De Kock - Brilliant!

Look at this filly ARIZA - THREE wins from three starts all over 2000m in less than a month - Now tell me horses need ages between runs to recover(You learn something new every day and I'm glad my eyes have been opened now!!) Fit horses win races it seems

Will only get better aswell

Good horses win races.

Fit horses just weight less.

Well spotted Mr Hawaii,Ariza won in good style and wont be stopping their,i hope some trainers get the message,and realise what my post was all about,they don't have to run every 6 weeks only,shot Mike De kock on showing them the right way forward,owners must be chuffed,as the master rules.

Smooth Sorbet runs for the 3rd time in just over 2 weeks tomorrow

ZORO why not take your horses to corne spies he runs his horses twice a week

Some horses can, some can't. There are those who come back sore after every run and need to have their races spread more widely than those who seem to be able to go to the well every week and come back as strong as an ox.

De Kock is a great trainer and he is doing a smashing job with Ariza, who may be developing into an Oaks filly, but before we get carried away let's not forget that Rudra hasn't raced for more than a year!

Well said Magic

I'm sorry to get carried away but how many poor owners are spun stories week after week that their horse is getting ready to run only to find that two years later the horse must be retired as it's useless - not unsound - but slow - not a late maturer(parade leader or fort wood spring to mind) - but a slow horse that was bought as a potential sprinter and now you lose another owner to the game. The point is there are very few trainers that I've seen in SA that will consider racing a "Bad" horse three times in a month so what De Kock has done with an obviously talented horse shows me that as the filly is at her peak he's willing to let her race. My advice to new owners - if your trainer tells you that your horse needs time to mature 6-8 months then use a spelling farm as it will be kinder on your horse and the natural setting might just bring it on more readily.

if they are fit they must run twice a month good horses once a month so it can pay its way and owners do not have to fork out every month do not keep pets as horses rather buy a dog

what I cannot understand is a horse might be in work for a year - no injuries - but you are told not ready yet - then send it to a farm to mature - why keep it in a box for 23 hours and keep hope up - trainers will scare you by saying that on a spelling farm the horse might not be looked after properly or might injure himself while running wild. I lived on a farm with 16-20 ex-racehorses that were now polo ponies - In the two years I lived there I never ever saw the owner call out a vet(these horses were treated for cuts etc after a competion and then sent out to this farm to recover) I know racing is tougher but owners need to take more resposiblity and ask why their horse has not raced as a three - four year old if it has no injuries.

It is an expensive game, and keeping horses in training for prelim work is unnecessary. Ours all go to spellings farms from the sale, to be broken in and start basic grounding and fitness. They should race within 3 months of coming to trainer - all he needs to do is get it even fitter, get a starting stall certificate and teach it the basics of a race, working with a partner...