De Kock has high hopes for Heather’s Boy

When master trainer Mike de Kock goes out of his way to draw attention to the winner of a humble Maiden Plate people are going to pay attention.

Three-year-old colt Heather’s Boy has got himself a glowing report on mikedekockracing.com after strolling to victory on his racecourse debut, in a 1450m race on the Turffontein Inside track on Saturday. And pundits immediately tagged him as “one for the notebook”.

The website cooed: “Every so often, a horse comes along that delights fans with a surge of adrenaline. Three-year-old Heather’s Boy, an athletic runner with a sharp turn of foot and an elastic stride, delivered on his home gallops promise with a thrilling debut victory … hinting at good things to come.”

The son of Rafeef and stakes winner Folk Dance beat a competitive field. All participating trainers were interviewed before the race and six of the seven rivals were considered to have winning chances.

‘Good prospect’

Heather’s Boy came from off the pace, picked them off one by one and then drew away to win, hitting the line strongly.

De Kock commented: “There was merit in this win and it starts with the comments from our rival trainers, who all fancied their runners. So, it looks as if this was a quality Maiden Plate from which we’ll see the form well franked.

“We expected him to have enough pace in the early part to actually go out and lead them from his good draw. I told jockey Kabelo Matsunyane to ride him confidently. He was a bit slow out of the pens and green and it’s not easy from a slow start on this tight track. But despite his inexperience he won very well. He’s a good prospect, we look forward to his progress this season.”

Matsunyane said: “He was slow away, we had ground to make up. But when I shook him up he showed a nice turn of foot and lots of class. This was impressive.”

Heather’s Boy races for Lady Christine Laidlaw’s Khaya Stables and De Kock said: “Lady Laidlaw is a pleasure to train for and we are pleased that this looks like a horse with a future.”