DESERT TUNES : THE M.F. DE KOCK MACHINE ROLLS ON

Click above to watch Bold Silvano winning the 2010 Vodacom Durban July (Gr1)
(Image : Gold Circle - Footage : SABC 3)

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RACING CARNIVAL
2011 UPDATE

There’s been quite a bit of comment recently on this site about the racing in Dubai at this season’s carnival, and which horses are likely to run where. We were on the line with Mike de Kock earlier, about our own horse, Imbongi, whom he says is likely to take his place in the Godolphin Mile (Gr.2) on World Cup night. Mike thinks he’s pretty much booked his place already with his excellent performance in the Dubai Duty Free (Gr.1) and his follow up runs this year, but feels he’s better off on the more forgiving surface of the tapeta, now that he’s in his third season in Dubai.

Exactly which horses will go to the Duty Free remains to be settled, but Raihana we guess, could be one of them. It’s really his hand in the big race though (for $10 million again this year) that gets the juices going. Bold Silvano has already booked his passage, while Musir’s strong first up run last week, suggests he’s on track for the Dubai World Cup as well. We don’t really think it’s a choice between Mr. Brock and Golden Sword, as has been suggested. The former might not make the cut, but Mike seems to think that Golden Sword might be an even better horse on the tapeta than he is on the turf, some statement for a horse that won the Chester Vase in England, and then ran big in both the Epsom and Irish Derbys in 2009. One of our correspondents said he’d go with Golden Sword, and we agree, while it’s possible Mr.Brock could run for the $5million of the Sheema Classic over 2400m instead. That’s not what Mike said (we didn’t discuss Mr.Brock with him), so it’s just a personal observation.

Whichever way you look at it, the M.F. de Kock machine rolls on, and the pickings are looking juicer every day.

DUBAI WORLD CUP 2010 FINAL FIELD

Click above to watch Well Armed winning the 2009 Dubai World Cup
(Image and Footage : HKTV)

$10,000,000 DUBAI WORLD CUP (Gr1)
Sponsored by Emirates Airline
Meydan All Weather 2000m
27 March 2010

#	Horse	Age	OR	Weight	Jockey	Trainer
1	ALLYBAR (IRE)	4	114	57.0	A Ajtebi	M Al Zarooni
2	GITANO HERNANDO (GB)	4	120	57.0	K Fallon	M Botti
3	RED DESIRE (JPN)	4	116	55.0	C Soumillon	M Matsunaga
4	GIO PONTI (USA)	5	125	57.0	R Dominguez	C Clement
5	GLORIA DE CAMPEAO (BRZ)	6	120	57.0	T Pereira	P Bary
6	VISION D’ETAT (FR)	5	123	57.0	O Peslier	E Libaud
7	LIZARD’S DESIRE (SAF)	4	116	57.0	K Shea	M de Kock
8	FURTHEREST LAND (USA)	5	115	57.0	J Leparoux	M Maker
9	CROWDED HOUSE (GB)	4	118	57.0	J Velazquez	B Meehan
10	RICHARD’S KID (USA)	5	119	57.0	G Gomez	B Baffert
11	TWICE OVER (GB)	5	123	57.0	T Queally	H Cecil
12	MASTERY (GB)	4	117	57.0	L Dettori	S bin Suroor
13	MR BROCK (SAF)	6	117	57.0	R Moore	M de Kock
14	AMOR DE POBRE (CHI)	5	113	57.0	A Gryder	J Barton

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RACING CARNIVAL UPDATE

IMBONGI - SOUTH AFRICA
(Photo : Andrew Watkins/ERA/Emac)

IMBONGI SINGS OUR PRAISES

This time, it’s not only Summerhill in the headlines, its South Africa. It’s official at last, but we’ve been wondering for a while now who the Victor Ludorum would be in terms of earnings at this year’s Dubai International Racing Carnival. The good news for the Rainbow Nation is that two of the top three places are occupied by South Africans, while Mike de Kock’s charges hold four of the first six spots.

Imbongi heads the list with earnings of DHS 846,400 (approximately R1,715,820) while Mr Brock slides in with a handy DHS 798,560 (approximately R1,618,240).

Dubai has long been a happy hunting ground for South African horses, who seem to take to the desert conditions and the climate with aplomb. Victory Moon, Ipi Tombe, Jay Peg, Grey’s Inn, they’ve all flown the flag with pride, and now we have Imbongi, living up to the Zulu interpretation of his name “signing the praises”.

TOP 10 THOROUGHBRED HORSES BY EARNINGS
2010 DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RACING CARNIVAL

#	Horse	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Runs	Prize Money
1	IMBONGI (SAF)	1	2	0	0	0	3	846,400
2	ALLYBAR (IRE)	2	0	0	1	0	3	828,000
3	MR BROCK (SAF)	2	0	1	1	0	4	798,560
4	RAIHANA (AUS)	2	0	0	1	0	3	708,400
5	MENDIP (USA)	2	0	0	0	0	2	662,400
6	MUSIR (AUS)	2	0	0	0	0	2	662,400
7	GLORIA DE CAMPEAO (BRZ)	1	1	0	0	0	2	662,400
8	PRESVIS (GB)	1	1	0	0	0	2	662,400
9	RED DESIRE (JPN)	1	0	0	0	0	1	662,400
10	SIROCCO BREEZE (GB)	2	0	0	0	0	3	651,360

RAIHANA, MR BROCK AND LUCKY FIND VICTORIES FOR TEAM MDK

Raihana, Mr Brock and Mike de Kock
(Image : Gold Circle/Tab Online/Orange)

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL RACING CARNIVAL
25 FEBRUARY 2010

The Mike de Kock win tally continues to rise in Dubai as Raihana, Mr Brock and Lucky Find all secured victories in their respective races at Meydan last night.

Peter Ward reports on Mike de Kock Racing that the US$250,000 UAE Oaks (Listed) is the latest Classic to be added to the South African trainer’s roll of honour after the smooth success of Raihana in the 1900m Tapeta Classic. Piloted by Christophe Soumillon, Raihana won on her local debut before finishing fourth in the UAE 1000 Guineas. She always looked likely to prevail on this occasion and reverse form with Godolphin’s Siyaadah, who was third.

Mike de Kock said following the race : “She is a lovely filly and one we have always thought was a Classic prospect. The Guineas just did not work out for her but Christophe has given her a great ride and we will bring her back for the UAE Derby on World Cup night.” 

Raihana’s win provided her owner, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, with a memorable Guineas-Oaks double, made even more special in that he bred both Musir (Redoute’s Choice) and Raihana (Elusive Quality). “This was an extraordinary achievement by Sheikh Mohammed, who predicted from the start that both would be good horses,” said Mike de Kock.

Kevin Shea had won the previous race, the $US175,000 Meydan Horizons Handicap over 2000m on tapeta, on the very impressive South African-bred Mr Brock who recorded his second Dubai International Racing Carnival win of 2010 and may just have done enough to get himself an invite for Dubai World Cup night. Shea said : “He is a great horse who has thrived on this new surface. He never runs a bad race and can hopefully keep improving.”

Mr Brock is owned by Mauritian-based Serge Seenyen.

Zirconeum then ran a great race to finish third in the $US200,000 Balanchine Stakes (Group 3) over 1800m on turf. Burdened with a Group 1 penalty, Zirconeum was conceding weight to the two who beat her, having led briefly two furlongs out. Shea was in the saddle and said: “She has run well and the slow early pace was not ideal. She is a quality filly and will bounce back.”

Kevin Shea and Mike de Kock enjoyed the perfect end to their evening when another South African-bred, Lucky Find, won the concluding mile handicap, the US$120,000 Imax Cup. Winner of Al Maktoum Challenge Round Two in 2008, Lucky Find has been a great servant to the yard and Shea said: “He deserved that after a great run on turf last time.

MUSIR LANDS UAE 2000 GUINEAS FOR TEAM DE KOCK

Click above to watch Musir in the 2010 UAE 2000 Guineas
(Image and Footage : Dubai Racing)

UAE 2000 GUINEAS (Group 3)
MEYDAN 18 FEBRUARY 2010

Musir landed a fourth UAE 2000 Guineas victory for the Dubai-based Mike de Kock team at Meydan last night, as he scored a comprehensive win in the 1600m feature on Tapeta under a supremely confident Christophe Soumillon.

Musir, last year’s Champion Juvenile in South Africa who is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, also owner of both Asiatic Boy and Honour Devil who won this race on their way to UAE Derby success, was able to overcome the widest draw to win impressively.

Stable companion Solid Choice was not far behind him a furlong out before keeping on at the same pace to finish fourth under Kevin Shea.

Mike de Kock said: “Solid Choice has run a good race but Musir is all class as he has just shown. He has natural speed and is a really nice horse. The draw was a concern but with his natural talent and an experienced jockey I was always hopeful he could overcome that.”

Christophe Soumillon added: “I was always happy during the race and he has travelled like a really nice colt.”

Mr Brock was an excellent fourth in the Group 3 Al Maktoum Challenge Round Two under Kevin Shea and the pair actually hit the front just over a furlong out before being run out of it late on. Kevin Shea said: “He has run a great race and proven that he is an international group horse.”

Mr Crazy Boy and Soumillon did not enjoy a clear passage in the same race.

Extract from Mike de Kock Racing by Peter Ward

FULL RESULTS

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	OR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	MUSIR (Aus)	59.5	113	14	Christophe Soumillon	M de Kock
2	3.25	FROZEN POWER (Ire)	55.0	105	11	Ahmad Ajtebi	S bin Surror
3	1.25	DELLA BARBA (Chi)	59.5	99	4	Olivier Peslier	J Barton
4	2.25	SOLID CHOICE (Aus)	59.5	102	13	Kevin Shea	M de Kock
5	0.5	JARDIM (Brz)	59.5	102	10	Richard Mullen	A Cintra
6	HD	OROVESO (Brz)	59.5	102	1	Tiago Pereira	P Bary
7	0.25	MAROON MACHINE (Ire)	55.0	100	5	Kieren Fallon	E O’Neill
8	1.25	STORM CHISPAZO (Arg)	59.5	104	8	Ryan Moore	H Brown
9	2.5	ROCK JOCK (Ire)	55.0	99	12	Pat Smullen	A Manuel
10	2.25	QUARTER LATIN(Arg)	59.5	104	3	Richard Hills	D Watson
11	SH	DUBAI MIRACLE (USA)	55.0	99	2	William Buick	D Simcock
12	0.25	REAL SECRET (Brz)	55.0	104	6	Waldomiro Blandi	A Cintra
13	4.25	OLYMPIC DANZ (Brz)	59.5	98	9	M Nunes	A Cintra
14	4.75	EL AMARILLISTA (Arg)	59.5	102	7	William Supple	J Barton