Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

De Kock hits out at KZN-trained jockeys

David Thiselton
Mike de Kock took a swipe at the KwaZulu-Natal-based jockeys at Clairwood yesterday after a Pinnacle Plate event in which his charges Rudra and Lizarre finished third and fifth respectively, with the latter having sat further back in the running than instructed. “What’s going on in this town with jockeys is unprofessional and actually a disgrace,’’ he said. “Anton Marcus is making the other jockeys look very ordinary. He goes to the front, dictates the pace and sprints away from them. Make no mistake I'm taking nothing away from Marcus, but the others are allowing him to get away with it. Marcus is not on the fittest horse, they should be getting up there and taking him on. Instead they sit back and watch him and then come back with hard luck stories … running on late etc.’’ Michael Roberts, recognised as the greatest jockey to come out of South Africa, was asked his opinion. “Yes, you do see that often,’’ said Roberts. “But often it’s a case of jockeys riding to instructions. They are often asked to sit in fourth or fifth place. I have to say that of all the places I’ve ridden in the world, KZN trainers give the most instructions. Sometimes you need a notebook just to take them down. That is why I don’t give instructions to my jockeys. But in the case where a jockey has a free rein and is allowing them to dictate in that manner, you have to be critical.’’
Roberts recalled that Steve Cauthen, like Marcus, was a master of dictating from the front. “I always used to take him on in the front with Clive Brittain’s 50-1 shots until one day he asked me why I kept on doing it. I replied ‘because I don't want to look a fool like the others’’’.
On the brighter side, one of De Kock’s horses, ironically, was given a praiseworthy ride on the weekend, when Piet Botha bought home the difficult customer Mr Premier, who has been seen to shy violently away from the whip on a few occasions. Botha was asked to ride without a whip. Garth Puller, asked before the start how he thought the horse should be ridden, called it to a tee.
“He will secure the rail and keep him there down the straight,’’ said Puller, who not knowing that the whip wasn't been carried, added that the stick would be kept away. Botha moved around the leader before the straight and did exactly that. “He had his head twisted to the left and was hanging towards the rail, which suited me,’’ said Botha. “I sensed he was waiting expectantly for the whip.’’
In other jockey news Mike Bass said yesterday that Jeff Lloyd would be riding River Jetez in the Vodacom Durban July. He added that two of his other contenders, Pocket Power and Love Is In The Air, would be ridden by Bernard Fayd’herbe and Gavin Lerena respectively.

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