Durban July hero Marinaresco lost a front shoe in the course of last Saturday’s World Sports Betting Champions Cup and this may well have been why he ran way below form, finishing with only one behind him.

Marinaresco (Nkosi Hlophe)

Candice Bass-Robinson said yesterday: “Bernard Fayd’Herbe told me that the horse felt scratchy so maybe it affected him. But I also think that the way the race was run didn’t suit him – nothing was coming from off the pace – and so it could have been a combination of the two things.”

The five-year-old will return to his Milnerton base next week and will have his horse sickness vaccinations before going on a well-earned break while his connections reflect on his place in South African racing history – the first July winner to be trained by a woman and the one who carried more weight to victory in the country’s greatest race than any horse has ever done.

In the Cape season he will attempt to atone for managing only fourth in the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate and fifth in the Sun Met, and then there is the intriguing possibility of an overseas campaign.  “It’s possible, we will have to decide at a later stage,” said Mrs Robinson.

It’s My Turn, only just in front of Marinaresco in the Champions Cup, was found to be not striding out on his right fore but the course vet could find nothing to account for the performance of Judicial who finished over five lengths last.

By Michael Clower