None Other the danger to De Kock’ sfilly

No question Mike de Kock is a “Ladies Man” — the successes of Ipi Tombe, Igugu and Sparkling Water are proof of that. Another female who performed well in the care of the former champion trainer is Ilha Bela who retired to stud a seven-time winner.

One of Ilha Bela’s daughters, Bonete, has been priced up favourite for the grade 3 Fillies Mile at Turffontein on Saturday, but might not find it easy beating another Wilgerbosdrift-owned and bred runner, None Other.

Bonete must have been moving well in home gallops as the grey started a hot favourite on her debut in October. She trotted up by nearly five lengths in the hands of Randall Simons.

There were probably a few raised eyebrows when this column selected None Other to win the Starling Stakes, but the daughter of Flower Alley has always looked an above-average sort and turned in a fair effort finishing fifth behind Miss Daisy.

The big plus factor — apart from the advantage of pole position — is that S’manga Khumalo retains the ride on Lucky Houdalakis’ filly.

Sean Tarry is represented by two talented fillies in Bless My Stars and Rock The Fox — Calvin Habib has chosen to partner the latter.

Rock The Fox — two lengths behind None Other in the Starling Stakes — gave Habib the most forgettable moment of his career at Hollywood bets Greyville last July. In front of the packed stands, the young jockey raised his arms in triumph — like a footballer celebrating a goal — believing he had won the Thekwini Stakes on Rock The Fox. However, the judge ruled in favour of Canadian Summer.

This will be Rock The Fox’s third run after a rest so perhaps she will confirm the form with stablemate, Bless My Stars, who finished a close-up third in the Thekwini.

Muzi Yeni’s mount, Orarari Gold, comes into the picture but Corrie Lensley’s runner has the worst of the draw as was the case in the Starling Stakes.

Whatever the fate of None Other, the Houdalakis stable should be on the mark with Munchkin in the second race. Owner David Shawe looks to have a decent sort on his hands and the Rafeef colt can recoup recent losses behind surprise winner Clan The Conqueror.

With Kabelo Matsunyane not riding at the meeting, Bonete’s rider, Simons, has been engaged for the Crawford stable’s runner, Gallic Tribe, in the final leg of the Pick 6. The admirably consistent five-year-old beat Duke Of Sussex in October and the runnerup has franked the form with a recent win. Mardi Gras only got a four-point penalty for his recent win and — with Unzen — may pose the main threat.

Another Crawford runner — also to be ridden by Simons — is Reny, who is chasing a hat-trick when she takes on nine rivals in the sixth race. The filly should have no problem stepping up to 1,600m and looks like a banker in the exotics.

Alec Laird saddles four runners in the opening event and the most interesting is Call To Glory who is a Kingman filly out of Met winner Smart Call.

At the time of writing Call To Glory is a 20-1 chance in early betting which suggests she isn’t expected to make a winning debut. Nevertheless, Kingman’s stud fee in 2020 was £150,000 so given her pedigree her performance will be closely monitored.