Dave The King leaves them punch-drunk

“Dave The King was like one of those boxers, when you sound the bell, they come out punching,” said Mike de Kock after the big, free-striding four-year-old put his rivals on the canvas in the Grade 1 HKJC Champions Cup over 1800m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Sunday.

A winner of the Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge just over two months ago, the decision to skip the Hollywoodbets Durban July paid handsome dividends, with a fresh Dave The King facing eight rivals who had all walked the big race route on 6 July.

Jockey Richard Fourie said: “He came out sluggish and we had to hustle for position.” In their sparring for cover over the first 400m, Dave The King kept his hot rival See It Again running wide, with Piere Strydom having no other choice but to keep his mount in pursuit. But Dave The King’s relentless cruising speed proved too hard to contend with. He was on a long rein and striding easy coming into the bend, and then quickened away at the 300m mark to win from Cousin Casey, with See It Again and Purple Pitcher, caught flat-footed, dead-heating for third.

Fourie confirmed: “I spoke to Craig Zackey about Dave The King. The 1800m is a bit of stretch for him. He said that if Dave The King is not pulling by the 1000m mark, he’ll win the race. He’s tremendously huge. He uses his action and sustains it, takes everyone else off the bit. He was comfortable going through the 1000m mark and then got there easy.”

Mike said on Monday: “We took the gamble of missing the July but I’m glad it worked out for us. One worries as a trainer when things just go so smoothly. I was a bit concerned in the early stages but when he gets going, it takes a good one to beat him. He is a hard horse to compete against, tactically, because of his pace. You either have to let him get away and run at him late, or try to match his pace and that is not easy.”

Mike said that he had the 2025 King’s Plate in mind for Dave The King. “We’ll probably point him at that. Thanks to his owners for their patience and advice in placing him. He’s a good horse, will hold his own anywhere in the world. He has a lot of Jet Master in him.”

Owned by the partnership of Gary Player, Larry Nestadt and Ralphs Racing, Dave The King is an Ascot Stud-bred by the Galileo stallion Global View out of  Touche, by Jet Master.  A R175 000 Cape Premier Yearling Sale purchase, he has won six of 21 starts.

Dave The King’s victory gave Mike his third victory of the 21^st century in the Champions Cup after Equal Image (2006) and Ingleside (2001), and his 141st Grade 1 winner.