Please Note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Bath (UK) – 05 April 2026

Andrew Harrison

A promising career once headed for the annals of what could have been, has enjoyed a resurrection. See It Again, prematurely consigned to the dustbin of history after repeated refusals to enter the starting stalls, is on track for another crack at the Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July, a race that has eluded him in spite of his obvious talent.

Since his relocation to the Western Cape where renown horse behaviorist Malan de Toit and trainer Justin Snaith have got the gelding to refocus and bring out his ability, their efforts were rewarded with victory in the Gr1 WSB Cape Town Met.

With his starting stall issues seemingly behind him, See It Again made the trip up to what was home ground in KZN before raiding Turffontein where he finished a good second in the Gr1 HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m behind smart three-year-old Tin Pan Alley who saw his rating jump from 117 to 128 after the race much to the chagrin of Sean Tarry.

That said, See It Again faces another test on his journey into Champions Season in KZN when he lines up in the Gr1 HKJC Premier’s Champion Stakes over the testing Turffontein track on Saturday.

The Turffontein 2000m is not unfamiliar territory, See It Again finishing two lengths off winner Atticus Finch in last season’s Gr1 Betway Summer Cup giving the winner 6kg.

Saturday’s race is WFA which suggests that all being equal, Atticus Finch has it all to do at level weights.

Andrew Fortune rode a masterful race on See It Again to win the Met and he would dearly have loved to be aboard on Saturday but for a heavy fall at Fairview that saw him sidelined with broken ribs and collar bone. Speaking at Summerveld last Saturday he said things were on track for a return to the saddle in three weeks’ time.

Fortune has been replaced by Craig Zackey, an interesting call as Richard Fourie partnered See It Again in the Horse Chestnut and is now booked for stable companion Okavango while Zackey may well have had the choice of Grand Empire and Madison Valley. Okavango was game in a front-running display in the Listed Kings Cup when holding off the more than useful King Pelles at Hollywoodbets Scottsville and as both See It Again and Okavango are owned by Nic Jonsson, Okavango may be the sacrificial lamb with Fourie a master judge of pace.

Grand Empire and Trust fought a desperate duel in the Gr1 HKJC SA Classic, a nose separating the pair. Both go this trip for the first time but current crop of three-year-olds have yet to be solidly tested against top older horses and this race should give some indication of the depth. Both go this trip for the first time and both Tarry and Candice and Tammy Dawson have a knack for preparing their changes for the big days so it will be interesting.

In all, if See It Again puts in his best, he should be difficult to beat with the three-year-olds his most likely challengers.

It is a big day at Turffontein as their summer season draws to a close with a host of feature races on the 12-race card.

Main supporting feature is the Gr1 TAB Computaform Sprint that has attracted a big field of 17 runners where luck in running could play a pivotal role. The two most obvious contenders are Buffalo Storm Cody and last year’s winner, the ever game William Robertson, but they will be challenged by Fairview raider Kingdundee who comes off a four-race winning sequence and victory in the Gr1 Cape Flying Championship where he made a mockery of his 33-1 odds with favourite for the race Buffalo Storm Cody, well beaten, just over two lengths back.

Tony Peter’s charge has since made amends back on the Highveld where he got the better of William Robertson in a Pinnacle Stakes, the two meeting at level weights. Fourie replaces regular rider Gavin Lerena who will partner Clinton Binda’s gelding Ziyasha who goes into the contest of a recent victory. He is a horse who has had his ups-and-downs and although he looks safely held at the weights he could ride to the occasion. Lerena took a crashing fall at The Vaal midweek so his participation is uncertain at time of writing.

Buffalo Storm Cody is super quick and the Flying Championship was the only blemish in a five-race winning streak and goes for his 10^th success in 17 outings.

William Robertson on the other hand was won 17 races from 56 starts and Corne Spies is not shy to saddle up. He has had two further outings since finishing second to Buffalo Storm Cody, winning and then finishing two lengths off Ziyasha in a Pinnacle Stakes, giving the winner 4kg.

Last season’s Computaform victory was a deserved maiden Grade 1 success for William Robertson and if anything, he will strip fit.

Kingdundee is a 1000m specialist and runners from the Eastern Cape can never be ignored. Dean Smith’s runner comes with more than creditable form given his Flying Championship win and although Buffalo Storm Cody may have run below par on the day, form is form.

The SA Derby will be run as a Gr2 for the first time and has attracted a bigger than usual field. It is a highly competitive contest where Mike and Mathew de Kock’s filly Curious Girl will be out to become the first filly in over 100 years to put one over the colts. In her favour is that she has won over the distance and cruised home in the Oaks Trial. Lerena is penciled in to ride. Of the males, Texas Missile strikes as a progressive stayer and comes from the right stable as Alec Laird is a master of staying horses.

Spies has his hopes pinned on William Robertson for the Computaform and Hazy Dazy in the Wilgerbosdrift Bridget Oppenheimer SA Oaks. The daughter of Act Of War has the trophies for the first two legs of the Triple Tiara in the cabinet and the Oaks will see her follow in the footsteps of some of South Africa’s champion fillies. Spies has stayed loyal to apprentice Trent Mayhew who rode an exception front-running race in the SA Fillies Classic to hold off the smart Golden Palm. On that showing the extended trip should hold no fears.

• SPLITTHEEIGHTS: 109 to 116
• ONE EYE ON VEGAS: 106 to 115
• RADIO STAR: 95 to 107

• SCARLETT HEART (third): 91 to 108
• DAISY JONES (fourth): 106 to 108

David Thiselton

The Hollywoodbets Durban July conditions have been finalised and the final field panellists might be in for an interesting evening before the Final Field And Barrier Draw Ceremony, whilst the three-year-olds look to be on the back foot at present.

There will be a longer handicap this year with a 10kg spread in the weights from a topweight of 62kg down to a bottom weight of 52kg.

Furthermore, it will just be a straight handicap, unlike recent July conditions in which there was a maximum and minimum weight for certain age groups and genders.

If the final field happens to have a spread that is less than 10kg, the topweight will still be 62kg. If, for example, there is a weight spread of 7kg among the entries, then the bottom weight will be 55kg.

If the topweights are scratched after the setting of the weights, then the new topweight will be dragged up to 62kg. For example if the topweight after scratchings is 60,5kg, it will be dragged up to 62kg and after the rest of the field have been dragged up the bottom weight will become 53,5kg.

The final field will not necessarily be chosen by merit rating order.

Justin Vermaak, Executive Racing and Bloodstock of Race Coast, said, “There will be a final field selection panel like before and merit rating will be a leading aspect, but the panel will also take current form and distance suitability into account etc.”

In recent years the final field panellists have not had it too tough as the field was cut up before the final field announcement, with a lot of horses being scratched due to the recognition by the connections they do not have much chance, either due to the weights not favouring them or due to them being off form – the final declaration fee could have, in those cases, been considered a waste of money.

However, with the longer handicap, there are going to be more horses who still have form chances on paper.

Looking at last year’s July for example, third-placed Selukwe was rated 111 and had to carry 54kg due to the condition that the minimum weight for an older male was 54kg. He was thus 2kg under sufferance with the 127-rated topweights, both older horses, and he was 4kg under sufferance with the officially best weighted horse, the 129 rated (nett 125-rated) Eight On Eighteen, who was set to carry 57kg despite being the highest merit rated horse in the race due to a condition that three-year-old males could not carry more than 57kg.

In last year’s race Oriental Charm carried 60kg, Eight On Eighteen carried 57kg and Selukwe carried 54kg.

Under this year’s conditions the weights for those three horses would have been: Oriental Charm 62kg, Eight On Eighteen 61kg and Selukwe 54kg. Selukwe would have been 2kg and 4kg better off with Oriental Charm and Eight On Eighteen respectively under today’s conditions.

He would have been 2kg better off with the winner The Real Prince too and, on paper, would have been beaten 0,30 lengths instead of by 2,65 lengths.

There could theoretically have been a horse who would have been even more favoured by today’s conditions than the 111-rated Selukwe example.

Using last year’s race under today’s conditions, an older horse who had been rated 107 would sneak into the handicap under today’s conditions.

A 107-rated older horse last year would have had to carry 54kg, 6kg less than the topweight, but under today’s conditions it would have only had to carry 52kg, which would be 10kg less than the 62kg topweight.

Therefore, there are theoretically going be a lot more horses standing their ground at the time of the final field selection process this year, because a lot more of them will have chances of winning on paper than would have been the case under the old conditions.

Furthermore, with stakes of R10 million up for grabs there will be less cases of horses being scratched due to the  connections deeming them to be off form. They might still want to take their chances.

The difficulty for the panel will come in deciding whether a lower rated horse is deemed to have better recent form or better distance suitability than a higher rated horse.

For argument sakes let’s assume that we go back to last year and there are still many horses standing their ground until the bitter end. After the top 17 are selected, according to the last log and current form, let’s assume the next two horses are the 115-rated Madison Valley and the 120-rated The Real Prince.

The Real Prince is rated five points higher than Madison Valley, but he has never run a race beyond 1600m before.

Madison Valley on the other hand finished a close fourth in the Betway Summer Cup over 2000m and in his final run before the July he won the traditional July pointer, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cup Trial over 1800m.

Which one are they going to put in the all important 18th slot?

Such a scenario is going to have much more chance of happening this year.

Although it has been said that weight avoidance tactics are going to be used this year, those who do take that route are probably going to run a bigger risk of not qualifying than ever before.

Now on to the three-year-olds.

Eight On Eighteen was held in high regard last year and came into the race 2kg well-in, according to official merit ratings, and yet he was not able to win the race.

Under today’s conditions he would have had to carry 61kg, effectively 2kg more.

So it was tough last year for a top, top three-year-old who was favoured by the old conditions.

How tough will it be for good-but-not-great three-year-olds under the new conditions, considering there is no maximum weight for them and no minimum weight for older horses?

Likewise it will be tough for females.

Furthermore, this year’s three-year-old crop are arguably overrated off their current merit ratings.

For example, Gauteng Guineas runner up Grand Empire could not win the Wolf Power 1600 against older horses when 2kg under sufferance off a 102 merit rating (effectively a 106 merit rating), yet he is now rated 120. There will be cries of “but the handicapper is clueless” when looking at that, but those who do say that are clueless themselves, because the handicapper rates a race on that race, not on past races, and Tin Pan Alley had earned his 117 rating by beating older horses and Grand Empire had then beaten him. Furthermore, Grand Empire was likely not at his peak for the Wolf Power with the Triple crown series looming.

Nevertheless, the overall impression is the current three-year-old male crop is not shining and it is questionable whether any of them have properly earned a rating of 120 or above.

It could well be an older horse July, but on the other hand there is an impressive unexposed horse like Note To Self among the three-year-olds and more such types might emerge.

The build up to this year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July is going to be more intriguing than ever!

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.