Bitter Sweet Saturday for Champion Trainer

What A Flirt! Gavin Lerena gets Flirtation up to win the Gr2 Colorado King Stakes.

A rare frustrating flirtation with feature race disappointment for champion trainer Mike De Kock was turned around in two minutes by Costa Livanos’ champion mare Flirtation. The Summer Cup winner clinched the Gr2 Colorado King Stakes in great style at Turffontein.

It is not often that we see the De Kock horses performing below par.  And while the big man of South African horseracing admitted that he would love to be at Augusta National this weekend for the US Masters Golf, he said a busy three months lay ahead and he obviously has some hard work to do.

Viva Maria. Gibraltar Blue. Main Dane. Rashaad.Safwan. Flickers of hope here and there, but no real magic from the De Kock runners today. But the  R300 000 Gr2 Colorado King Stakes changed the mood in a flash.

The fancied Seal carried the field along at a canter followed by the beautiful chestnut Flirtation and the barefoot Galanthus in third. Turning for home Seal looked a serious threat , while the Bass visitor English Garden appeared to be finding his best stride down the inside.

All the while though, Gavin Lerena was working on the Livanos mare and he produced Flirtation with a sustained run to hold the Tyrone Zackey trained Galanthus, who seemed to find another breath.

De Kock said afterwards that a change of tactics had appeared to have done the trick on the daughter of Silvano who was finding her best form and was worth another shot at some of the big races this year. She has amazingly in fact not won a race since the 2010 Sansui Summer Cup!

Bred by Advocate Altus Joubert out of the Mullineaux mare French Treasure, Flirtation has won five from twenty and earned a hefty R2,2 million. That is great value for her R350 000 National Sale price tag, and she should prove a tremendous paddock prospect one day.

Famous Five! Antious wins the Gr2 Senor Santa to make it five on the trot.

The R300 000 Gr2 Senor Santa Handicap run over 1160m produced a win for the visitors with the Herman Brown-Frank Robinson partnership trained Antious extending his victory streak to five straight wins. The yard put a miserably disappointing Friday night in their hometown well behind them with this superb performance.

Gibraltar Blue and Polar Moon exchanged the early punches in a race characterised by a motley crew of in and out of form sorts, and that frankly disappointingly lacked some depth and quality. The in-form Keagan Latham, who rode two winners at Greyville on Friday evening, rode a confident race producing  Antious in the final 200m to win going away, from the only filly in the race in Jackodore who held her form well.

Rebel Knight ran on steadily under Strydom to fly up for third, although the wounded and dying around him may have flattered his forward motion somewhat. This included the once brilliant Gibraltar Blue who showed toe but never looked happy. Trainer Mike De Kock’s experiment of trying the quarter cup blinkers was probably an illustration of the frustration of her connections, and the trick simply made no difference. The paddock beckons and she could redeem herself there rather than the racecourse.

The Argentinian-bred Antious finally looks to have earned his admission ticket to the serious sprint contests and continues to lift his game. His sire, Storm Cat stallion Pure Prize, stands for a USD7500 live foal fee in Lexington Kentucky, and  has produced some serious winners from 1200m right up to 2400m. There is thus no reason to believe that his connections’ heady plans, that include the Champions Season sprint features and even a tilt at the Gold Challenge, are outside of his compass.

His win today was his seventh from seventeen starts for R770 000 in stakes. He has won up to a mile and is versatile and talented. He could even be a contender for KZN Horse Of The Year at this early stage!

Extra Good! Tshwaro Appie gets Extra Zero up to win the Gr3 Sycamore. The yellow silks belong to Give Me Five who ran fourth.

The R165 000 Gr3 Sycamore Sprint run over 1160m was the final feature event of the afternoon, and it produced an entertaining tussle over the final 200m by four smart speedy females, with Sean Tarry’s Extra Zero gaining the upper hand late.

The eleven horse field was reduced to ten and thrown wide open with the late withdrawal of the Ferraris runner Mary’s Pride. Sean Tarry’s consistent Goldkeeper mare Give Me Five was backed into tote favouritism, but it was the speedy Matchett filly Scarlet Sheila who showed the early toe.

With the lead changing hands a few times with practically every girl having their say, it boiled down into a straight fight between the Tarry and Matchett stablemates,  Give Me Five and Extra Zero, and Fair Rosalind and Larussa. The two yards landed up sharing the prize money.

In a duel down the inside it was Tshwaro Appie who got Extra Zero to rally, from Fair Rosalind under replacement rider Fanie Chambers. Larussa ran on well late to pip Give Me Five for third, and this boosted the PA dividend. Gavin Lerena looked to have stopped riding in the final strides on Give Me Five and as he carried the hopes of the scratched Mary’s Pride and many of the place exotic hopes, he would not have been the punter’s darling as a result of it.

A Summerhill bred daughter of Way West, Extra Zero has won three of thirteen starts for stakes of R785 000. She appears effective up to 1400m.

The quintet of feature events got under way in the jackpot opener with the running of the R135 000 Listed Derby Trial over 2000m. The late withdrawal of Vettel and Red Fort reduced the field to eleven three year olds, with Mike De Kock holding a hand of three that included the favourite Main Dane.

Randall Simons took Rashaad out to make the pace and he was tracked by the strong galloping Wagner and with eventual winner Zambuca content to amble along in third. At this stage Main Dane had been settled in midfield by Delpech. In a stampede in the final 400m, the favourite loomed menacingly on a tight rein as Zambucca slipped through down the inside rail. Main Dane appeared to hit a flat spot at the 200m marker probably through his inexperience and the battle hardened  Mohideen-trained Zambucca dug deep and skipped clear. Main Dane and Wagner stayed on well enough but were beaten without excuses.

Cheers!Zambucca wins the Listed Derby Trial for the Mohideen stable.

Saeed Mohideen trains the winning colt, a son of Lundy’s Liability,  who was bred by Ambiance Stud. Out of a Dancing Champ mare, he cost R170 000 as a National Yearling Sale graduate, and has surpassed that with career earnings of R250 000. He has won three of eleven starts. He was a well beaten 5,75 lengths second to the boom horse Slumdogmillionaire in the Sea Cottage Stakes over 1800m. He may have found his optimum trip here over 2000m and could yet be a serious factor in his age group in the months ahead.

The fillies equivalent was run forty minutes later. The R135 000 Listed Oaks Trial over 2000m was the first leg of Gavin Lerena’s feature double when the pretender to the Champion Jockey throne rode a cracker to get Ormonde Ferraris’ Mogok filly Mark Of Distinction up to beat Geoff Woodruff’s Alesandria. Lucky Houdalakis’ Dynasty filly  Demanding Lady ran a cracker to grab third spot. The disappointment was the De Kock Jet Master Viva Maria, who found it tough going in Gauteng after winning three from four down in KZN.

That luckiest of owners, Winston Chow owns the Scott Brothers bred winning three year old who was registering her third victory from seven starts for stakes of R175 000.  It was another winner sired by a son of Storm Cat, and what terrific value Mogok is proving! Chow co-owns  probably the best Mogok to race to date in The Apache, now trained by Mike De Kock.

Feature Results:

Colorado King S. (SAf-G2) (4/7)

Turffontein, South Africa, April 7, R300.000, 2000m, turf, good, 2.07.25 (CR 2.00.13). 

FLIRTATION (SAF), 58.0, ch m 5, Silvano (GER) – French Treasure (SAF) by Mullineaux. Owner Mrs B A and Mr C Livanos; breeder Adv AP Joubert (SAF); trainer M F de Kock; jockey G Lerena (R187.500)

Galanthus (SAF), 57.0, b g 5, Silvano (GER) – Al Jestic (SAF) by Al Mufti Safwan (AUS), 58.5, ch g 5, Encosta De Lago (AUS) – Showella (NZ) by Lord Ballina (AUS)

Margins: ¼, ½, 1½

Also ran: House Of Wax (SAF) 57.5, Seal (SAF) 60.0, English Garden (SAF) 59.5, Meadow Magic (SAF) 57.0, Captain’s Wild (SAF) 58.5

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Senor Santa Hcp (SAf-G2) (4/7)