Variety Club and Anton Marcus during their final prep before tomorrow’s big race
The four international contenders for the Champions Mile had their final warm-ups this morning for tomorrow’s Group 1 race and most attention was focused on South Africa’s Variety Club who worked on the turf course. Mshawish, Gordon Lord Byron and Meiner Lacrima stretched their legs on the all-weather track.
Trainer Mike de Kock was on hand to see Variety Club go through his paces and is pleased with his condition. “The travel’s not easy, as you know, for these horses coming out of South Africa and now he’s had another journey again (Dubai to Hong Kong) but he looks to have coped well. He looks well this morning. He’s a very tough, very sound horse. He’s the same weight, exactly, to the kilo, as he was when he won the Godolphin Mile on World Cup night.” De Kock trained Musir to run third in the 2011 Champions Mile and knows it’s no easy task, on Sunday, given that Musir and the John Hawkes-trained Dao Dao (third in 2009) were the only overseas trained horses to be placed in the Champions Mile since it was first run with international competitors in 2005. Musir was beaten just a half-length and Dao Dao was denied by only a short head and a head margins. “I’m not really sure why,” he said in reference to the modest record of the overseas runners, “maybe it’s as simple as the locals being strong. Hong Kong is well-known for its sprinters and milers so you are walking into the lion’s den…but we did go close with Musir.” De Kock said he was likely to leave tactics to jockey Anton Marcus. “He knows the horse, he knows racing here. I’d hate to tie him down with a specific instruction and get it wrong.”
Derek Brugman, racing manager for Variety Club’s owners, Markus and Ingrid Jooste, was also on track this morning along with Anton Shepherd who bred the horse. “Markus is delighted to have a runner here in Hong Kong,” Brugman said of one of South Africa’s most prominent business and racing figures, “he’s so excited – as we all are. I think our horse has added a buzz to the race with all the publicity he’s received.”
Variety Club has endured the arduous path, which extends to almost six months, which confronts all horses leaving South Africa. Three weeks of quarantine in Cape Town (South Africa); then three months in Mauritius; one month in England, and, then, additional restrictions at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. However, his performances in Dubai indicated he was not unduly fatigued by the journey. First time out in Dubai he easily won the G3 Firebreak Stakes over 1600 metres. He went straight to the front and ran down the fastest time of the season at that distance. As to his running style, de Kock said: “He generally led in his races in South Africa but that was largely because he was simply better than them. I’m not sure he’s entirely one-dimensional.”
Time, Sunday afternoon to be precise, will tell whether he can become the newest International G1 winner from South Africa but the entire, formerly trained by Joey Ramsden, has a stunning CV. He’s won 16 from 22; 10 from 12 at 1600m and been unplaced just once in his career. He’s won left and right-handed; on turf and tapeta and been successful on good, yielding and soft ground. Sunday’s race will be the five-year-old’s first start for Mike de Kock, a three times International G1 winner in Hong Kong, but the Champions Mile is not among them. He’s had five previous shots at the race with Musir’s third-place in 2011 being his best result.
(source: HKJC)
