Dean Kannemeyer, Anton Marcus and It’s My Turn were the headlines in another day of history-making at Greyville on Saturday and Mike de Kock, Brett Crawford, Sean Tarry and Mike Azzie were a line of stars among the supporting acts.

There were plenty of talking points and the handicappers were criticised by more than a few for their lenient treatment of It’s My Turn.

The Vodacom Durban July and the eLan Gold Cup are traditionally Durban’s two biggest races, despite the latter having been downgraded to a Grade 3, and Marcus became the first rider since Robbie Hill in 1999 to do the July-Gold Cup double in the same year.

Hill’s double was on the Geoff Woodruff-trained 14/1 shot El Picha and the Pat Shaw-trained 8/1 chance Place Of Gold. Marcus did it with the Justin Snaith-trained 9/1 shot Do It Again and the Kannemeyer-trained 26/10 favourite It’s My Turn.

In the year which marked the 100^th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth it was somewhat ironic that Marcus broke a 27 year drought in the Gold Cup, his only other win in the country’s most prestigious staying race having come in 1991 aboard Icona.

Icona was the last topweight to win the race and although It’s My Turn was half-kilogram off topweight on Saturday the 59,5kg on his back is the biggest weight ever carried to victory in the Gold Cup.

It was Kannemeyer’s third Gold Cup victory and probably his most satisfying as his five-year-old Dynasty gelding completed a staying race treble in the space of five weeks, although he appeared to have been given some help by the handicappers.

It’s My Turn, owned by Fred Crabbia, won the Grade 1 Investec Cape Derby for Justin Snaith as a three-year-old and his first run for Kannemeyer, at Scottsville on 28 February this year in the Fever Tree Handicap over 1400m, followed a seven month layoff. In his next start he ran an excellent, close-up third in the Kings Cup over 1600m. However, he over-raced in the Betting World 1900 and needed a good win in the Grade 2 Track And Ball Oaks over 2400m at Scottsville to book his place in the July. He duly delivered that requirement but the final field panelists decided the field has been to weak to justify a July berth.

The handicappers were of the same mind as they made the surprise decision to drop him two points for the win to a merit rating of 106. He still had to race off his old 108 merit rating in the Grade 3 Gold Vase over 3000m on July day as the weights had already been set, but he once again won easily. He could have feasibly been raised to a 109 merit rating for the win if runner up Flichity By Farr had been used as the line horse but instead the handicappers decided to keep him unchanged on 106. This was particularly surprising in light of the ease of his two victories and furthermore they were also his first two attempts at staying distances.

Some of the other trainers believed they had now been given a mountain to climb to beat It’s My Turn, especially as the Gold Cup is a compressed handicap, which thereby favours the horses at the top of the weights. They were proven correct, although this should not detract from the fine training feat by Kannemeyer. It’s My Turn had in fact not won a race since the Cape Derby, so the gifted Cape Town trainer has turned his career around in one season.

Last year’winner Hermoso Mundo ran a gallant second and the talented but somewhat frustrating Wild Wicket was a revelation in third. Strathdon proved his staying class by running fourth and Made To Conquer ran on well for fifth despite carrying topweight and having come off a tough runner up finish in the July.

Earlier, De Kock joined Terrance Millard when clinching a South African record-equalling 117^th career Grade 1. His Australian-bred colt Soqrat by Epaulette is owned and bred by Sheik Hamdan and was highly impressive in the Premier’s Champions Stakes over 1600m under Randall Simons, defeating Australian-bred stable companion Alyaasaat, also owned and bred by Sheik Hamdan, by two lengths.

Tarry had an equally satisfying win earlier in the day when Return Flight won the Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes over 1600m under Anton Marcus as it provided first season sire Pomodoro with his first Grade 1 win. Tarry trained Pomodoro to July victory and the family of this horse was one of the foundations upon which he has built his championship-winning yard.

Later the Crawford-trained stalwart Captain America bowed out with a third career Grade 1 victory in the Champions Cup over 1800m under Corne Orffer. He will now retire to a plot next door to the property of one of the owners Lance Sherrell.

Azzie scored in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint as the six-year-old Imperial Stride gelding Will Pays, who often flies under the radar, galloped home under Craig Zackey, albeit from a good draw. Second and third-placed Attenborough and Trip To Heaven flew from the back of the field to be beaten just a length and 1,25 lengths respectively.

Duke Of Marmalade scored his first Graded success in South Africa when the Glen Kotzen-trained Temple Grafin won the Grade 3 Debutante over 1200m under Richard Fourie and the Tarry-trained Trippi colt Chimichuri Run was impressive when winning the Grade 3 Umkhomazi over 1200m under S’Manga Khumalo.

The practice of using visiting commentators for big races might end after two incorrect calls were made in the Gold Cup and Champions Cup. Greyville is known by callers to be a particularly difficult course to call at in fading light or under floodlights due to its inner city location and the consequent effect of the surrounding lights and when faced with a big field of unfamiliar colours this task becomes particularly onerous.

By David Thiselton