Cape pair ready
December 15, 2018Headed for Cape Town!
December 18, 2018SOQRAT gave Mike de Kock his 118th Gr1 winner when he stormed to victory under Randall Simons in Saturday’s Gr1 Cape Guineas at Kenilworth.
In securing his fifth Guineas, Mike surpassed the tally of 117 Gr1 winners held by the legendary Terrance Millard since his retirement in 1991, a time at which, incidentally, Mike was in his mid-twenties and had only a single Gr1 winner to his name.
Mike was chuffed after the race and said: “It is not something I could have imagined and now here it is. Just to be mentioned in the same breath as Terrance Millard is good enough for me. What I remember from those days is that we were absolutely in awe of him.”
Mike said that he and son Mathew, who put the final touches On Soqrat this week and took care of the saddling, were quite confident before the race. “On juvenile form I thought Soqrat was close to One World on form, if not better, and when I saw our horse canter down to the start I knew he’d go close. Thanks to Mathew and the team for bringing him to the track spot-on, I am very happy!”
Mathew added: “Soqrat is a natural athlete. We had the hiccup with his travelling down, but he recovered, got better every day. He knew what to do. Even with Hawwaam not here I knew that in Soqrat we still had enough power to play a role. I sighed when he found the rail, but with about 600m to go he was full of running.”
Mathew said that Soqrat would probably stay in Cape Town for a tilt at the Gr1 Queen’s Plate, which already promises to be the most powerful renewal in years, but that they would see how the colt comes out of the Guineas before making a decision.
Soqrat is the flagbearer for Darley’s Commands Stallion Epaulette (AUS), who tops the list for the most Group winners by an Australian first-season sire. Soqrat’s dam, Elzeeza (Hussonet) won twice up to 1200m.
Bred by Shadwell Stud for Sheik Hamdan of Dubai, Soqrat was raised by Arthur and Harry Mitchell of Yarraman Stud before being imported to South Africa.
Soqrat now has four wins from six starts to his credit, including two Gr1’s. He’s earned R1,385-million.
1 Comment
Jose Mourinho always goes on about how many titles he’s won – in our smaller sport of racing, Mike’s total of Gr 1 wins is an achievement he wouldn’t even have dreamed about the day he saddled his first winner.
To better the record of Terrance Millard makes Mike (and Terrance of course) automatic choices for SA’s “Hall Of Fame.”
If I had a rand for every word I’ve written about Mike in the last three decades in the Rand Daily Mail and Business Day I’d be a rich man. Happily for some punters, I wrote in Business Day on Friday that “it’s this column’s view that Soqrat is worth a bet at his current odds of 7-2.”
We have mainly got on well although not always – no lunch invite this year! We are similar in being stubborn individuals at times.
So it’s been a big week with Mike’s appointment to the RA Board along with Charles Savage. The best bet for 2019 is that this fresh blood will introduce beneficial changes to better the sport.
Molly