De Kock star should win on his comeback

Wonder horse Mustaaqeem returns from a 278-day at the Vaal Outside meeting today and the Mike de Kocktrained colt is a banker in all bets when he lines up in Race 5, a Progress Plate over 1200m.

The speedy three-year-old has not run since an emphatic four-length win in the SA Nursery last May.

He is a class act and even if he is not 100% fit, he should easily outpace this small field of eight with regular jockey Callan Murray up.

Mustaaqeem currently runs off a merit rating of 109, impressive figures if you consider the fact that Mike de Kock’s charge has only run twice. He was a runaway victor on both occasions, winning by 7.50 lengths on debut then annihilating top-quality two-year-olds in the Grade 1 feature.

De Kock, who has only one runner at the meeting, is a master at bringing horses back ready to race and Mustaaqeem can maintain his 100% strike rate.

If you’re looking for value, there is none better than Premier Show in Race 8, a 1 200m MR 72 Handicap.

Murray also rides the Clinton Binda-trained threeyear-old, who is better than his last outing suggests. He was beaten 3.50 lengths into eighth by Battle Creek, but was bumped and carried out, so expect improvement.

The average merit rating of this field is 64, a drop in class for the gelding, which increases his chance.

Should he drop the ball Lake Kinneret and Like Astair could pick up the pieces. The former makes most appeal although he is returning from a rest – the only chink in his armour. Lake Kinneret carries 1kg more than Premier Show at 60kg and gets the services of Sherman Brown, who has been in form recently.

For Quartets float the three with Cedrus Libani, Barbel Run, Little Magician and Dorman.