DO thoroughbreds like football? Two Brazilian-breds from Mike de Kock’s stable won like horses possessed on sand at the Vaal on Tuesday – perhaps they were taken with 2014 Soccer World Cup fever like the many humans around them!

Nigel Mansell and Sole Mio both won MR80 Handicaps on the dusty section of the country course, indicating a preference for this surface after appearing somewhat lacklustre on turf. Interestingly both are three-year-olds sired by Elusive Quality, though only Sole Mio is still a colt.

Nigel Mansell (a 14-length winner in this, his first start here, 1600m) and Sole Mio (a 2.25-length winner over 1200m), are likely to shape as strong contenders for the Vaal’s sand features coming up in the early summer months. With plenty of career time left, and good improvement possible, they could be names to follow on sand over the next several seasons.

Nigel Mansell (Francois Naude) sped powerfully around the track like his human namesake was known to do so often in his Williams-Renault!

Sole Mio (Marco van Rensburg), outpaced the opposition in good fashion.