Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

De Beer turns his back on training

MICHAEL CLOWER
Mike de Beer is to give up training after only six months in the job. His decision comes as a surprise. He appeared to have everything going for him when he took over Singapore-bound Basil Marcus’s Milnerton stable at the beginning of February, including nearly 60 horses. Then 35, he’d had a thorough grounding both here and in Hong Kong. He has made steady progress and has reached double figures. He also came within half a length of winning the Woolavington with Tassie Belle. De Beer, who will shut up shop at the end of the month, was unwilling to explain his decision and would only say: “I have reasons for it but I’m not going to go into them.”
Adam Marcus, who has been assisting De Beer with the stable’s Durban-based horses, is to join his father in Singapore and the front-running Vodacom Durban July acceptor Red Rake has already been despatched to Mike de Kock.
The Midmar Premier winner is owned by Investec boss Bernard Kantor and Rodney Dunn, chairman of the Western Province Owners and Trainers Association. Dunn said: “Bernard felt that, if Mike was giving up training, we might as well move the horse. “He wants Mike de Kock to assess Red Rake to see if he is good enough to race overseas.’’ At this stage we don't know whether he will run in the July. He was not at his best when he was sixth to Orbison in the Champions Cup last time. He has aches and pains, and needs regular physiotherapy, and I got the impression he wasn't striding out freely."
De Kock, bidding for his third July win, already has three of the first six in the betting - Irish Flame (Kevin Shea), Bold Silvano (Anthony Delpech) and Ancestral Fore (Karl Neisius). All are three-year-olds, an age group which has a fantastic July record. They have won ten of the last 20 runnings, and five of the last ten, even though three-year-olds average less than a third of the field. However, De Kock has expressed some concern about the weights they have been given - Irish Flame 56kg, Bold Silvano 55,5kg and Ancestral Fore 55kg. When you adjust for this year's two kilo increase in the weights, the average carried by the last ten winning three-year-olds is 54kg and the highest is Eyeofthetiger's 56kg four years ago.
As against that, this year’s race is almost a month later and so the three-year-olds are marginally more mature.
Outsider Grafton Street was sent to Clairwood last Wednesday.
Mike Stewart, having only his third July runner, intends waiting for the final field before deciding on a jockey and he has abandoned plans to give the horse a prep run. He said: “The race I earmarked for him on Wednesday has been scratched. There is a mile race on Sunday but that’s getting a bit close to the July so I would rather give him a few good gallops.’’
Meanwhile, last Saturday’s Kenilworth card, washed out by persistent rain, will be run on Sunday. There is also racing at Kenilworth on Saturday.

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