When the racing season ended on Wednesday, Mike de Kock won the trainers’ championship by the comfortable margin of more than R2-million in stakes earned.
The talented Gauteng-based conditioner can shoot to a quick lead by capturing the new season’s opening feature, the R500 000 grade 1 Gold Cup over 3 200m at Greyville in Durban on Saturday.
De Kock saddles four runners in the 20-strong field and any one of them could prove good enough to lift the R312 500 first prize. But it is the newly turned four-year-old gelding Wolf Whistle, the mount of first-choice stable jockey Kevin Shea, who seems most likely to get home first.
A son of Badger Land, Wolf Whistle is also related, through his dam line, to the mighty Wolf Power and to South African Derby winner Artistry. He ran just a week ago, a fast-finishing half-length runner-up to Key Of Destiny in the Derby over 2 400m at Clairwood.
Wolf Whistle seemed to be in all sorts of trouble in the drive to the finish but eventually took off and was closing the gap quickly on the winner at the line. He ran as if two miles would be well within his compass and, with definite improvement to come, he seems a fair choice for top honours.
It’s no open-and-shut case, though: an argument can be made for all but a couple of runners in this closely handicapped field, and the Wolf could even be upstaged by one of his own stablemates.
Multiple grade 1 winner Badger’s Coast, another son of Badger Land, is easily the class horse in the race and tries this distance for the first time. His half-brother, Surfing Home, was a runner-up in this race a few years ago and the trip could be just what the six-year-old needs at this stage of his career.
Oratory and Desert Palm make up De Kock’s quartet and neither can be ruled out at the weights.
Unusually for a grade 1 event, just two of last season’s top 10 jockeys have rides — Shea and Stuart Randolph, who is aboard last year’s shock winner, Port Elizabeth-based Cereus.
A trio of grade 2 races make up the jackpot. In the R150 000 Golden Slipper young Cape-based trainer Justin Snaith sends out R300 000 Fort Wood filly Secret Heart. This niece of champion London News was strongly backed in her last start but could only finish third, 1,75 lengths behind Argentinian-bred Paraca. She can make amends here for her first defeat in three runs.
Venturesome, a half-sister to last week’s Mercury Sprint winner Hinterland, won her maiden impressively and is improving with every run. She could well make Secret Heart run for the R93 750 first prize.
Another of Fort Wood’s expensive progeny can capture the R200 000 Golden Horseshoe. Dynasty, a R475 000 purchase at the national sales, started at 1-3 and beat Snow Run in open company in his only start to date. The runner-up has since paid that form a huge compliment by beating decent fields in back-to-back victories.
Opposition will come from De Kock’s beautifully named Goyougoodthinggo, who was fourth in a grade 1 event at his last start.
Bianconi and Kickback are others who look likely to challenge.
Dancal, an Irish-bred mare part-owned by Hansie Cronje’s bookie friend Marlon Aronstam, looks set to canter home in the R150 000 Gold Bracelet over 2 000m. Lite Spark, Fire Water and Child Model should follow her.
Other good bets on the Greyville card include Hail Caesour, who should make it a double in the ninth; and Tamarino Bay who looks ready to shed his maiden tag in the 12th. Note, though, that Dean Kannemeyer’s R240 000 Elliodor colt Seamus has his first run and could be anything.
In the seventh at Turffontein, Blitzkrieg looks set to atone for an unlucky defeat in his last start.