For as long as this pundit can remember, the first Saturday in July has seen the running of South Africa’s premier horse racing event, the Durban July. This year is no exception and with new sponsor Vodacom on board, Greyville is the place to be.
The enticement of the glitz and glamour, the fashion parades and the social buzz draws the crowds in their thousands, but as any regular ”jolly hunter” will tell you, the challenge of finding the July winner far outweighs all this hullabaloo.
The current favourite for the race is the Michael de Kock-trained Flight Alert. This three-year-old has won six times from seven starts and it’s no surprise therefore that the book-makers have him firmly at the top of their betting boards. De Kock, who heads the national trainers log with his runners having amassed more than R9-million in stake money, speaks very highly of the colt.
In his most recent performance, Flight Alert returned from a five-month lay-off to account easily for the opposition in the Cup Trial. Not only did he come from the back of the pack on that occasion but he had to be switched out for a clear run before breezing past the field to win full of running. Although he tries the July distance of 2 200m for the first time, the consummate ease with which he won the Cup Trial over 1 800m suggests he won’t have any problem with the extra ground. De Kock, who saddles four horses for the big race, seems to hold all the aces. His three-year-old filly Ipi Tombe is second favourite and only he knows if she has the beating of Flight Alert. She has won seven of nine starts and has been very impressive in her lead-up to the July.
Of concern is that since arriving in South Africa from Zimbabwe she hasn’t met the colts or run against this kind of class. She is also drawn very wide in barrier 15. But more importantly, the last time a three-year-old filly won the July was back in 1957. She does, however, have tremendous talent and with her regular pilot Kevin Shea having to shed a few kilograms to secure the ride, you know he’ll be wanting this win more than anyone else, especially after his controversial short-head loss on Young Rake a few years ago.
Of the other runners with a chance, and there are many, Angus, Grande Jete, Young Rake, Fiery Fred and Trademark stand out as having the necessary credentials to be led into the number one box. Trademark, an impressive winner of the race last year, was superb in his public gallop at Greyville last week, and Mike Bass’s five-year-old son of Goldmark bids to become only the third back-to-back July winner after Milesia Pride and more recently El Picha.
Many form studiers believe as a July winner and J&B Met runner up, Trademark is very well handicapped to once again take top honours.
The dark horse in the race could well be the improving three-year-old from the David Ferraris yard, Fiery Fred. Having won his past four starts convincingly, this chap could be good value as a place contender.
I suppose there are others that deserve a mention but as hard as I try, I cannot look past the brilliance of De Kock. His achievements with the great Horse Chestnut are legendary and come Saturday, he’ll be striving for yet another milestone … his first July winner.
The Fivey is a stable companion to Whipping Boy