Hat-trick Heralds a Bright Future

De Kock Racing struck early at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Wednesday, saddling the winners of the opening three races as a trio of well-supported two-year-olds completed a memorable hat-trick for owners, Hollywood Racing.

"We came here thinking we could have three winners, but we could also have had none. This is racing and we know it so well," said Mike de Kock, who saddled the youngsters alongside his son, fellow Lucky Fish ambassador, Mathew de Kock.

Mike said that both he and Mathew had finished among the ‘also-rans;’ at the annual Racing Masters for golfers on Tuesday, but they bounced right back with wins by runners who all won most promising races.

Scots Wae Hae (his name refers to the ‘Patriotic Song Of Scotland’) opened proceedings with a smart pillar-to-post success over 1000m under Gavin Lerena, who said: “He’s a lovely horse and 1000m is probably his bottom end. He is very professional, I squeezed him late and he won nicely.”

Scots Wae Hea (Candiese Lenferna).

Mike added: “He’s by Malmoos, who’s had a pretty good month. Malmoos was never a forward two-year-old, and we’ve seen now as the seasons progress that his progeny have matured and got better and better.

“He’s the kind of horse that gives you the feel that he’ll get up to a mile, not further. He’s pretty quick - a nice, strong type, a trainer’s horse.”

Gimme A Fireball (Gimmethegreenlight), was arguably even more impressive than his stablemate as he skated clear in Race 2 over 1200m, winning  by 4.50-lengths for Sean Veale.

“I told (my family) I’d show them what a machine looks like today. He was amazing,” said Veale about this colt, who raced with the assurance of a colt destined for better things.

Gimme A Fireball. (Candiese Lenferna).

Mike and Mathew de Kock were absolutely taken with Gimme A Fireball at the 2025 Race Coast Sales Cape Premier Yearling Sale. The Avontuur-bred is a smashing looker with a stallion’s pedigree and Mike opened and closed the bidding at R2-million, with no challengers in the auction ring.

“He was an absolute standout at the sale. I thought that was 50% of his value. He hasn’t been straightforward to train, we’ve kept Sean on him because he puts in a lot of work on the colt,” Mike said.

“Thanks to Owen (Heffer) and Hollywood for their patience. Their loyalty will be rewarded. He is a potential black-type horse if we can keep him from boiling over.”

The best was kept for last, as the stable’s strongest fancy, Sparrow Man (Gimmethegreenlight), justified the confidence reflected in his 8-10 starting odds.

Sparrow Man had to work a little to get going at the 400m mark, but he was up against a smart fellow two-year-old from Tienie Prinsloo’s stable and some hard-knocking older Maidens who are likely to frank the form soon.

Also, as Gavin Lerena explained, the pace was slow and the race turned into a canter-sprint – often the downfall of even the best form runners. “He moves well and gave me a nice feel. Once he found his action he quickened up well.”

Sparrow Man. (Candiese Lenferna).

Mike commented: “Sparrow Man’s first run was a gallop, but I thought he could win it and was too optimistic. He’s a miler-plus, a nice and very tough horse.”

Ridgemont-bred Sparrow Man and his pair of stablemates will be seen in action during the Highveld spring feature season and Mike said: “They’re all progressive. We’ll put them away until spring, and we’ll be mapping out their individual careers.”

Devin Heffer commented: “It feels good when you have three short favourites and they arrive. It’s never guaranteed and gives credibility to everything. We needed that, we haven’t felt this excited in a while. They’ve given us hope that the future is bright.”

Anthony Delpech said: “It’s been  a great and thoroughly enjoyable season for Hollywood Racing and a fantastic finish to the season.”