De Kock sips a glass of Pierre Jourdan

Never underestimate a champion trainer and always exercise caution with Gauteng feature form. The unstoppable Mike De Kock threw punters a curved ball at Turffontein  on Sunday 12 June when he produced the Argentinian –bred daughter of Singspiel, Candy Singer, at a generous 18-1 to win the R200 000 Grade 3 Betting World  Jubilee Handicap over 1800m. The multiple Group-placed mare picked up her biggest career win here at the expense of the revitalised star Piere Jourdan, who looks set for a tilt at the Vodacom Durban July.

The Gauteng feature race form continues to befuddle and confuse and  one of only two members of the fairer sex in this event caught the boys napping as she sliced through the middle under De Kock’s feature race jack-in-a-box Randal Simons. The flashy Drakenstein Stud-owned mare had not won since January 2010 but she stepped out here under a handy galloping weight and gave her opponents a hiding. One would think that she is destined for stud in a month or two and this Grade 3 event will certainly do  her smashing pedigree no harm in the Sales catalogue pages. She is quite a looker too. Her win put the seal on a R23 000 winning jackpot for a  few lucky punters. How they found her may make for interesting analysis though!

Candy Singer 18-1 winner

Piere Jourdan ran a champagne race on the comeback trail and he was giving the De Kock mare 9,5 kgs when going down narrowly. He also showed a finger to the second run after a rest brigade. The Gary Alexander inmate’s  fighting spirit was evident as he barged his way through a tight gap late and he certainly won’t  be out of place in the Vodacom Durban July field where he will get his chance to silence his detractors for once and for all. He is set to carry 57,5kg if Past Master stays in and with a bit of luck and further progress in his health and fitness, he looks like a big runner. He certainly reserves his best efforts for jockey Derrick David and the Alexander gang may yet be booking that lunch table in the Durban View Room for  Saturday 2 July

The Jubilee Handicap form though may once again prove a little suspect as the first bunch finished right on top of one another. There were also a  few dented reputations. Happy Landing blotted his copybook after an impressive  Champions Challenge payday at the end of April, but it would have been 200m too short for him – even though he won the Drum Star Handicap over the 1800m trip The Ormonde Ferraris trained Magical ran on for third but was beaten without excuses. Galanthus jumped from the best of the draw but after showing toe, dropped out to nothing. The highly vaunted Woodruff Jet Master gelding Soul Master moved up threateningly but after winning three of his first five career  outings , appears to have lost the plot and may be out of his depth at Group level.  He won’t see our money again until he proves he can take it on the chin and is any better than a three-time winner.

The Apprentice MR 73 Handicap was run two races prior to the feature event and  gave the SA Jockey Academy student riders an opportunity to showcase their talent and burgeoning skills in their own company. The apprentice series has been rather poorly marketed and besides being a routine race on a Sunday afternoon, the needle and competitive spirit is lacking with no hype or information readily available. Given industry track records, this is hardly surprising, but the fact that it must be costing  money to fly them all to one venue makes the desirability of a sponsor that much more of a factor.

Naresh Juglall took a step closer to his looming half-century mark of career winners when he kept the Clinton Binda-trained Goldstream going over  the 1160m straight to ward off the late rattle  down the inside of Ryan Curling on Midnight Charger. It was a typically energetic  yet  well-balanced ride from Juglall on the Avontuur Stud-bred gelding who is not destined for fame, having won just twice from seventeen starts. He started at 25-1 and gave Pick Six and Jackpot punters  a jolt.