CHECCETTI CAPTURES JACARANDA HANDICAP

Click above to watch Checcetti winning the Jacaranda Handicap (Gr3)…
(Image : JC Photos - Footage : Tellytrack)

JACARANDA HANDICAP (Grade 3)
Turffontein, Turf, 1800m
31 March 2012

The Mike de Kock stable saddled no fewer than 32 runners at the Meydan and Turffontein meetings on Saturday and although Mike didn’t manage a winner at the Dubai Word Cup meeting, the overall statistics show two winners, five seconds, four thirds and five fourths, not a bad day at the offices of De Kock International.

At Turffontein’s Classic Day, Checcetti (SAF) (Kahal) captured the Gr3 Jacaranda Handicap over 1800m from stablemate Flirtation (SAF) (Silvano), Secret Babe (SAF) (Labeeb) and Varlet (SAF) (Var).

Without Malice (SAF) (Jet Master) led the Jacaranda field into the straight with Flirtation midfield and Checcetti having to be dropped out to last from a wide draw. Most of the 11-strong field had chances going through the 400m mark, but it was Flirtation, in the centre of the track, who made the first strong move and raced into the lead with 250m to run, getting the measure of  dangerous-looking Hawker Hunter (SAF) (Jet Master).

Checcetti, meanwhile, had made steady headway near the far side fence and started throwing out a challenge of her own. She finished best of all under a well-judged ride from jockey Tshwaro Appie and won going away.

“Checcetti normally fades when she races handy, so all credit to John Buckler, who suggested we drop her out today,” Appie said. “She switched off and we snuck through along the fence after I gave her a few cracks.”

“I came for the trophy,” said a delighted Tony Moodley, who owns Checcetti with Mike de Kock , Vanessa Harrison and Mick Goss’ Summerhill Stud Syndicate. Checcetti is a four-year-old bay filly by Kahal (GB) from Dancer’s Choice (SAF) by Royal Prerogative (GB).

This win takes the 2009 Summerhill Ready To Run graduate’s career record to 4 wins and 9 places from 16 starts.

Extract from Mike de Kock Racing

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

CHECCETTI : A CLASSIC FILLY

Click above to watch Checcetti
(Image and Footage : Tellytrack)

CHECCETTI
2009 SUMMERHILL READY TO RUN GRADUATE

CHECCETTI (Kahal (GB) x Dancer’s Choice by Royal Perogative (GB))
3 Year Old Bay Filly
Owners : Tony Moodley, Mike de Kock, Summerhill Stud Syndicate (Nom : Mick Goss), Vanessa Harrison and Vaughan Harrison
Trainer : Mike de Kock
Jockey : Anthony Delpech
Breeder : Summerhill Stud
Win Time : 110.67
Career Record : 2 Wins, 2 Places, 4 Starts

Checcetti is a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.

MICHAEL AZZIE RACING STABLES
MR 76 HANDICAP (F & M)
Turffontein Turf 1800m
18 September 2010

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	CHECCETTI	58.5	92	5	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
2	5.25	SILVER LACE	55.5	67	7	G Lerena	Roy Magner
3	5.75	WALEY’S CAMP	60.5	77	3	S Khumalo	Erico Verdonese
4	7.25	GO FIRST CLASS	60.5	79	2	A Fortune	Ormond Ferraris
5	8.00	HOT TIP	53.5	63	4	*N Juglall (2.5)	Ernst Oertel
6	8.25	A LITTLE TIBSY	53.0	62	8	G Figueroa	Brian Wiid
7	10.75	PERSONAL QUESTION (ARG)	56.0	70	9	*D Mansour	Geoff Woodruff
8	10.80	ANNAMOONA	59.0	76	6	B Lerena	Sean Tarry
9	11.25	ERUPTION	58.0	72	13	W Uys	George Scott
10	13.75	WOODLAND SPIRIT	59.0	76	10	G Wrogemann	Robbie Sage
11	13.75	CYCLONE BARBARA	57.0	72	11	S Brown	Wallace Tolmay
12	14.50	SPIRITED AWAY	52.0	58	1	L Nhlapo	Ernst Oertel
13	15.25	SEA PASSAGE	54.5	67	12	P Strydom	St John Gray
		Late Sctratchings
14	0.00	GRACIE JONES (USA)	59.0	76	16	D David	Geoff Woodruff
15	0.00	OVER BRIDGET	52.0	60	5		Mike Azzie
16	0.00	MAJESTIC LITES	52.0	50	8		Stephen Moffatt

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

CHECCETTI DANCES TO SEVEN LENGTH MAIDEN WIN

Click above to watch Checcetti winning her maiden
(Image and Footage : Tellytrack)

CHECCETTI
2009 SUMMERHILL READY TO RUN GRADUATE

CHECCETTI (Kahal (GB) x Dancer’s Choice by Royal Perogative (GB))
3 Year Old Bay Filly
Owners : Tony Moodley, Mike de Kock, Summerhill Stud Syndicate (Nom : Mick Goss), Vanessa Harrison and Vaughan Harrison
Trainer : Mike de Kock
Jockey : Anthony Delpech
Breeder : Summerhill Stud
Win Time : 99.62
Career Record : 1 Win, 2 Places, 3 Starts

Checcetti is a graduate from the Summerhill draft of the 2009 Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale.

FLAMINGO FESTIVAL 1 SEPTEMBER MAIDEN PLATE
Turffontein Turf 1600m
21 August 2010

#	LBH	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	0.00	CHECCETTI	58.0	0	6	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
2	7.50	INFALLIBLE	58.0	79	11	G Lerena	Tony Nassif
3	7.55	MISS UMA	58.0	77	8	P Strydom	Terry Lowe
4	8.50	CALAIS GOLD	58.0	0	1	A Fortune	Alec Laird
5	9.00	ELODIE	58.0	0	4	F Herholdt	Ormond Ferraris
6	14.00	BUKA WENA	58.0	71	13	G Wrogemann	Ernie Anderson
7	15.25	FIERY	58.0	0	12	*J P van der Merwe	Ian Jayes
8	17.00	GIST OF ACTION	58.0	50	5	F Naude	Corne Spies
9	17.10	DOUBLE DATE	58.0	0	14	*E Pheiffer (1.5)	Chris Erasmus
10	17.20	JUSTYOUANDME	58.0	0	10	S Khumalo	Chris Erasmus
11	25.00	ELATED	58.0	0	2	W Uys	Terry Lowe
12	34.00	CRYSTAL BLAZE	58.0	0	3	*N Juglall (2.5)	Penny Kimberley
13	38.00	ISHA	58.0	0	7	B Lerena	Dianne Stenger
14	45.00	WAVING DANCER	58.0	0	15	R Simons	Dianne Stenger
15	60.00	COLOURFUL NEWS	58.0	42	9	N Welch	Corne Spies
	Late Scratching
16	0.00	AFRICAN ICON	58.0	64	14	G Figueroa	Weiho Marwing

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

HAVASHA AND PIERRE JOURDAN DO BATTLE

Click above to watch Havasha and Pierre Jourdan battle…
(Footage : TellyTrack)

RACING EXPRESS FACT FILE ALLOWANCE PLATE 1450m
TURFFONTEIN RACECOURSE
16 JANUARY 2010

“It’s good to see the good horses fight it out…” were the words of jockey Anthony Delpech following the “Race of the Weekend” at Turffontein on Saturday where hot favourite Pierre Jourdan tasted defeat for the first time in his short career when beaten a whisker by challenger Havasha.

Nicci Garner writes for Racing Express that both horses looked a picture in the parade ring but Pierre Jourdan had beaten Havasha on Turffontein’s standside track in last November’s R1,5 million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup over 1400m and, having won twice over the course and distance before that, was fancied to confirm the form.

Havasha had not raised a gallop in the Dingaans in his previous start, but that run was obviously not a true reflection of his ability. Added to that, the son of Kahal was a little better drawn than in the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup and was meeting Pierre Jourdan on 2.5kg better terms.

Flybyme and Echohawk were the other runners expected to perform.

“Bionic Man” Donovan Habib bounced Echohawk to an immediate lead from Flybyme, who Piere Strydom battled to restrain in the early stages. Danse To Destiny and Pierre Jourdan disputed third place with Havasha making up ground, racing three wide before being edged in front of the leader. Another Storm and Powerful Gift raced ahead of Forestation and Calpurnius.

Echohawk, who pulled a good couple of lengths clear of Flybyme as the runners cornered, was still in full cry halfway down the straight where Havasha had started making up ground and Pierre Jourdan had still not turned it on.

The race was wide open 250m from the line with Echohawk still holding a narrow advantage over Havasha and Pierre Jourdan pulling alongside them. Soon after that, though, the pacemaker tired under pressure and veered away from Havasha, hampering Powerful Gift on the rail.

A hundred metres later, Havasha and Pierre Jourdan had started to draw clear and they fought out an exciting finish with Havasha reaching the post a short head in front of the favourite. Another Storm finished powerfully for third, 2.20 lengths further back, as Flybyme and Echohawk ran out of steam close to home.

Anthony Delpech said afterwards: “I don’t know what went wrong last time (in the Dingaans). He’s always been one of our better three-year-old colts - I always rated him highly. I was a bit concerned about the (No 9) draw because he can travel a bit keenly. But even without cover, he relaxed nicely. And he ran a very good race. I think both he and the second horse needed the run a little bit. It’ll be a nice race when they meet again.”

Congratulation to trainer Mike de Kock and owners Tony Moodley, John Finlayson, Karel and Kiki Miedema and Charl Pretorius (Freeracer Syndicate).

Havasha’s merit rating has been raised to 98 from 94 and he is likely to bump heads with Pierre Jourdan again in next months’ Gauteng Guineas, the first leg of the Triple Crown. They could clash with such names as the country’s top-rated three-year-old Curved Ball, who won the 1600m Dingaans and followed up over 1800m next time out, as well as his stable companion Galileo’s Galaxy.

RESULTS

#	Horse	Kg	MR	Dr	Jockey	Trainer
1	HAVASHA	55.5	94	9	A Delpech	Mike de Kock
2	PIERRE JOURDAN	58.0	100	7	S Cormack	Gary Alexander
3	ANOTHER STORM (Aus)	53.0	88	2	P Whitmore	Charles Laird
4	FLYBYME (Aus)	55.0	88	3	P Strydom	Geoff Woodruff
5	ECHOHAWK	58.0	95	5	D Habib	Dominic Zaki
6	DANSE TO DESTINY	55.5	88	1	J Geroudis	Charles Laird
7	POWERFUL GIFT	53.0	84	6	B Smith	Alec Laird
8	FORESTATION	53.0	87	4	G Figueroa	Robbie Sage
9	CALPURNIUS	53.0	81	8	S Khumalo	Dianne Stenger

IT'S GETTING HOT IN THE KITCHEN

Click above to watch Smanyo’s Weekend Surprise
(Footage : Tellytrack)

R1,5 MILLION EMPERORS PALACE READY TO RUN CUP
7 NOVEMBER 2009 

The Sporting Post reports that just last week, Bloodstock South Africa announced the subscribed entries for the R1,5 Million Emperors Palace Ready To Run Cup, now formally the fourth richest event on the racing calendar and restricted to those graduates of the sale whose buyers “ticked” the box on Sales day. Already 15 of them have made the winners’ enclosure, and are in strong contention for a place in the big race line-up.

Two more got over the line this past weekend, the first being the Highlands-bred Snow Special, whose Turkish owners almost scooped the pool last year with Fenerbahce, and then at Greyville on Sunday, Smanyo flew up to grab the spoils for Chips Pennells in a competitive maiden, shading two other candidates in Buka Mina and Kwela Kwela.

Saturday afternoon at Turffontein, we were reminded that this race is never a one-horse contest, however, when this scribe’s own choice, Havasha, maintained his unbeaten record against a quality field of older horses, delighting fellow owners, Tony Moodley, Karel and Kiki Miedema, John Finlayson and Mike de Kock no end with his showing. I’ve said it before in this column, but the Ready To Run represents a unique opportunity to acquire a horse with the hindsight of seeing him run, and with the generous benefit of up to six cheques to pay for your purchases, it’s almost irresistible.