South African trainer Mike de Kock has been the voice of South African breeding and racing for decades. So its no surprise when South Africa 3 best horses are invited to race in the world’s richest race meet which includes a face-off with Godolphin owned Thunder Snow.
Mike de Kock’s trio of Majestic Mambo, Yulong Prince (formerly Surcharge) and Durban July winner Marinaresco are the SA representatives on a bumper card which features six Group 1 and three Group 2 fixtures.
Gr.1 Daily News winner Surcharge, re-named Yulong Prince after changing hands last August in a deal struck by John Freeman, is now owned by Yulong Stables, the racing interest of Chinese coal mining magnate, windfarm and hotel billionaire Zhang Yuesheng who is also also has an Everest
Yuesheng was in the news just recently when he bought a slot in Redzel for the Everest Sprint, spending $600,000.
Yuesheng’s ambition is to establish a global racing empire. He has raced mostly in Singapore with his horses spread with trainers including James Peters, Stephen Gray and Desmond Koh and is on record saying that he’d like to win a race on Dubai World Cup night, “within five years”.
De Kock also said that the 2019 QEII Cup in Hong Kong will also be an option for his new pupil, Yulong Prince.
The South African conditioner has won every major race in the country at least once and he has also won races on four continents in places like England, the USA, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.
“It’s like a golfer wanting to play the majors. I want to be competitive at all the best meetings, that’s my ambition. If I have the right horse for a big race anywhere in the world, I want to be able to go there and do it,” said de Kock in an interview with Daily Mail a few years ago.
He regards Dubai as his home away from home where he was first spotted by H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.
Recently, his other talented charge 3YO, Hawwaam, made his way to a joint tenth position in the latest 2019 Best Racehorse rankings.
The son of Silvano, impressive winner of the recent SA Classic at Turffontein, is in exalted company which includes Winx, Beauty Generation and City Of Light.
The trainer has kept Hawwaam’s options open. The colt may contest either the Gr.1 Durban July and the Gr.1 Daily News 2000 (only for 3YOs) open.
His other stable star, Janoobi hasn’t been doing as well as he expected, “I’m expecting Janoobi to do a whole lot better next next season.”
He is clear in his favourites. If it’s a South African bred horse, he prefers the horse to be the son of Silvano. “From South Africa my favourite sire is Silvano and I seek out his progeny in any sale. However, outside South Africa, I am neutral and will consider all horses for consideration equally,” said the conditioner.
“I always look at athleticism in a horse. He should have a good conformation, a good eye and show a good attitude. Then we look at the Pedigree to see what he is worth.”
Published In Dubai World Cup Gold Souvenir 2019
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Credit: Pallavi Shevade pallavi.shevade@secretariatsworld.com