With a bit of luck he can still make it into the July, if not be a factor in other features this season, but he is also more than good enough to go to Dubai for the 2015 Carnival and this presents a problem.
Punters may have taken their eye off the ball after the withdrawal of the brilliant Majmu during the week. But it just goes to show again that we should never discount the power of the Mike De Kock string
Trainer Mike De Kock and the Vodacom Durban July selection panel have not exactly always seen eye to eye. Espumanti’s victory in the Gr2 Betting World 1900 may have opened a few old wounds but nobody can deny that this was very impressive indeed
“We’re proud to have put her on the map and personally I hope that Mike will end up taking her to Dubai”, says Paul Reeves
When Variety Club was lead back to the presentation area, he received the most astounding reception from the local Hong Kong punters I’ve ever seen.
“I got a sense then for the first time how important these races are for South Africans and I actually felt pressure to the point that I didn’t want to sit in the room.” Mike de Kock speaks about how it feels to represent the hopes of a nation
After Variety Club’s decisive victory in the Champions Mile, Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO and Olympic Committee representative Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges provided manna to SA industry ears by saying ”If there was not already an incentive for the Asian Racing Federation to facilitate a better travel situation for South African horses to the great races of the world, then we saw one today.”
“He will go to Mike’s yard in Newmarket now for some time off” says Derek Brugman of the champion colt
“He’s not just beaten them, he’s given them an absolute hiding” was the commentary from Sha Tin as Variety Club gave the world’s best a galloping lesson in today’s Hong Kong Champions Mile
Watch Variety Club contest the 2014 Hong Kong Champions Mile on the Dubai Racing live stream
“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.”
