De Kock discusses his big runners

Mike de Kock has decided to raid the Western Cape with his horses this summer, rather than stable a string there. He gave his opinion of some leading candidates: SOQRAT: He will be aimed at the Dingaans at Turffontein and will then go down to the Cape to run in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas which is three weeks later. I will then run him in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate as we did with Noah From Goa. From there he will go into quarantine and then go overseas to race. I will probably try and give him a warmup run in the Spring Challenge at Turffontein in October but I won’t run him if he draws badly. BARAHIN: He will have a similar agenda. We will also raid Cape Town a lot. He will also go for the Guineas but after that we will be looking at the Grade 1 Investec Cape Derby. He will also be looking at an overseas trip after that. TAKINGTHEPEACE: She was a December foal so I decided not to send her to Durban during the winter. On a line through Fiorella she’s as good as the best fillies in the country. I couldn’t believe she didn’t even get a mention at the Equus awards. I have big plans for her, including the Summer Cup. She has a merit rating of 104 and that will make her competitive in that field. LIKE A PANTHER: Had a few niggles. He likes the sting out of the ground so we will wait for the summer rains. The Summer Cup will be his mission. NOBLE SECRET: The good news for him is that every horse who beat him during the Triple Crown has been sold or has gone overseas. He will follow a similar route to Like A Panther.