De Kock takes advantage of draws to run four in Charity Mile

When trainer Mike de Kock saw the draw for the Allied Steelrode On A Mission Charity Mile, he must have thought his eyes were deceiving him. Incredibly, five of his top horses were positioned in numbers 2 to 6 in the barrier.  

The quintet are: Sparkling Water (drawn 4), Safe Passage (drawn 5), Aragosta (drawn 6), MK’s Pride (drawn 2) and Humdinger (drawn 3).

De Kock has often found his fancied runners drawn wide for big races — for example Sparkling Water was drawn 12 out of 20 for the Durban July and Al Muthana 16 out of 20.

So who will be representing the powerful stable when the final field is announced at a function at Turffontein on Tuesday? Talking exclusively to Business Day on Monday, De Kock said: “At this stage, I’m likely to run Safe Passage, MK’s Pride, Humdinger and Forever Mine.”

Sparkling Water will be kept for the Victory Moon Stakes in which highveld racing fans will get a chance to see this year’s Durban July winner.

De Kock’s jockey plans for the Charity Mile could be subject to late changes, but the former champion has pencilled in Grant van Niekerk for Safe Passage who is the 3-1 favourite in the ante-post market.

“Safe Passage’s main objective is the Summer Cup so — while I hope he can win — I wouldn’t want him to have a hard race,” said De Kock.

“Muzi [Yeni] will ride MK’s Pride on Saturday but he will probably be on Safe Passage in the Summer Cup.” He rode the Silvano gelding to victory in last season’s Daily News 2000.

Humdinger threw his hat in the Charity Mile ring with his recent impressive win for the International Racing Club and — with her light weight — it’s no surprise that she’ll take aim at Saturday’s race which has a gross stake of R800,000.

De Kock says it is possible S’manga Khumalo will partner Humdinger — “I’ll have to talk to his agent” — but the filly’s price of 18-1 seems likely to shorten after the final field is announced.

JP Van der Merwe has been in hot form since his return from Singapore and he is likely to partner the outsider of the De Kock quartet, Forever Mine. He got the five-year-old home from a shocking draw at Turffontein 10 days ago.

News on another of the stable’s star performers, Desert Miracle, narrowly beaten by 33-1 shot Humdinger on her comeback run, is that she is likely to take in a pinnacle stakes en route to contesting the Cape Merchants.

After The Rain — arguably the prettiest horse in racing — will definitely be in the Charity Mile line-up with Diego De Gouvea booked for Gavin van Zyl’s five-year-old.

This season’s leading jockey, Keagan De Melo, will resume his partnership with the Argentine-bred gelding Puerto Manzano. He won last season’s Jubilee Handicap on the son of Seek Again.