De Kock and Fourie carry momentum into Turffontein races

The newly forged partnership between Mike de Kock and Richard Fourie is proving highly successful.

In the couple of months that Cape Town-based rider Fourie has been jetting up to Joburg to do service for the maestro trainer, the pair have put together some excellent stats. They have a 20% winners-to-runners rate and a 72% first-four ratio.

They could match or better those numbers at the Turffontein Inside track fixture on Thursday, getting the show rolling as early as Race 1 with Crown Plaza.

The filly is no champion, having already had eight attempts at cracking the maiden, but she is a willing sort with a modicum of talent and looks ready to finally reward her connections.

Fourie rode Crown Plaza for the first time in her last run and she recorded her best result, second to well-backed Lazuli.

In the third and fifth races, the De Kock-Fourie factor is at the service of the maiden filly Pink Levine and new stable recruit from Durban, Humdinger, both with decent winning chances.

But the team’s main hopes for the day are probably Verolina in the sixth and Bonnaroo in the seventh. The former won at cramped odds at the fourth try – following a trio of runner-up odds – and put in a respectable post-maiden run, despite a breathing problem, and looks ready to move up the grades.

Bonnaroo comes off a maiden victory in his third start, racing under a weight of money. The son of sire-of-the-moment also looks likely to progress to better things very soon and this could be a springboard.

If these two don’t fire, the team will be going all out with Tallin in the last. The three-time winner is accurately described as “moody” in Computaform, so he’ll always be hard to read.

SELECTIONS

1: 1 Crown Plaza, 6 Mychancetodream, 3 Red Hot, 9 Rock The Boat

2: 8 Mini Coop, 3 Sonnestrahl, 2 Integrate, 1 Cross Examiner

3: 3 Pretty In Pearls, 4 Lazer Grace, 1 Twice A Miracle, 6 Pinky Levine

4: 9 Carl Vinson, 12 Prince Petrova, 10 Chasing Cheetahs, 8 Big Guy

5: 6 Say When, 11 Humdinger, 5 Fromheretoeternity, 2 Elusive Current

6: 5 Verolina, 9 Abalus, 1 Baby Don’t Hurt Me, 8 Gilded Butterfly

7: 5 Bonnaroo, 1 Chyavana, 2 Into The Future, 4 Funky Music

8: 2 Rising Fenix, 1 Corvette Captain, 8 Edward Longshanks, 4 Charge Down

Pick 6: 1,3,4 x 9 x 2,3,5,6,7,9,11 x 1,5,8,9 x 1,2,3,4,5,6 x 1,2,4,8 (R2016)

PA: 8 x 1,3,4 x 9 x 2,5,6,11 x 1,5,9 x 1,5 x 1,2 (R144)