Mike de Kock strengthened his 2021 Gauteng Summer Cup hand when his Silvano filly Sparkling Water completed the perfect big race prep to win the R200 000 Gr3 Victory Moon Stakes with a sensational late run at Turffontein on Saturday.
While Barend Botes and Yolande Vosloo must have been making their way down the stairs to the winner’s enclosure with the consistent 7yo Golden Pheasant (12-1) looking all over a winner in the final stages, Kabelo Matsunyane had other ideas as he launched Sparkling Water down the outside with a storming run.
Kabelo Matsunyane (red cap) gets Sparkling Water up to beat Golden Pheasant (Muzi Yeni, orange cap) and Astrix (Warren Kennedy) in a thriller (Pic – JC Photos)
As they went to the post, Sparkling Water (3-1) took full advantage of her 50kg weight and nabbed the old soldier in a thriller on the line to gain the advantage by a head in a time of 111,19 secs.
This was Mike de Kock’s fourth win in the 1800m feature in the last ten years.
The only non Summer Cup entry, Astrix (3-1) was given every chance and stayed on gallantly to be beaten a neck into third.
Fourth-placed Flying Carpet (6-1) threatened up the straight and could be some value in three weeks’ time.
The Wilgerbosdrift& Mauritzfontein-bred winner is by the deceased champion Silvano (Lomitas) and is a second foal of the well-performed Espumanti, who raced for De Kock and retired after pulling up lame in the July in 2014.
She was by Dansili out of Jouet and raced 17 times for six wins from 1160m -1900m.
Espumanti won two Gr2 races and was Gr1-placed three times, including a second to superstar Beach Beauty in the 2012 Garden Province Stakes.
Sparkling Water has won 4 races with 5 places from 9 starts for stakes of R511 629.
It will be nice to see Kabelo Matsunyane retain the engagement for the Summer Cup after such a polished performance today!
OFFICIAL RESULT:
| TRAINER | JOCKEY | DISTANCE | BETTING | ||||
| 1ST | 12 | SPARKLING WATER | M F de Kock | K Matsunyane | —– | 3/1 | |
| 2ND | 6 | GOLDEN PHEASANT | B Botes / Y Vosloo | M Yeni | 0,10 | 0,10 | 25/2 |
| 3RD | 5 | ASTRIX | P A Peter | W Kennedy | 0,10 | 0,20 | 3/1 |
| 4TH | 7 | FLYING CARPET | S G Tarry | *J Solomons | 2,30 | 2,50 | 6/1 |
| 5TH | 1 | SECOND BASE | J J van Vuuren | R Danielson | 4,50 | 7,00 | 16/1 |
| TIME OF RACE: 111,19 s | |||||||
| Tote Fav | 5 | ASTRIX | P A Peter | W Kennedy | 0,20 | 3/1 | |
