Durban July hero Marinaresco is to leave his history-making trainer to join Mike de Kock for an international campaign.
Marinaresco – heads for an international campaign
Candice Bass-Robinson has decided that the option of continuing as the trainer when the five-year-old moves overseas is not practical for her. She has her own yard adjoining Summerveld as well as one of the biggest stables in Cape Town, writes Michael Clower on www.goldcircle.co.za
She said: “He goes into quarantine in the middle of the month and will go via Mauritius to Mike de Kock’s yard in Newmarket. After that nothing has been finalised but maybe Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai. He remains in the same ownership (Marsh Shirtliff, Bryn Ressell, Mike Bass and Fred Green) and I will be sorry to see him go.”
Marinaresco set a weight-carrying record when becoming the first Durban July winner to be trained by a woman and also one of the first (if not the first) to win the race for a trainer in their initial season. His other triumphs included the Champions Cup, Winter Guineas and Winter Classic.
Last Winter, who finished one place in front of him when runner-up in the Sun Met, could be on the same plane to Mauritius following a meeting between owner Lady Laidlaw, Dean Kannemeyer and Jehan Malherbe on Friday.
Last Winter – may be on same plane
Kannemeyer said: “We are all on the same track with this and we are now busy negotiating to get him out of the country. I will remain the trainer and we will go via Mauritius but we still have to decide whether we go now or wait until July but, personally, I think the sooner the better.
“There is Hong Kong in December but, if it proves the horse is not ready for that, a race I have long wanted to win is the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (won by the Alec Laird-trained London News in 1997) there in April.”
Kannemeyer fears that the horse would end up with top weight if the decision is made to wait for the Vodacom Durban July. Last Winter is a 10-1 chance for the Greyville spectacular with Hollywoodbets which has African Night Sky favourite at just over 7-1 and Marinaresco on 25-2.
