TAKE A BOW, MR. de KOCK!

I appreciate the comments – phone calls, emails — from readers about my blog, and all of you keep me inspired to keep on blogin’! I’ve been on hiatus from writing on a regular basis for about eight years, so I’m rediscovering the fun of writing again without the trials and tribulations associated with putting out a journal like Owner-Breeder, which I did for over 12 years!

My bloglines follow the bloodlines, and you readers are probably aware that one blog usually blogs into the next blog, so that it’s easy to write about Miesque’s son Kitalpha one day and then move to her son Kingmambo and his sons the next day, which I did and you know if you’ve been reading my blog on a regular basis the last few days!

Yesterday I noted that Kingmambo was represented by three Group/Grade 1 winners in 2008 – Henrythenavigator, Student Council, and Archipenko.

Archipenko is the only one of the three still racing, and he’ll probably see action at the Dubai meet this winter. Last year in Dubai Archipenko won the Group 2 Al Fahidi Fort and was third in the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free.

What’s notable for this blog, though, is his trainer, South African Mike de Kock. Sound familiar on here? I mentioned him as the trainer of Zimbabwe-bred Ipi Tombe a few blogs back.

Well, he’s the man in Dubai, and in two trips to the Gulf state I’ve been fortunate to see him in action and have been thoroughly impressed. He’s actually moved ex-horses from Aiden O’Brien’s stable up in form, Archipenko being one of them. Another is Eagle Mountain.

More than any single other person de Kock has highlighted South African horsemanship and form on the international stage, and last year he won the 2008 Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic with the Australian-bred South African champion Sun Classique. On the same Dubai World Cup card, by the way, South African trainer Herman Brown won the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free with South African-bred Jay Peg, another champion!

Today, the South African racing/breeding industry is booming, with increasing numbers of foreigners discovering the value and quality to be had for the buck. In fact, the most recent South African sale, the 2008 Emperors Ready to Run sale held on Nov. 2, 2008, was up 48 percent by gross over a record sale in 2007, with average up 38 percent. These are astounding figures in the current global economic climate!

They are also in stark contrast to recent sales around the world, including today’s first OBS session, which was down 43 percent by gross and 63 percent by average.

One reason why prices are booming in South Africa is that demand is still greater than supply. Another is the quality of South African horses and form, which de Kock has done a great job of advertising around the world!

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