DUBAI FLASH : ANOTHER BIG NIGHT FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Mike de Kock and Christophe Soumillon
(Image : SA Pride/HKJC)

MIKE DE KOCK
DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RACING CARNIVAL

Mike de Kock is a legend in Dubai, but that probably also applies to most parts of the world. It was here that he first really made his international mark, having been the Champion Trainer in the Emirates on several previous occasions. By any of his best standards though, five winners in the first two meetings this year, including both the Guineas Trials (for fillies and colts), would have to be rated alongside his best.

Chatting to him about Imbongi’s condition for this evening’s Jaguar XJ Trophy, he mentioned how pleased he was at the Trial victories, suggesting Musir could well be up with the best three-year-colts currently in Dubai, while Raihana could be something special. That’ll warm the hearts of Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa’s team, for sure.

Multiple champion French jockey, Christophe Soumillon, takes the ride on Imbongi, whom De Kock says has been working well on the Tapeta surface, though it remains to be seen what he’ll be like under race conditions. He does say though, that the horse is only 85% fit, and having to give up to 7kgs to the field, his performance is going to hinge to a fairly significant degree, on his fitness.

He runs over seven furlongs, the trip at which he demolished five Grade One winners in the Drill Hall Stakes (Gr.2) as a three year old during the Durban season, so that’s not a problem; we’ll have our eyes glued on Tellytrack (Channel 232) at 19:10 pm this evening.

IMBONGI : RETURN OF THE WARRIOR

Imbongi - John Bovington Memorial Criterion Stakes Gr3, Newmarket UK
(Photo : Chris Bourchier)

MEYDAN RACECOURSE
5 FEBRUARY 2010

In Zulu, Imbongi means “praise singer”, and we hope that, following a successful Graded Stakes-winning season in Britain, we’ll be singing his praises come the end of the Dubai Carnival.

The former Champion Three Year Old miler came out of his last race in England a touch on the sore side, and the maestro, Mike de Kock, gave him a long rest at Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s private establishment in Dubai.

He’s apparently come back full of the joys, and in his entry in the US$150,000 Jaguar XJ Trophy over 1400m on Friday at 19:10pm (SA time), he has two principle hurdles to overcome. The first is his condition, as nobody knows how fit he is, and it will definitely count as he takes on a pretty accomplished field to whom he gives weight all round (he goes to post with 60kgs). The other of course, is the fact he’s never competed on an artificial surface, and the new Meydan track has been laid with Tapeta. While the reports are that the track is riding well, it’s a matter of individual preference as to whether a horse takes to it or not.

An indication of the mountain he has to climb is that he has to give more than a stone to the accomplished South African Graded Stakes winner, Wonder Lawn, as well the highly performed Irish runner, Stubbs Art. He needs to get this one under his belt though, if he’s going to have any impact on the Carnival, and so we hope he has the condition to make a sort of race of it.

JAGUAR XJ TROPHY
MEYDAN TAPETA 1400M
FINAL FIELD

#	Draw	Horse	Age	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1	8	IMBONGI	6	60.0	C Soumillon	Mike de Kock
2	4	SUMMIT SURGE	6	59.5	K Fallon	Luca Cumani
3	11	WEST SIDE BERNIE	4	59.0	L Dettori	Saeed Bin Suroor
4	5	MUNADDAM	8	58.5	R Hills	Erwan Charpy
5	10	DERBAAS	4	54.5	T O’Shea	Ali Rashid Al Raihe
6	3	ANS BACH	7	53.0	W Buck	Shurba Selaratnam
7	2	AQMAAR	6	53.0	D Badel	Erwan Charpy
8	6	BARBECUE EDDIE	6	53.0	W Supple	Doug Watson
9	12	NOBLE CITIZEN	5	53.0	R Mullen	David Simcock
10	1	STUBBS ART	5	53.0	T Durcan	Mike de Kock
11	9	TASDEER	5	53.0	W Smith	Doug Watson
12	7	WONDER LAWN	7	53.0	D O’Donohoe	Mike de Kock