South African trainer De Kock rules out full-time British move

Paul Fielder13 April 2012

South African trainer Mike De Kock today ruled out a permanent move to Britain but is still "in negotiations" to buy Geoff Wragg's Newmarket stables.

De Kock, in the Far East to saddle Eagle Mountain for Sunday's Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup, wants to buy a yard in Britain to use as a base for his best horses when he targets the world's top races.

He said: "There's nothing official yet. We're in negotiations. I still only want to have 15 or 20 top horses, but I'm not looking to make a permanent thing of it.

"We just need a base to travel internationally and there's no better place than Newmarket, facility-wise, and for the proximity for all around the world." De Kock (right) will mainly use South African jockey Kevin Shea to ride his Newmarket-based runners but will call on local talent if needed.

He added: "Kevin will probably come over. But I would be happy to use English boys - they're top riders and you're spoilt for choice."

Eagle Mountain was allocated stall five for the Hong Kong Cup in today's barrier draw, directly next to big rival Viva Pataca.

Viva Pataca's trainer John Moore believes his runner is perfectly positioned but is expecting a big battle with Eagle Mountain.

Moore, who says that Viva Pataca is the best horse he has trained in a career that started in 1985, said: "Eagle Mountain is a top horse and is definitely the one to beat, but my horse is super fit.

"A lot of these races end up in tactical battles but I've got the best jockey in Darren Beadman and I believe, from gate six, Viva Pataca will be given the run of the race."

Jim Bolger, trainer of triple Group 1 winner Lush Lashes, revealed that he hopes to keep his Hong Kong Cup contender in training as a four-year-old next season.

He said: "If everything goes well here then she'll stay in training and I'll be aiming her at the Duty Free in Dubai. We're hoping she'll run up to her best form. If she does, then I'd expect she won't be too far away at the finish."

Bolger drew stall 10 for Lush Lashes but is unconcerned about tactics. He added: "There isn't much point in having pre-conceived ideas about tactics as things can change so quickly. I'll leave the steering up to Kevin [Manning]."

Europe's other main hopes for International race day fared well in the draw with Luca Cumani "happy" with stall six for Hong Kong Vase runner Purple Moon.

The 2007 Melbourne Cup second worked on turf at Sha Tin this morning - where Australian Hong Kong Vase rival Douro Valley impressed - and Cumani said: "Purple Moon was finishing well in the Japan Cup and we'll be a bit closer to the pace this time."

The draw will play a big part in the Hong Kong Sprint and Moorhouse Lad's trainer Bryan Smart produced a big smile after pulling out stall one.

However, the big two in the six-furlong contest also fared well with Aussie hope Apache Cat coming out of stall two and French speedster Marchand D'Or in gate four.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in