What A Flirt

1-2 for De Kock with Flirtation and Mother Russian in the Summer Cup

Mike de Kock has built up a truly amazing record in the Sansui Summer Cup, all the more so when you consider that the race was only reintroduced into the calendar in the late 1990s after a hiatus of nearly three decades.  Not surprising, then, that on-course roving reporter Andrew Bon described De Kock as the “Cup King” when the champion trainer was presented with a ninth success in the big 2000m handicap at Turffontein on Saturday.

Not that De Kock went into the Summer Cup with a shortage of ammunition.  He saddled six of the 18 starters for Gauteng’s richest race, including 5/2 favourite Perana and 33/10 second favourite Mother Russia, but the whole lot of them were upstaged by 25/1 outsider Flirtation, who made it a one-two result for the stable (and for the so-called weaker sex) when downing Mother Russia  in the final stages to snatch the healthy R1.2 million first prize.

The presence of Perana added a considerable element of the unknown to proceedings.  The lightly raced three-year-old had created a considerable stir when he nearly threw the race away but recovered to win the Gr 2 Victory Moon Stakes over 1800m on the same course fifteen days earlier and was bidding to become the first of his age since the 1960s to win the Summer Cup.  He looked to have any amount of room for further improvement and was a predictable choice of favourite ahead of stable companion Mother Russia, who had finished a smashing second in the Victory Moon.  Alderry – yet another inmate of the De Kock yard – was the joint 15/2 third favourite with Pierre Jourdan, who looked to have plenty to do at the weights after being comfortably beaten in the Gr 2 Charity Mile the first time he was tried on handicap terms.  Flirtation was ignored by punters even though she’d had subsequent Charity Mile winner Alderry  2.75 lengths behind her when winning a Gr 3 handicap for females over the Turffontein 1800m four weeks earlier.

The weather gods once again smiled upon Turffontein, bathing the course in sunshine and mercifully declining to curse Johannesburg with another of those torrential lightning-and-thunder downpours which so often disrupt racing in Gauteng at this time of year.  The course was in perfect condition and set to host a thrilling contest.  So it did.

Perana had led for much of the way in the Victory Moon and again adopted frontrunning tactics here, setting a reasonable (if hardly scorching) tempo ahead of Winter’s Night, Service Ace, and Bulsara.  Defending champion Aslan tracked the leading quartet in fifth place, with Zirconeum further back as Mother Russia was held up in around midfield and Pierre Jourdan bided his time further back.  Rudi Rocks was also amongst the backmarkers turning for home, where Perana still led.  The favourite was still in front coming to the 400m, but he was coming under fire from all directions and the one who appeared to be moving the best of all as she began to close in on the leaders was Mother Russia.

Perana had had enough coming past the 300m and Mother Russia was on her way, picking it up easily and appearing to be full of running as the early leaders rapidly fell away, but Flirtation was starting to made eye-catching headway from well off the pace.  Mother Russia was suddenly crying for the line inside the final furlong as Flirtation began to make big inroads and it was clear racing into the last 100m which way the Cup was going to go.  Flirtation simply had too much momentum going for Mother Russia to peg back and surged to the front in the closing stages to win by half-a-length going away from her gallant stable companion.  Rudi Rocks ran on very strongly to finish 1.25 lengths further away in third and 1.75 lengths in front of Aslan, who had every chance in his bid to win the race for a second year in succession.  This made it a 1-3-4 finish for the progeny of Silvano, who was siring the winner for a second year in a row, and Mike de Kock wasn’t joking when he remarked afterwards that South Africa is fortunate to have a world class racehorse and very good stallion of Silvano’s calibre standing in this country.

Rudra, winner of the 2008 Summer Cup, is widely regarded by most pundits to be not very well handicapped these days, but was not disgraced in finishing fifth.  Pierre Jourdan stayed on and was beaten six lengths into sixth place, and will surely be much more effective when racing on WFA terms in races such as the Gr 1 Horse Chestnut Stakes during the autumn.  He has now been well beaten twice off a mark of 112 in handicaps, so you do the maths.  He is a very smart horse indeed, but hardly the new Horse Chestnut that his legion of fans would wish him to be.  Perana eventually faded to finish 9.5 lengths behind the winner in eighth place, showing nothing like the form he’d displayed when winning the Victory Moon, but he will surely be back and he assuredly does have plenty of time on his side for his wizard trainer to get the best out of him.

Four-year-old Flirtation was given a terrific ride by Randall Simons, who rode her with great confidence from well off the pace, having been drawn wide at 16.  She unleashed a highly impressive turn of foot and is clearly very much on the upgrade, but let’s not forget that Mother Russia was conceding 5 kgs.  The latter is as good as ever, and can fairly be considered to be the best older filly or mare in training.  In theory, at least, Mother Russia would have won this race in a canter had it been run on WFA terms and she really is a smashing mare, but Flirtation was racing for only the eighth time and is far from incapable of building even further on this.

Flirtation has always promised much and won her first two races by healthy margins before the KZN winter season, where she was placed in a couple of the major three-year-old fillies’ events without quite hitting the highs that may have been expected.  She has no doubt had her problems, but she’s clearly blossoming now and remains unbeaten from four starts in Gauteng.  She has a wealth of options open to her over the next several months, and it will be interesting to see whether she is kept to racing against females in the immediate future or whether she (along perhaps with Mother Russia) will be given another tilt at male rivals in the J & B Met.  However, the very different weights that would apply in the Met would surely make Mother Russia an odds-on shot to at least reverse this form with Flirtation, and the five-year-old daughter of Windrush may well be the horse they all have to beat at Kenilworth if she does turn out in a bid to go one better on her second place finish in the 2010 Met.

Flirtation is the sixth foal and third winner produced from Mullineaux mare French Treasure, who won five races up to 1600m and who finished third at Gr 1 level.  French Treasure is also the dam of Eiffel, a sprinter who hinted at great potential during an all-too-brief career but who was beset with soundness issues.  Bred by Advocate Altus Joubert and bought for R350 000 at the 2008 National Yearling Sale, Flirtation has won four of eight starts and earned R1 443 125 for owner Costa Livanos.

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