THE colourful partnership formed for ownership of four-year-old Kindle will have to wait a few more months for their slow-maturing gelding to recover the R250,000 paid for him as a yearling, but Mike de Kock and his team are playing things by the book in their handling of a horse that looks like an ace stayer in the making.

By this time next year, it is likely that a chunk of the script for Kindle’s career will have been written.  Conceivable too is that the sizable amounts so far invested in the son of former champion stallion Fort Wood will be forgotten.  Kindle is expected to come into his own over the next several months, a period in which opportunities will arise for the syndicate to bank a number of worthwhile stake cheques.

Kindle (green, white silks), forged ahead gamely in the face of strong opposition.

The stable’s erstwhile trademark was its preparation of runners for long distances, seldom rivalled.  In a betting market, you’ll have to take short odds-on that Mike has already pinpointed what he’d consider to be this term’s plum pickings for the yard’s most promising stayers . At this juncture, the one likely to emerge as one of his best prospects is the very Kindle who plugged gamely away to win Saturday’s MR92 contest over 1800m on the tricky inside track at Turffontein – this despite his lack of experience still evident and with a swarm of challengers running at him late.

“I thought Kindle had a tough task today being immature and having to give weight to five- and six-time winners, so this was a very good run,” assessed Mathew de Kock in the post-race interview.

Jockey Anthony Delpech said that Kindle was “a big baby”, but that the penny was starting to drop for him.  The race was run at a slow early clip, which allowed the one-paced Kindle to get himself somewhat unexpectedly into the front ranks in the early part of the contest. He handled it all with courage.

“I started to go at the 650m-mark to give Kindle a chance,” said Delpech, who judged the pace on this particular early-summer surface to perfection . Kindle was quickly shaken into stride and although briefly headed for mid-grandstand toe by a frustratingly persistent rival in Spitfire Run, he gnawed his way back into the lead and came out tops in an energy-sapping finish.

“Kindle runs like a stayer and he would have been better suited to the outside track, but he’s starting to learn,” said Delpech, who was praised by The Sporting Post for his similarly well-executed plan of action on Ilha Bela in the subsequent fillies feature.

SP quite rightly put the talented Delpech in the ranks of the world’s best jockeys, saying that  ”there is a fine line in race riding…  between making a move at exactly the right moment, or going too early.”  Delpech also deserves compliments for his consistently outstanding service to the stable in a job that comes with huge responsibility, heaps of stress and at times unfair doses of criticism.

Kindle, bred along powerful staying lines by Mary Slack at Wilgerbosdrift Stud, was produced from the quality racemare Cyber Cento, who won the SA Oaks in 2000 when, ironically, Delpech was the jock who held her reins.  Cyber Cento was all class, won six races in total and was placed at Graded level up to 2700m, which bodes well for this offspring.