De Kock’s charge Viburnum gets time to bloom further

Mike de Kock has some decent stock in his yard this season and although he might be a slower developer, Viburnum can be considered among them.

This three-year-old son of Ideal World only started racing in March and ran a fast-finishing fourth on debut over 1400m at Turffontein. He was drawn No 14 of 14 runners and was not really able to overcome the wide barrier position. He has raced twice since then for two wins and seems to be getting better with every run.

De Kock has never been scared to put his horses against the best when he believes the talent is there to take on the big guys but equally, he is quite happy to give some time to those who take a while to mature.

Viburnum is going through the divisions and could be quite hard to beat when he runs in Race 6 today, a MR 78 Handicap over 1600m on the Vaal Classic track. As opposed to other courses at the Vaal this 1600m is around the turn, but that should not be a worry for owners Chris Gerber, Peter White and De Kock as their runner won at this course last time.

Callan Murray takes the ride.

While Viburnum looks a banker for the Place Accumulator and BiPot it might be wise to include Powered Beauty into your Pick 6 and Jackpot. Mike and Adam Azzie’s charge has only raced twice for a victory on debut and a 1.30-length third behind Mighty Valdie in his second outing.

This three-year-old Australian-bred gelding has found betting support in both of his starts so he has to be showing them something at home.

Although Lyle Hewitson rode him in his first two starts, he is tied to the Sean Tarry yard for this race and apprentice Dennis Schwarz will take the ride.

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