“I’ve been scratching my head, I am battling to explain this run,” said Mike de Kock after Mount Pleasant (3-4 favourite) had finished unplaced in Saturday’s WSB Gr2 Dingaans over 1600m at Turffontein, beaten 10.50 lengths.
Mount Pleasant (Pic -JC Photos)
“Mount Pleasant is physically well this morning, he returned sound, we couldn’t find anything wrong with him, so this is a tricky one to wrap my head around,” Mike said on Sunday.
“He is by Vancouver, who was a fast horse and who has produced predominantly speed runners so far. Mount Pleasant, as we’ve seen, is very fast himself. He’s a Nursery winner. So it may be that the mile in Saturday’s sticky going was just outside of his reach.
“But we’d like to try him over 1600m again, on a firmer track, to make sure, so the Cape Guineas remains our next option. If he fails again, well, then it’s a sprinting career for him and there is nothing we can do.”
The Stipes reported that when afforded the opportunity to place on record any factors which may have accounted for the poor performance of his mount, Callan Murray explained to the Board that the gelding travelled well, was well positioned and that he was confident that Mount Pleasant would close the race off strongly. He added that the horse felt sound and that he was at a loss to explain the indifferent performance. De Kock was advised to report back to the Board on the condition of this gelding on return to stables.
- Mike de Kock Racing
