Podcast: TDN with Mike de Kock
April 19, 2022
Bloodstock exports audit dates confirmed
April 23, 2022
The HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco Empress Club Stakes race day at Turffontein, postponed last Saturday, will be staged at the Johannesburg city track this Saturday. There are only a handful of scratchings going into the meeting, the feature races have stayed intact and the weather is likely to play along!
Mike de Kock has returned from a brief trip to Australia, where he bought a few yearlings at the Inglis Sydney Easter Sale. He will be saddling four runners at the meeting, including Sparkling Water, who runs in the top-billed feature, the G1 Empress Club Stakes over 1600m.
Sparkling Water drops in distance and comes into a race in which some of the best female milers in the country have been assembled for a prestigious prize and Mike said: “This is obviously too short for her and it’s a race full of talented rivals. But she’ll be running on at them late, that’s all we want to see because this is a prep run for the Premier’s Challenge. She’s in a good space, if they go hard in the early part she could be in the money.”
Climate Control (Race 3, 1400m) made a good debut in fourth from a wide draw at this track a fortnight ago and looks set to improve on that. Mike noted: “He was very green and flew late in his first run, he’s come on from that. Paul Matchett’s runner Eye Of The Prophet is the one to beat, he’s got good form to Union Square and Shoemaker, two of my other promising two-year-olds. Climate Control may still need one more race, and perhaps a bit further, but we’re expecting a good run. He could fight it out.”
Jaipur Jewel (Race 5, 1600m) finished just ahead of Climate Control in the race discussed above, and he gets another chance to break his Maiden over 1600m. “He’s a disappointing Maiden, but I have been running him over what has proven to be too far. His last 1400m outing was a cracking run, so I have to give him a winning chance on that even though he has not been reliable.”
He said about Nartjie (Race 6, 1800m): “Nartjie is under pressure in Pinnacle company, but he is fit and well and doesn’t get many opportunities at the distance and weight he wants. He can be quirky, but I expect him to finish in the money.”
