APPRENTICE Julius Mariba was given confidence by the stable and he responded with a confident ride on Gone Baby Gone (headline photo), who ran on strongly to win a MR80 Handicap over 2000m at Turffontein on Saturday.

Mathew de Kock made Gone Baby Gone his best runner on the day, saying afterwards: “He’d been putting up some good work and wasn’t hard to pick. He’s getting better as he’s getting older.”

Gone Baby Gone entered the straight well off the pace, but Mariba improved their position gradually, striking the front 100m from home. “I had a lot of horse under me, he’s very nice,” said the apprentice.

Mike de Kock has always had a high regard for this three-year-old son of Grey’s Inn he owns in partnership with Patrick Reynecke, the Mcveigh family and Noeline Malherbe.

Sheikh Hamdan’s Jet Master filly, Ad Idem, also produced a fast finish to win her 1000m debut at Clairwood on Sunday.  “She was very green so we came to the outside of the course into open company. She made up a ton of ground so this was a good win,” said jockey Keegan de Melo.

Ad Idem: Finished fast.

“Ad Idem was not really tuned up so she will improve. She only had two gallops before this race,” commented Nathan Kotzen, assistant trainer.

Anthony Delpech was full of praise for  three-year-old colt Akii Bua (AUS), a fluent Maiden winner over the straight 1600m on turf at the Vaal last Thursday. When he pressed the button on this import by Encosta De Lago, Delpech quickly put the result beyond doubt and Akii Bua strode away to win by 2.75-lengths, not extended.

“When I cantered him down he didn’t feel like a Maiden at all. He’s a very nice horse and I think he will win his races,” Delpech said.  Akii Bua is owned by Warne and Wendy Rippon and the Chadha family, who are excited about his future.