolute best, but Godolphin’s battleship packed too much class. It’s hard to compete against them, sometimes discouraging when you have a good horse racing at his peak and doing everything right, only to be stuck away close to the line by yet another of Saeed bin Suroor’s high-class prospects. But we live to fight another day,” Mike mused.

Await The Dawn, strongly fancied to win the Group 2 Dubai City Of Gold over 2410m following a return to his capable best, surprisingly also found one to beat him. The conqueror came from Marco Botti’s stable in the form of seven-year-old entire Jakkalberry, lurking on the heels of Await The Dawn as they turned for home. The big stayer was pulled out for a run, kicked swiftly into stride and sneakily pinched three-quarters of a length on the well-backed favourite. “It slipped our minds that Marco Botti’s horse came into this race having won ten races, including a Group 1 early in his career. He’d also finished close up in third in last year’s Melbourne Cup. That was a brilliant run and indicative of his ability. He’s absolutely no slouch and produced his best on the night to beat us. I’m not going to use the pace or anything else as an excuse; we were beaten by a good horse. That’s just the way it happened. This is racing!”

Extract from Mike de Kock Racing

IGUGU DOESN'T DISGRACE IN BALANCHINE RETURN

Click above to watch Sajjhaa winning the Balanchine (Group 2)
(Image and footage : Dubai Racing Meydan)

US$200,000 BALANCHINE (Group 2)
Meydan, Turf, 1800m
21 February 2013

“Igugu will be back to do us proud,” said Mike de Kock after South Africa’s champion mare proved to be well in need of her first run in 13 months at Meydan on Thursday night. She finished third in the Group 2 Balanchine over 1800m on turf; beaten 4,25-lengths by Godolphin’s smart filly, Sajjhaa.

Igugu’s failure to win after all the hype around her was a disappointment to some of her followers, but Mike did advise pre-race that she was short of her peak and that a victory on her international debut would be no foregone conclusion. For the stable, this was a more than satisfactory return for the mare, who hadn’t seen a racetrack since winning Cape Town’s J&B Met (Grade 1) in January 2012 and had to travel halfway around the world to reach her destination in the UAE.

The race was run at a cracking pace and Mike assessed: “They went at breakneck speed and Igugu was fresh and pulling some to go with them. She got involved in a duel of speed with Godolphin’s pacemaker, Dark Orchid, the fractions were very fast. Igugu got tired in the stretch, but she stayed to the line and she wasn’t disgraced at all considering the factors involved. The fact that Dark Orchid faded right out - she was beaten almost 20 lengths, shows just how fast the clip was.”

Mike said that Igugu would be aimed next at the Jebel Hatta over 1800m on Super Saturday, 9 March. “She will improve many lengths in the next two weeks and we hope to have her near her best on the day.”

Igugu’s part-owner Andre Macdonald flew to Dubai to support the mare he races in partnership with Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum and Mike said: “Mr Mac is a real sport and he took it on the chin, it was nice to have him here. He understands racing. Horses can’t go on winning and winning and Igugu faced a hard task tonight.”

Extract from Mike de Kock Racing

FREELANCE FOR FRANKIE

Frankie Dettori
(Image : CNN)

“We haven’t seen the last of Senor Dettori”

When Godolphin’s star jockey, Frankie Dettori took the ride on the opposition Coolmore’s Camelot in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr.1) a fortnight back, we thought we’d struck a new angle in predicting a rift between jockey and employer was unavoidable, and that the winds were “certainly a changin”. Yet someone out there even accused us of “sour grapes”, though what that had to do with the battle between Coolmore and Godolphin, we don’t know.

The truth is, you didn’t have to be a genius to know that this was something of a thumb on the nose from Dettorri to his erstwhile employers, and whatever the reasons, that’s how life is. Either way, nobody has a monopoly on anybody else’s money or services, and it seems we were on the money in suggesting that Frankie might be on his way. Just yesterday, the website of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation read “Frankie Dettorri will not be retained by Godolphin next year”.

Dettori, whose 18-year spell in the royal blue began with the ride on the operation’s first Classic winner, Ballanchine in 1994, has registered 110 pattern race successes for the firm in total. According to Godolphin’s racing manager, Simon Crisford, “Frankie has made the difference between winning and losing on so many occasions in the world’s biggest races. However he is looking for a fresh challenge, and we felt that the retainer was not really working, so this is the best way forward.” If riding for the enemy in the Arc was not what was meant by “the retainer is not really working”, it’s anybody’s guess what it might mean.

And while Dettori may not always be counted upon to be the arch diplomat, he certainly played this one like he was blessed by the Vatican, “I’ve had 18 wonderful years. Godolphin has been a major part of what I’ve achieved in racing, and I’ve loved every minute of it. I feel the time has come for a change. My position in the stable has changed a little bit, and I need a new challenge. Sheikh Mohammed had the confidence to take me on board when I was young, and we smashed every record together”.

One thing you can count on: we haven’t seen the last of Senor Dettori.

COOLMORE vs DARLEY : THE WINDS OF CHANGE

“Rumblings within the Godolphin Camp”

The announcement this week that Frankie Dettori would be taking the mount on Camelot in Sunday’s renewal of Europe’s greatest horse race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr.1), was pretty matter-of-fact. Yet there is a strong underlying political message in it. You see, Frankie Dettori is one of the world’s top jockeys of all time, and for well over a decade, he has been the unrivalled favourite of his employer, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. His annual retainer was rumoured to be in the millions of dollars, and besides being rewarded for every ride and the commissions that accrue to jockeys on their prize money, he was showered with lavish presents for big race victories.

Some seven or eight years ago, Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin racing operation was pretty much at the summit of the sport’s most successful racing operations. Ironically, the Sheikh chose that time to declare war on their principal adversaries, Coolmore. Nobody really knows the reasons behind it, but it was suspected that the Sheikh felt the commercial traffic between the two operations was “one-way”. He was providing liberal patronage for the Coolmore stallions, and was spending vast sums on their progeny at sales venues around the world. Coolmore were seldom if ever seen to put their hands up in the auction ring for a Darley (Sheikh Mohammed’s breeding arm) sired yearling, and they never sent a mare to any of the Sheikh’s own stallions. Besides, Sheikh Mohammed had established a global showpiece in Dubai’s World Cup meeting at the end of March, boasting the world’s richest prize money, and there was scarcely a Coolmore horse in sight.

It has to be said though, that at the time Coolmore presided over the most formidable band of stallion material in Europe (if not the world), and that really was the reason behind the Sheikh’s regular dominance of the market for youngsters sired by these stallions. In simple terms, he wanted to be the best, and so he had to buy the best. At the same time, Coolmore were also his principal opposition at the races, and they too wanted to own the best, so that they not only competed with the Sheikh in the sales ring, (which meant that quite often they were pushing him to pay substantially more for stock in which they may sometimes have owned an interest as well), but they had the luxury (and indeed, satisfaction) of being able to sell him services in numbers to their stallions. They had obviously taken a commercial decision as far as the patronage of the Sheikh’s stallions was concerned, and felt they could do better by continuing to use their own, a point borne out by results at the races. And when it came to the World Cup, Coolmore considered the timing inopportune: by March, their horses were in need of rest after demanding  European campaigns.

For obvious reasons, lean times followed for the Godolphin operation in the wake of the declaration of war, and Coolmore have pretty much had the European racing scene to themselves since then, with the progeny of Sadler’s Wells, Galileo, Montjeu, Danehill, Giant’s Causeway and Danehill Dancer, and the associated Maktoum entities have pretty much been feeding on the left-overs.

In the midst of all this, Frankie Dettori remained staunchly “Sheikh Mohammed”, and those who follow the game closely will recall many an embrace, particularly in their heyday, between jockey and master following a big race victory.

In more recent times though, there have been rumblings within the Godolphin camp about Frankie’s position as the “chosen one”, and that of the new pretender to his throne, Mickael Barzalona, who has had the pick of the rides in recent seasons. That there is a rift developing, whatever they may say, is unavoidable, and in his appointment to ride Camelot, arguably the best middle distance three-year-old Europe has seen in some years, (perhaps decades), there are two messages. Coolmore have laid down a challenge by employing Sheikh Mohammed’s darlin’ and the winds are certainly a changin’.