Mambo aiming from Middle Stakes to Gold Cup

Jack Milner

Mike de Kock has never been shy about throwing his runners in the deep end if he believes the horse concerned has the ability to keep his or her head above water.

So, it comes as no surprise to see he has nominated three-year-old Mambo Come Tesio in the Grade 3 World Pool Gold Cup over 3200m on Sunday 30 July.

This gelded son of Mambo In Seattle has only raced seven times and looking back at his achievements so far it is clear his first two runs over 1450m and 1600m were far too short so it comes as no surprise he ran unplaced in both of those.

His third outing was over 1800m in a Work Riders’ Maiden Plate where the opposition was decidedly weak and even then, he found virtually no betting support, drifting out from 7-2 to go off at 6-1.

But he proved too good for his opposition and scored a comfortable 1.80-length victory over Wonderland. He followed that up with two third places over 2000m and 2400m with blinkers fitted for that last run.

After that the penny seemed to drop and he notched up two successive victories, first over 2400m and then over 2600m.

Even those victories appeared to be too short and he will face a real test at Turffontein on Saturday when he contests a Middle Stakes over 3000m on the Inside track.

Victory in that race could pave the way for him to travel to Durban to contest the Gold Cup at Hollywoodbets Greyville which, despite its Grade 3 rating, is still regarded as the premier stayers’ race in the country.

Saturday’s race will test just how quickly Mambo Come Tesio is improving as he comes up against the runner-up from his penultimate race, Breeze Over, who he will meet on 3.5kg worse terms.

He only beat the Mike and Adam Azzie-trained runner by 0.90 lengths so he will need to have progressed to keep the status quo.

However, he ran down front-running Breeze Over and one is not sure the son of Twice Over will benefit from the additional distance.

In his last win Mambo Come Tesio carried 50kg and Nathan Klink was given the ride for the first time. Klink made full use of the opportunity and with just 50kg on the gelding’ back again this time, De Kock has retained Klink for the ride.

Flying First Class is a proven stayer and the David Niewenhuizen-trained runner finished second behind Mambo Come Tesio and is now 2kg better off for a 2.25-length defeat.

That should bring her a lot closer and the five-year-old Silvano mare does stand out as the main danger.

Calvin Habib takes the ride and he has an excellent record on her. He has ridden her 14 times for five wins and seven places.

Jack Milner’s selections

Race 1: 2 MK's Dreams, 3 We Are The Logans, 1 Bom Bom, 4 Galladorn

Race 2: 1 Tizona, 2 Bey Suyay, 6 Climate Control, 5 American Biscuit

Race 3: 6 King Of The Seas, 2 Fast Duty, 4 Babylon, 1 Raptor Island

Race 4: 1 Inner Sense, 8 Cicadidae, 6 Alesia's Love, 10 One Fell Swoop

Race 5: 2 New Mexico, 9 Viva Spirit, 6 Daring Act, 7 Policy Of Truth

Race 6: 5 Arabian Red, 3 Secret Recipe, 1 Call To Glory, 7 Wonder I Do

Race 7: 5 Simply Magic, 4 Dancing Dora, 1 Meteoric, 3 There She Goes

Race 8: 6 Mambo Come Tesio, 2 Flying First Class, 7 Breeze Over, 8 Kind Judy

Race 9: 1 Celtic Rush, 4 The Inkosana, 3 Green Sceptre, 2 Romeo's Magic

BEST BET

Race 1 MK’s Dreams

VALUE BET

Race 5 No 2 New Mexico

BEST SWINGER

Race 1 2x3

BIPOT

R324

Leg 1: 1, 2

Leg 2: 2, 6

Leg 3: 1, 6, 8

Leg 4: 2, 6, 9

Leg 5: 1, 3, 5

Leg 6: 1, 4, 5

PLACE ACCUMULATOR

R216

Leg 1: 2, 6

Leg 2: 1, 6, 8

Leg 3: 2, 9

Leg 4: 3, 5

Leg 5: 1, 4, 5

Leg 6: 6

Leg 7: 1, 3, 4

PICK 6

R2304

Leg 1: 1, 6, 8, 10

Leg 2: 2, 6, 7, 9

Leg 3: 1, 3, 5

Leg 4: 1, 3, 4, 5

Leg 5: 2, 6, 7

Leg 6: 1, 2, 3, 4

JACKPOT 1

R144

Leg 1: 2, 6, 7, 9

Leg 2: 1, 3, 5

Leg 3: 1, 3, 4, 5

Leg 4: 2, 6, 7

JACKPOT 2

R144

Leg 1: 1, 3, 5

Leg 2: 1, 3, 4, 5

Leg 3: 2, 6, 7

Leg 4: 1, 2, 3, 4