MIKE de Kock has decided to close his permanent operation at the Summerveld Training Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.  All the runners in the stable will forthwith be based under one roof at Randjesfontein in Johannesburg like they had been for the first half of Mike’s training career.

Mike commented: “This is a business decision. It makes no economic sense for us to keep the Summerveld stable going all year round. We will still be raiding for three or four months in Winter with a small, exclusive string during the Champions Season.

“We have been allocated 25 extra stable at Randjesfontein, the total string will be about 160 horses. We may also send a small string to Cape Town for a few months, though travelling with horses within our own country has become almost as difficult as travelling overseas.”

In his spell as a trainer officially based at Summerveld, Mike won the KZN Trainers’ Title nine times between 2002 and 2012.

Mike also announced that his long-time assistant trainer, Nathan Kotzen, has left the stable to take out his own licence.  He said: “Nathan was with the stable in KZN for 16 years and he worked with some of the best horses in the world, let alone the country.  He’s a top horseman in his own right, he has the credentials and is well placed to make his mark. He won’t start off without support, I have left a few of my own horses with him and so has the Slack family. We wish Natie all the best in his new career.”