THE stable’s new acquisition Badger Lake made his Gauteng debut in a MR85 Handicap over 1600m on Friday, 12 November, finishing sixth to Fidelis, beaten seven lengths.

This was a satisfactory pipe-opener for the son of Badger’s Drift, who’d won three-in-a-row in Cape Town before being purchased by Robert Bloomberg and Markus Jooste, but with only a fortnight to the 2010 Summer Cup, Mike feels it’s best not to push him into the race.

Badger Lake, heading for good things.

“Badger Lake is a smart horse, he’s shown us that he can develop into a top contender, but he was only 75% ready on Friday. He ran well under a big weight and over a trip too short, but he needs more runs to reach peak fitness.  We’re not going to rush him now. There are some good pickings for him next year and we’ll take the time we need to bring him to his best.”

Mother Russia, also under a big weight, did everything right in the Victory Moon Handicap before being run  out of it near the line by the talented Perana. “This was a big run,” said Mike. “I not sure whether to run her in the Summer Cup, but on this good performance we might just leave her in.”

Zirconeum ran well below her best in the same race and Mike commented: “This was disappointing, we fancied her. It was just a flat run and is best ignored.”

Storm Crossing finished on the heels of Valor in a 1160m sprint after drawing market support and remains in good form. He is better on the sand, and over slightly further.