Dave The King is a comfortable winner of his second open Gr 1 weight for age contest in succession. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
Dave The King put his hand up for Equus Horse Of The Year by winning the HKJC Champions Cup over 1800m by a comfortable 1,40 length margin at the World Pool Gold Cup meeting at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.
The gigantic Global View gelding, trained by Mike de Kock and bred by Gary Player Stud, became the only horse in the country this season to land two open Gr 1 weight for age races, having won the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge over 1600m by 2,20 lengths on June 8 at Hollywoodbets Greyville.
On the other hand he did lose by 4,25 lengths to Royal Victory when fourth in the Gr 1 wfa Premier’s Champions Challenge and Royal Victory also won Jo’Burg’s biggest race, the Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup, albeit with bottom weight. Royal Victory also finished third in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July.
However, Dave The King also finished second in the Gr 1 wfa Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes.
The other big contender for Horse Of The Year is the unbeaten De Kock-trained Gimme A Nother, whose seven wins include two Gr 1s, two Gr 2s and a Gr 3. She has only raced against her own gender, but has unbeaten them with ease and the lack of a stand out among the rest of the population makes her a strong contender.
Richard Fourie rode a clever tactical race in Saturday’s HKJC Champions Cup, having replaced Muzi Yeni, who remained loyal to the Nathan Kotzen-trained Royal Victory.
Fourie did not go as fast as expected in the early stages from draw eight out of nine and this likely took Piere Strydom on the widest-drawn See It Again by surprise.
See It Again, whom Fourie would have viewed as his chief rival, battled to find cover throughout after initially being caught on the outside of Dave The King.
Fourie let the big Dave The King go at the 1100m mark and his huge stride took him to the front and stretched them out.
He was going to be hard to catch and so it proved with Cousin Casey running on from a nice rail position for his fourth Graded second in the Champions Season, three of them Gr 1s.
See It Again’s exertions without cover took their toll but he stayed on to share third with the early pacemaker Purple Pitcher.
Flag Man ran on for fifth ahead of Royal Victory.
Flag Man’s saddled slipped back in the running.
Purple Pitcher objected against See It Again for outright third on the grounds of interference as he was tightened up by the latter on the inside rail in the latter stages.
However, the objection was overruled and the deposit was forfeited.
The stipendiary report said, PURPLE PITCHER (C Habib) and SEE IT AGAIN (P Strydom), which was hanging in from the 350m, raced in close proximity in the concluding stages. An Objection was lodged by Jockey C Habib on behalf of the joint third placed horse PURPLE PITCHER, against the other joint third placed horse SEE IT AGAIN (P Strydom) on the grounds of interference in the concluding stages. In view of the above report, the Objection was overruled and the Judges’ result was allowed to stand. In the opinion of the Stewards, the Objection had no prospect of success and therefore Jockey Habib’s deposit was declared forfeited.
Dave The King is owned by Larry Nestadt, Gary Player and Ralphs Racing (Pty) Ltd (Nom: Miss K Ralphs).
Richard Fourie said afterwards, “The 1800m was a bit of a stretch for him. Last time Muzi rode an absolute perla on the horse. Today he came out sluggish and managed to hustle for a bit of cover, but his action is so great, that it was very difficult to keep it there. I spoke to Craig Zackey who has ridden the horse before, who said that if he’s not pulling by the 1000m, he’ll win the race. His action is tremendously huge. Through the 1100m, I was already sitting in a position where he hadn’t taken the bit yet. I was 100m shy of the target I wanted him to take over (1000m), but allowed him to. He’s got a big stride … he’s got a big stride and started stretching them. He came into the straight and took the inside rail. The way he uses his action, is that he’s not going to kick hard off it, but he can sustain it. It was a great win”.
Mike de Kock said, “Things have been going almost too well. You’ve got to pinch yourself when things go well as a trainer. We took the gamble of missing the July and coming in here. This horse came here today, like one of those boxers that when you sound the bell, he’s going to come out punching. I was a little worried in the early stages … the start was a bit of a mess, but at the 1000m, is when he only starts getting going. He pulls himself to the front and it takes a good one to beat him. He could win anywhere in the world. We don’t have a lot of horses these days … every now and again we do get a good one”.
