THREE-year-old filly Masaaken (Chamu Mabaya up) gave Amsterdam-based owner Andre van Schaik his first winner in the De Kock stable, and we’re all happy for the man whose silks are mainly orange (for ‘King Of Orange’) and yellow (for cheese maybe?).
Andre hasn’t had a winner in Gauteng for over 10 years – he stopped racing between 2008 and 2018 – but has returned with over 60 horses in training, spread with trainers around the country.
The likeable Dutchman likes to look for value buys at various sales and Mike de Kock said: “Andre’s made his money back on Masaaken and we had a discussion after this win. She beat a poor field, but they were males. She almost came down early and when she got to the front she fought on well.
“When you have a horse that can stay as well as she does, there are races for them so we’re going to keep her in Gauteng for another run or two. I’ll look for a suitable race. She’s actually still weak, behind the rest and must have improvement to come. She’s well bred too.”
Masaaken is by Darley’s Galileo stallion Teofilo from a mare by Stratum.
