A Fierce Display Puts Dingaans on the Radar

Saturday’s Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m at TAB Turffontein was described in Computaform as having “a field of exceptional standard that belies its Grade 3 status”, and that is something the connections of three-year-old Fierceness will be thinking about as they watch the race replay.

Fierceness just blew this quality field away with a smashing turn of foot. He was still under a hold in Muzi Yeni’s hands when all his rivals came off the bit at the 300m mark, and he quickened instantly, strode clear and won by 2.25 lengths.

Now that Fierceness has proven he can settle around the bend and kick on, the De Kock Racing team has set its sights on the Grade 2 Dingaans over 1600m on Betway Summer Cup Day, a race they will go into with some confidence based on what he showed here.

Mathew de Kock said that they’d spent the last several weeks teaching Fierceness to settle, and that it had finally come to fruition. “He is fierce at home, like his name says, but after the work we had done with him, Muzi was super confident of winning the race. Well done to him and his owners, some of whom are new in the yard.”

Muzi, who will be jetting off to France on Tuesday to pursue riding opportunities, said that Fierceness had left onlookers at Randjesfontein gasping with a great final prep gallop. “He had to be gelded to get him to settle down, so that his mind could click and he could be confident. As soon as he found his feet, he accelerated like a top horse. He is a beautiful specimen.”

The De Kock stamp is all over the winning gelding, with Mike having trained Fierceness’s sire Hawwaam, his dam Gin Fizz and the dam’s sire, Soft Falling Rain.

Bred by Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein, Fierceness campaigns for Trevelen Pillay’s TKP Racing and partners, who include Dayalan Chinsammy and the Murugasa family.

Race replay below: