MOTHER RUSSIA (black silks, red cap, photo) will make her first appearance on the racecourse in five months when she lines up for the Grade 2 Victory Moon Handicap over 1800m at Turffontein on Friday night.
The five-year-old mare is one of five runners declared by trainer Mike de Kock. To make matters even more interesting De Kock has engaged Belgian-born jockey Christophe Soumillon to ride the multiple Grade 1 winner.
Soumillon will captain the international jockeys’ team who will be riding in The Citizen International Jockeys Challenge. The first leg takes place at Turffontein on Friday night with the second leg at Kenilworth on Sunday.
Joining Soumillon are Ireland’s Kieren Fallon, Hayley Turner from Britain, American Martin Garcia, Umberto Rispoli from Italy and Halis Karatas of Turkey. Anton Marcus will captain the local side and his team comprises Piere Strydom, Anthony Delpech, Andrew Fortune, Muzi Yeni and Gavin Lerena.
Mother Russia has been rested since finishing down the field in the Grade 1 Gold Challenge at Clairwood in June. The daughter of Windrush, who has won 12 of her 23 starts, has also been entered in the R2-million Sansui Summer Cup to be run over 2000m on 27 November so De Kock will be looking for a decent run on Friday.
His other runners include Zirconeum, Sweetie Pie, Perana and Badger Lake, who is currently the reserve runner.
Geoff Woodruff saddles Aluminium, Cracker Jack and Quick Single, and as the latter has just 50kg to shoulder, he should be most competitive in this field. Derreck David gets the ride.
The Listed Gardenia Handicap for fillies and mares over 1000m will also be run on Friday night and this looks a most competitive event. The speed will be on from the jump, especially with the likes of Gibraltar Blue, Mannequin, Mary Lou and Golden Secret in the line-up.
FINAL FIELDS:
VICTORY MOON STAKES (Grade 2) R300,000 1800m
1 – 13 MOTHER RUSSIA (M F De Kock) C Soumillon 60.0 – 109
2 – 7 ALUMINIUM (G V Woodruff) A Fortune 57.5 – 106
3 – 9 ZIRCONEUM (M F De Kock) K Shea 57.0 – 107
4 – 1 VERTICAL TAKEOFF (S G Tarry) P Strydom 55.5 – 101
5 – 15 CRACKER JACK (G V Woodruff) D Mansour 54.5 – 103
6 – 3 KILLARIDGE (W H Marwing) J Jordaan 54.5 – 100
7 – 14 RUDI ROCKS (C Laird) A Marcus 54.5 – 99
8 – 8 SWEETIE PIE (M F De Kock) M Yeni 53.0 – 100
9 – 16 SPORTING BOY (A G Laird) J P v’d Merwe 51.5 – 98
10 – 5 MPUMELELO (T Zackey) S Khumalo 51.5 – 96
11 – 12 PERANA (M F De Kock) A Delpech 51.5 – 96
12 – 6 MIRAGE DRIVE (T Zackey) G Figueroa 51.5 – 97
13 – 4 CALL TO COMBAT (S J Gray) S Chambers 51.5 – 93
14 – 11 POWER PARK (S G Tarry) R Simons 51.5 – 93
15 – 2 HAPPY LANDING (J A Soma) …………… 51.5 – 89
16 – 10 QUICK SINGLE (G V Woodruff) D David 50.0 – 97
Reserve Runners
17 – 17 BADGER LAKE (M F De Kock) Reserve 1 51.5 – 88
Same Trainer: (1,3,8,11,17) (2,5,16) (4,14) (10,12)
GARDENIA HANDICAP (Listed) R135,000 1000m
1 – 12 GIBRALTAR BLUE (M F De Kock) A Marcus 63.5 – 106
2 – 4 ESTEREL (D N Stenger) F Naude 61.5 – 101
3 – 2 MARY LOU (P F Matchett) M Mienie 61.5 – 101
4 – 6 MANNEQUIN (P F Matchett) R Simons 58.5 – 95
5 – 5 GIVE ME FIVE (S G Tarry) P Strydom 58.0 – 94
6 – 10 CASHEW NUT (G H Van Zyl) S Brown 56.5 – 91
7 – 8 ONEHUNDREDACREWOOD (G H Van Zyl) R Danielson 56.5 – 91
8 – 11 GOLDEN SECRET (M G Azzie) J P v’d Merwe 55.0 – 88
9 – 9 ADORABLE (C Laird) A Delpech 54.5 – 87
10 – 1 AREWEHAVINGFUNYET (S G Tarry) …………… 54.0 – 86
11 – 3 LADY BEATRIX (B Webber) D Mansour 52.0 – 84
12 – 7 FOREST LECTURE (C E Erasmus) G Figueroa 52.0 – 82
Same Trainer: (3,4) (5,10) (6,7)