Soqrat in Summer Cup
REASON: OUTBREAK OF AHS LEAVES DE KOCK WITH TRAVELLING JAM
More than half the field racing under sufferance.
Basketball great Michael Jordan always said one should always turn a negative situation into a positive situation. That is exactly what trainer Mike de Kock did when he declared Soqrat a runner in the R2-million Gauteng Chris Gerber Summer Cup (Grade 1), Proudly brought to you by Bidvest, over 2000m at Turffontein on Saturday 30 November.
After Barahin won the Grade 2 Charity Mile and Soqrat the Grade 3 Victory Moon Stakes, De Kock said he would send Soqrat to Cape Town and try and get a Grade 1 win in the Summer Cup from Barahin.
“The reason I changed my mind is because of the uncertainty regarding travelling around the country because of an outbreak of African Horse Sickness (AHS),” said De Kock yesterday. “So, there’s no point leaving Soqrat in his box, especially since he is super fit!”
But the news is great for the race itself as this is likely to be the strongest field we have seen in many a year. De Kock now has a powerful hand indeed with Soqrat, Barahin, Queen Supreme, Cascapedia and Atyaab.
That gives him four of the top five horses in the betting.
The jockey arrangement are also quite interesting as Anton Marcus gets on to Soqrat, Bernard Fayd’Herbe rides Barahin, Callan Murray has Queen Supreme, Craig Zackey is aboard Cascapedia and Muzi Yeni picked up Atyaab.
The problem for many trainers is the addition of Soqrat, who has top weight of 60kg, has resulted in the weights of horses with lower merit ratings being compressed. In fact, 12 of the 20 runners are out of the weights to various degrees.
That means with the exception of the top two, the other 18 are carrying between 52kg and 53.5kg. Of course, that has left many trainers in a quandary as they are unable to find lightweight jockeys to ride their horses. It has also resulted in jockeys like Gavin Lerena and Piere Strydom without a rides.
Sean Tarry will be delighted that Al Mutawakel, the half-brother of Al Sahem, did make the final field although he is heavily under sufferance based on merit ratings. At this stage, Tarry still has to find him a jockey.
The draws for the race will be made at a function this evening.
Final field for the R2-million Gauteng Chris Gerber Summer Cup (Grade 1), Proudly brought to you by Bidvest, over 2000m at Turffontein on Saturday 30 November.
1 - 0 SOQRAT (M F de Kock) A Marcus 60.0 - 133
2 - 0 BARAHIN (M F de Kock) B Fayd'Herbe 59.0 - 131
3 - 0 INFAMOUS FOX (C Dawson) M Byleveld 53.5 – 119
4 - 0 CAMPHORATUS (R/S Hill) M Khan 53.0 - 118
5 - 0 TILBURY FORT (S G Tarry) R Danielson 53.0 - 118
6 - 0 CASCAPEDIA (M F de Kock) C Zackey 52.5 - 117
7 - 0 DIVINE ODYSSEY (J J van Vuuren) C Maujean 52.5 - 117
8 - 0 ATYAAB (M F de Kock) M Yeni 52.0 - 117
9 - 0 DAWN ASSAULT (S J Gray) ............... 52.0 - 116
10 - 0 MARCHINGONTOGETHER (G H van Zyl) W Kennedy 52.0 - 116
11 - 0 ROY HAD ENOUGH (F Robinson) M van Rensburg 52.0 116
12 - 0 ZILLZAAL (S G Tarry) ............... 52.0 - 114
13 - 0 INSIGNIS (G V Woodruff) L J Ferraris 52.0 - 112
14 - 0 QUEEN SUPREME (M F de Kock) C Murray 52.0 - 110
15 - 0 GREEN HAZE (A G Laird) R Munger 52.0 - 107
16 - 0 SHENANIGANS (S G Tarry) ............... 52.0 - 107
17 - 0 BIZE (A G Laird) S Khumalo 52.0 - 106
18 - 0 FLYING WINGER (A G Laird) M Mjoka 52.0 - 105
19 - 0 SUNSHINE SILK (G V Woodruff) N Klink 52.0 - 105
20 - 0 AL MUTAWAKEL (S G Tarry) ............... 52.0 - 103
Same Trainer: (1,2,6,8,14) (5,12,16,20) (13,19) (15,17,18)