Author Archives: Yegan Kander

Turffontein Racecourse

Turffontein Standside Thursday 1 January 2026 – Comments by Warren Lenferna

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RACE 1

2 CUSTODIAN      6 OCEAN MISTRESS      8 TEA FOR THREE      1 CALADRIUS 

Preview: CUSTODIAN (2) ran well on debut behind what seems to be a very talented horse, Heath House. OCEAN MISTRESS (6) is nicely bred and could go close first up. Watch the betting trends as race time looms. TEA FOR THREE (8) might be able to threaten on debut and CALADRIUS (1) can improve to place. (Warren Lenferna 2-6-8-1) 

RACE 2

5 SIKELOI      6 GALAXY QUEEN      4 WAR TALK      1 KORTVANDRAAD 

Preview: SIKELOI (5) ran an absolute cracker last time and was beaten a nose. She is making huge improvement each time she comes to the races and could be a very hard filly to oppose this time. GALAXY QUEEN (6) has strong each way claims. WAR TALK (4) ran second to Frangipani last time and should again be very competitive – go close. KORTVANDRAAD (1) is a must for the quartet based on her better last run. (Warren Lenferna 5-6-4-1) 

RACE 3

9 JAFFA      10 ONE OF THOSE DAYS      11 HAT AND HEELS      4 SPACE MISSION 

Preview: JAFFA (9) has run two attractive races and looks ready for the maiden win. ONE OF THOSE DAYS (10) showed tremendous progression at the second time of asking and should be able to go very close to winning – big danger. HAT AND HEELS (11) can improve more and has a huge place chance. SPACE MISSION (4) is a must for all betting calculations – expect a decent effort. (Warren Lenferna 9-10-11-4) 

RACE 4

6 MERRYWEATHER      7 MOCHA FRAPPE      8 THE MERICIFUL      2 BLIZZARD QUEST 

Preview: MERRYWEATHER (6) boasts solid, good form and ran her socks off in the feature last time behind Hazy Dazy and will have a huge winning chance. MOCHA FRAPPE (7) ran a hugely improved race last time and should be able to notch up his second career victory soon, if not today. Strong each way claims. THE MERCIFUL (8) and BLIZZARD QUEST (2) have solid enough form to warrant inclusion for the quartet. (Warren Lenferna 6-7-8-2) 

RACE 5

6 GRAND EMPIRE      1 MAX THE MAGICIAN      5 PLAYER      2 PIONEER SQUARE 

Preview: GRAND EMPIRE (6) does take on some seriously competitive hard knockers but clearly is on the up and seriously progressive. He is selected to remain unbeaten after todays run. He could be anything. MAX THE MAGICIAN (1) is ultra-consistent and can never be excluded form any bets. Gavin Lerena finds the ride. PLAYER (5) and PIONEER SQUARE (2) both from the Candice and Tammy Dawson yards, have the form to be fiercely competitive – chances to them both. (Warren Lenferna 6-1-5-2) 

RACE 6

11 ARTIC SILVER      1 TEO TORRIATTE      2 BAKWENA       4 FUTURE DATE 

Preview: ARTIC SILVER (11) boasts consistent form, gets weight off the back and is never far off the action. She has strong each way claims. TEO TORRIATTE (1) has ability and now gets Craig Zackey. She is a seven-time winner and should threaten all the way home. BAKWENA (2) is holding form and should again be in the first three and FUTURE DATE (4) is one for the shortlist. (Warren Lenferna 11-1-2-4) 

RACE 7

1 MOUNT ETNA      2 ALTA CAPITANA      7 PEPPER TREE      10 BOLD ACTION 

Preview: MOUNT ETNA (1) is taking time for the next win but is running well and could be the value.  ALTA CAPITANA (2) can be expected to serve up way more than she has in her last three – place value. PEPPER TREE (7) went close last time at long odds and if confirming that, can place again. BOLD ACTION (10) with the light weight could earn. (Warren Lenferna 1-2-7-10) 

RACE 8

10 HAT FURIOUS      12 CREPUSCOLO      1 PEACE TREATY      5 CASUS BELLI 

Preview: HAT FURIOUS (10) caught the eye when a good third behind Chabal over 2000m on the 23rd of October and looks ready for another huge run. Sparkling winning chance. CREPUSCOLO (12) is taking time for the next win but is making huge threats of achieving it soon – strong chance. PEACE TREATY (1) has a huge place chance and CASUS BELLI (5) is a natural inclusion for trifectas and quartets. (Warren Lenferna 10-12-1-5) 

RACE 9

3 RINGA RINGA ROSES      5 RUSSIAN NOBILITY      2 UNITED OFFER      1 MOUNTAIN HIGH 

Preview: RINGA RINGA ROSES (3) has solid form and rates the one to be with. She could be hard to beat. RUSSIAN NOBILITY (5) trotted up on debut to post a smart win and could be absolutely anything – respect and include in everything. UNITED OFFER (2) can be expected to serve up way more than she did last time but in saying that is was a tough feature race field – good chance, she is a nice filly. MOUNTAIN HIGH (1) is a must for the quartet – she is never far off the winners. (Warren Lenferna 3-5-2-1) 

Ends 

Jamaican Music’s famous July victory

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David Thiselton

Last week’s feature article was about the centenary July and how fitting it was that this season’s milestone R10 million Hollywoodbets Durban July falls on the 30th anniversary of that great victory by the Alec Laird-trained legend London News.

Just as fitting is that it will be the 50th anniversary of the July victory of one of South Africa’s most loved horses, the Ralph Rixon-trained Jamaican Music, a grey of astonishing intelligence.

Jamaican Music is also central to one of the July’s most controversial incidents as he had started second favourite as a three-year-old in 1974, but much to the bitter disappointment of the connections and punters jockey Tom Rattley fell off shortly after the start.

The incident was exacerbated by a shock result.

The 20/1 outsider Riboville romped to the easiest victory in July history, beating 33/1 outsider Sea Patrol, ridden by 15 year-old apprentice Dave Byrnes, by 4,50 lengths.

For Rixon the nightmare was erased when five-year-old Jamaican Music won the 1976 July at odds of 8-1.

“I was very confident that year,” recalled the late Rixon a few years ago.

“Jamaican Music always came from near the back and then flew up but he always got there in time. With Bert Abercrombie up, a jockey who also liked to ride that way, I knew he would win. The owner (Dr CC Crohin) decided to retire him to stud immediately but I think he still had a year’s racing in him and was a certainty for the Gold Cup as he stayed all day.”

The 1976 July was an immensely popular result as the athletic grey had won many new fans after the 1974 running due to his quite astonishing intelligence.

It had not escaped the notice of many, including the press, that after losing Rattley, Jamaican Music had run as if being guided by a top professional jockey.

“He worked his way through the field very cleverly without causing any interference,” confirms Rixon. “Whenever a gap appeared he surged through it and would then sit and wait. Even when they came into the straight he sat behind the leader for a while before  running away in the last furlong.

“He was a horse who knew what to do from the first day he raced. He had a wonderful temperament and never put a foot wrong. He was just a champion.”

However, punters did not take kindly to the 1974 result and it was not long before conspiracy theories surfaced with some claiming Rattley had deliberately jumped off.

These theories snowballed over the years, but have fortunately been thoroughly debunked by men who were close to the action, two of whom are still prominent in South African racing today.

Garth Puller, who was riding Bon Vista, said a few years ago that he would stake his life and reputation it was a genuine fall.

“Shortly after the jump Jamaican Music clipped the heels of a horse in front of him and pecked. This is like a catapult to the rider as the bit pulls the rein like an elastic.

“I was directly behind Jamaican Music and Tom went over the side of his neck. Normally in this circumstance you would just fall off and roll away but if you’re on the July favourite you try and cling on and from my angle he looked to be clinging on to the rein.

“However, it would be like hanging onto the side of a bus and he had no chance of getting back up. Luckily Jamaican Music had not reached the rail yet and Tom fell to the left so the horses behind him were able to avoid him.”

Michael Roberts was on the horse drawn next to Jamaican Music, Kings Palace, and was right alongside when Rattley fell.

He echoed Puller’s sentiments, although he remembered Rattley clinging onto the stirrup leather in his desperate effort to stay aboard.

The late Dave Cave was on Castaway and recalled speaking to Tom Rattley on the way to the start and warning him of the mad rush in the first 400m before the horses start coming across just before the Drill Hall turn.

“It was Tom’s first ride in the big race,” said Cave, “and I think he panicked when he saw the horses coming across as he thought he was going to lose his position and rushed Jamaican Music up onto the heels of the horses in front of him.”

Cave said Jamaican Music had actually pecked twice. Rattley had lost control after the first peck and Jamaican Music had then rushed forward and clipped heels again.

Over the years other mumblings surfaced around the George Azzie stable jockey, the late Martie Schoeman, riding second-string Riboville and winning whilst the late Roy Curling rode the favourite, Elevation, and finished fourth.

However, Curling’s son, Ray, quickly put that rumour to bed.

“Martie Schoeman had been fired by Azzie earlier in the season,” said Ray.

“However the two patched things up about ten days before the July. In the meantime my father had ridden Elevation to win the Gr 2 Johannesburg Champion Stakes and finish second in the Grade I Clairwood Champion Stakes so Martie was only given the spare ride on Riboville.

Ray added, “In the build up to the July Elevation went ‘over the top’ in his training whilst Riboville began working like a bomb and improved by lengths.”

The result came as no surprise to the yard and gave Dennis and Peggy Mosenthal, who also owned Elevation, a much deserved July victory 22 years after the heartbreak of their horse Radlington’s narrow and controversial loss to Mowgli in 1952, a result the judges took ten minutes to decide.

There is actually a permament reminder of the 1974 July result in Gauteng. Riboville’s unexpected victory provided a significant financial windfall for the Sinovich family, who later established the Riboville Boutique Hotel and Restaurant, a five-star attraction which is still thriving in Midrand.

But to underline the popularity of Jamaican Music, the recently retired four-time July-winning jockey legend Piere Strydom had this to say about his earliest July memory,  “I heard about the July as a little kid, because my dad was a jockey and I used to look at the race card and was getting involved without really knowing it. I remember the first horse that caught my attention was Jamaican Music, this lovely grey horse, and when he won it in 1976 that was my first fond memory of the July.”

London News July centenary victory

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David Thiselton

The 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July will be a milestone one with the prize money doubled to R10 million and with a longer handicap introduced as the topweight will be upped to 62kg and bottom weight lowered to 52kg.

It will fittingly fall on the 30th anniversary of the centenary July, which turned out to be one of the greatest of all Julys as it was won by the legendary Alec Laird-trained London News, who went on to put South African racing on the map by winning the QE II Cup in Hong Kong.

The renowned South African wildlife painter Henk Vos released his celebrated work, the Painting Of The Century, depicting a century of July winners, after the July’s centenary running.

The iconic painting now hangs in the Classic Room at Hollywoodbets Greyville.

Alec Laird actually ordered one of the prints of the painting before it was completed as the print had the first of his great Uncle Syd Garrett’s five July winners on the left and the greatest of his father’s record seven July winners, Sea Cottage, was in the centre.

The right hand side just had a blank with a silhouette of a horse, because Vos did not know yet which horse he was going to paint there.

Alec, who trained out of Randjesfontein on the Highveld, related, “He hadn’t made up his mind what horse he was going to put in the last panel (the 20th panel) and he even said to me ‘I would like you to win the July because I would like to put you as the last painting.’ With about a year to go I said to him I’m not going to make it.’”

However, fate then had it that London News not only became the 14/10 favourite for the 100th running of the July, but he was also saddle cloth number 20, being the only three-year-old in the field and the bottom weight.

Piere Strydom recalled, “I remember at the traditional Friday night cocktail Henk Vos was there with his big painting and there was one spot left for the 100th winner and I can still remember saying to someone that I think my picture’s going to be up there.”

London News duly won the race and Alec, London News and Piere Strydom are now at the forefront of the famous painting’s 20th panel and the horse is fittingly carrying the no. 20 saddle cloth.

The London News story starts at the National Yearling Sale of 1994.

Alec recalled big owners Laurie and Jean Jaffee’s chief aim at that Sale was to buy a yearling by their own 1987 July winner, Bush Telegraph.

Alec recalled Harmony Forever being his number one choice at that Sale.

However, he remembered London News being “a nice horse.”

He added, “On the first day a Bush Telegraph colt called Mr Newspaperman went for about R300,000. London News looked more athletic and Jean Jaffee actually said to me, ‘What about this one?’ On the first day they didn’t get a horse, the second day they didn’t get one and the more they asked me about London News the nicer he got, because I was otherwise going to go home without a horse!”

The Jaffees managed to secure London News.

Alec recalled, “He was a light youngster and even as a three-year-old was quite light. He didn’t show immediately, but we always had the feeling that he would be a nice horse when he matured.”

In fact, London News made a particularly inauspicious debut, beaten no fewer than 16,5 lengths under Anton Marcus in a 1200m Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1200m at the Vaal on June 6, 1995.

However, he got better and better and when he smashed the Greyville 2000m course record, which still stands today, in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000, he had won six out of eleven starts including the Dingaans and two middle distance Gr 1s.

Piere Strydom was aboard for the Daily News 2000 too.

He reflected on the 1996 July, the first of his four victories in South Africa’s greatest race, “London News was a lekker horse to ride because he had gate speed, a lot of natural speed and he would travel right up there in front and he had a good kick. But at the top of the straight (having led) I thought with a light weight let me just let the reins go a bit and get a length or two for the short straight. But he accelerated way quicker than I had expected and that’s when he made up three or four lengths on the field. Obviously it was going to tell at the end and he was stopping quite badly at the end. I heard the horses coming and I was just hoping for the line and he held on.”

Alec added, “Mike Rattray had invited me to watch in his box because it was on the line and he won by a neck but my eyes wouldn’t believe it because there was so much pressure. I wanted to see the number up!”

Alec described the emotion of being on the honour roll together with his late record-breaking seven-time July-winning father Syd.

In fact his extended family is comfortably the most prolific July-winning family in history with his grandfather Alec winning one as a jockey, his great Uncle Syd Garrett winning two as a jockey and three as a trainer, his father Syd winning a record seven as a trainer, and the cousins Dennis Drier, Alec Laird and Charles Laird each winning one July apiece – a total of 16 for the July dynasty.

July stake jumps to R10 million and a handicap

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The historic and time-honoured Hollywoodbets Durban July is set to deliver its most compelling blend of sport, style and celebration yet on the occasion of the 130th renewal on Saturday 4 July 2026 with the news that big-race sponsors Hollywoodbets have raised the bar with a record-breaking R10 million stake.

The move reinforces the iconic event’s position as Africa’s richest ever graded race – both in prize money and in cultural impact!

Internationally acknowledged as Africa’s Greatest Horse racing Event, the Hollywoodbets Durban July has been run without interruption every year since Saturday 17 July 1897.

Hollywoodbets took over sponsorship of the Durban July in 2022, when it raised the stake from R2 million to R5 million.

In 2026, the year-on-year 100% boost in stakes money will be celebrated with a bold return to its true handicap heritage, reintroducing a more ‘open handicap’ designed to boost competitiveness and elevate the spectacle for racing fans and casual viewers alike.

Key changes for 2026 include a return to a wider weight spread across the field:

  • Bottom weight has been reduced from 53kg to 52kg.
  • Top weight increased from 60kg to 62kg.

Restoring a full 10kg spread in the range of weights means the race boasts the hallmark of a true, open handicap.

To uphold the integrity of this world-class contest, Race Coast will assemble a five-person national panel of racing experts, which will be announced in due course, responsible for determining the final field.

In 2026 the first 12 horses past the post will now earn prize money (up from 10 previously), while the winning connections will bank R6 million.

“The Hollywoodbets Durban July is an internationally recognised raceday where sport, style and South African spirit come together — and we’re proud to be raising the stakes for the milestone 130th running,” said Devin Heffer, Brand and Communications Manager at Hollywoodbets.

“With a record R10 million on offer and a bold return to a more open handicap, the racing will be as dramatic as the day is stylish. It’s a celebration of our heritage — on the track and in the culture — and 2026 is set to be unforgettable.”

The 2026 theme will be announced in February 2026, which signals the start of the creative countdown that turns designers, stylists and racegoers into storytellers, and transforms Hollywoodbets Greyville into a vibrant runway alongside a world-class sporting stage.

Jockey of the Month – June 2025

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Serino Moodley

Serino Moodley has struck up a solid relationship with Byron Forster, KZN assistant to Western Cape-based Andre Nel. Forster is a man of few words but he knows his oats and has been loyal to Serino. They teamed up with Selukwe to win the WSB 1900 in fine fashion and that combination will have a realistic chance of landing the Hollywoodbets Durban July. Serino rode eight winners this month, one less than S’Manga Kumalo and joint with Craig Zackey.

Serino is Race Coast’s Jockey of the Month for June

Trainer of the Month – June 2025

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Gareth van Zyl

In spite of all the visitors arriving in KZN with the cream of their respective yards for Champions Season, Gareth van Zyl has held his own. He currently leads the local trainer’s log in the face of tough opposition from Garth Puller and Alyson Wright but Gareth won nine races from his 32 runners this term that included a red letter day at Hollywoodbets Scottsville where he saddled six winners.

Gareth is Race Coast’s Trainer of the Month for June.