HKJC Champions Cup (Group 1)

Mercury Sprint (Group 1)

“THIS horse could win anywhere in the world,” declared a delighted Mike de Kock after his Dave The King had put up a mightily impressive performance in the nine furlong HKJC Champions Cup at Greyville last Sunday.

The Gold Challenge winner (by the Galileo-sired Global View out of the Jet Master mare Touche) started favourite at 9/4 and led for almost half the nine furlongs of this Group 1 and Richard Fourie never had to exert more pressure than hands and heels.

He related: “This horse’s action is huge and he has a big stride. By the 1,100 metre mark, I was sitting in a good position, he was comfortable and hadn’t yet taken the bit. He got there easily, I allowed him to take over and he then started stretching them.

“The way he uses that action means he is not going to kick hard off them but he can sustain it and take everything else off the bit.”

The one and a half-length winning margin over Cousin Casey flattered the runner-up, particularly considering Fourie never even picked up his stick in the final half mile. De Kock, winning this Group 1 race for the third time, said: “We don’t have a lot of horses these days but every now and again we get a Group 1.

Punching

“We took the gamble of missing the Durban July with this horse to run here but I later felt that things had been going all too well – he came here like one of those boxers that come out punching! Then the start was a bit of a mess and I was a little worried in the early stages.

“But at the 1,000-metre mark he started getting going and, once he pulled his way to the front, I felt it was going to take a good one to beat him.”

The four-year-old gelding was bred by the legendary golfer Gary Player, who still has a third share, and was something of a bargain buy at R175,000 (€8,760) at the Cape Premier Yearling Sale.

This was winner number 377 of Fourie’s record-breaking season, totally eclipsing the previous record of 334 set by Anthony Delpech 25 years earlier. Fourie rode almost 200 winners more than his nearest rival (Muzi Yeni) and contested 1,649 races all over South Africa.

Fourie had also hoped to win the Mercury Sprint on Lucky Lad but the 33/10 favourite was last turning for home and failed to peg back 10/1 shot Surjay by just three-quarters of a length.

The Louis Mxothwa-ridden winner, by Vercingetorix and trained by Brett Crawford, had not won for 624 days.

Cape Town-based Justin Snaith narrowly beat Sean Tarry for the trainers’ title while Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud was the top owner, Gimmethegreenlight the champion sire and the Wilgerbosdrift (Mary Slack) and Mauritzfontein Studs the top breeders.

There were two other Group 1 races at Greyville on Saturday and Quid Pro Quo (by the Jet Master sire Lance) made it five victories in a row when taking the Douglas Whyte Stakes in fine style under S’manga Khumalo despite having both front shoes taken off at the start.

Her trainer Barend Botes, with the Olympic Games much in the news, drily remarked: “Zola Budd also ran without shoes!”