De Kock pair stretch legs

Two of Mike De Kock’s stable stars, Irridescence and Asiatic Boy, were put through their paces on Newmarket’s July course this morning.

The South African trainer, who has a number of horses stabled with Geoff Wragg in Newmarket, is targeting the triple Group One winner Irridescence at next Wednesday’s UAE Hydra Properties Falmouth Stakes.

Asiatic Boy, who has not been seen in public since beating Jack Junior by nine-and-a-half lengths in the UAE Derby in March, is being aimed at the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood on August 1.

The pair worked together over six furlongs.

“The course was quite wet. It was a bit slow which didn’t bother me and doesn’t do any damage on the horses’ legs,” said De Kock’s assistant Trevor Brown.

“We were very pleased with the gallop. It was mainly for the filly as she runs in the Falmouth next week. She is going the right way,”

“As for Asiatic Boy, we wanted to put him on the course to bring him on a little bit.

“He’s a month behind the filly and doesn’t run for four weeks. We weren’t too worried about what performance he put up this morning. We just wanted to show him the course and we are very happy.”