Unhappy state of South African racing has De Kock eyeing the exit door

Mike de Kock is not a man to mince his words, so when South Africa's greatest trainer describes himself as "punch drunk" because of the plight in which the country's racing industry finds itself, you have to sit up and take notice.

Violent staff strikes, racecourses closing, falling revenues and trade blockages are seldom associated with an industry in good health, yet all have shaped South Africa's racing story over the past decade.

The immediate picture looks bleak, with the news that De Kock, known for his impact on racing in Dubai over the last 15 years, is planning to set up a satellite yard in Australia after a much-politicised grooms' strike and an impending 13 per cent fall in prize-money for over half the country's racecourses starting this month.