Andrew Harrison

Andrew Fortune has been the subject of more headlines, good and not so good, than most jockeys in their entire careers and he added another chapter as he steered From The Island to a game victory in typical style in the third at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth yesterday and followed up with another tremendous ride on Super Free in the eighth, both for Justin Snaith.

Seven weeks ago he was laid up with six broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken collarbone and a broken shoulder blade. Faith in his ability, a determination to make it back into the saddle and many session in the hyperbaric chamber has paid off and he may still reach his dream of winning the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

An inspiration, on the advice of Gaynor Rupert, was reading the exploits of many-times English champion jump jockey Tony McCoy, now Sir Tony, who broke every bone in his body in his 20-year career but was hardly ever sidelined for more than a few months.

An uncanny ability to bond with his mounts, a horseman and rider with an exceptional tactical brain, Justin Snaith has tapped into the 58-year-old Fortune’s talents and it is paying dividends.

Fortune candidly admitted that he had cherry-picked his two comeback mounts and his ride on From The Island was vintage Fortune.

He took no prisoners in the early exchanges, ‘coming over if you like it or not’ and riding with his typically long rein. In the straight he then played his fellow riders on the break and it was only inside the final furlong that he resorted to a couple of backhanders that were enough to hold off the challenges from It’Sgood It’Snice and Uncle Sam.

Many a seasoned jockey will tell you that it is criminal to let a horse through on the inside rail. There was no love lost in the eighth as Fortune’s son Aldo Domeyer aboard Marcus Aurelius, shut the door in his father’s face forcing Fortune to ease up and switch around. Super Free responded with a smart turn of foot to catch Marcus Aurelius and given this showing he is a horse to follow as he steps up in trip.

Magma Flow showed the benefit of experience as he put a small field to bed at the start of the first race. Piet Botha’s charge was out and running from the jump and Keagan de Melo had to do little more than a steering job as Magma Flow raced home on his own. Navasnine chase home in forlorn hope while the filly Nadia Nerina was slow out and although a long way back in third she does look capable of good improvement.

The cleverly named Black Nightshade impressed when making a winning debut for Vaughan Marshall in the first leg of the bi-pot. First time at the races is never easy but Sean Veale had no hesitation in taking his filly to the head of affairs and there she stayed. Pressed hard by the more experienced Virgina Bluebell, who had some fair form in feature race company, this was a showing full of merit.

Mauritian apprentices are more dedicated than most and Varun Jodhee made full use of his 4kg claim as Pacific Waters kept rolling in the fourth to snaffle long-time leader Theleia  on the line to deny De Melo a second win.

It took a little more than 30 minutes for De Melo to go one better for his second winner of the afternoon as he drove  Lucinda Woodruff’s gelding Sky Rocket to the line to hold off a late charging Pritti United who somehow got lost in the early exchanges but finished with a flourish – possibly an unlucky loser.

De Melo rounded off his day with a treble as he got Andre Nel’s Phantom Man home in a tight finish to the ninth.

Given a confident ride by Muzi Yeni, Magical Place made short work of his rivals in the sixth as Yeni slipped the recently gelded Eric Sands-trained striking chestnut up the inside rail for a comfortable win with Flying Finley doing the chasing for another De Melo second.

Unlike his father who has sweated down to the early fifties from a top that at one stage tipped the scales at 90kgs, Aldo Domeyer is happy to ride 60kg and above. After a testing ride on favourite South Of France in the seventh, he would probably have weighed in a few pounds lighter. Finding a gap at the top of the straight, Domeyer had to press hard on Candice Bass’s filly and she responded gamely to hold off Richard Fourie and Somebody Somewhere  in a tight finish. Domeyer intimated that the removal of the blinkers made his task a lot more testing so one can assume that the ‘scoops’ will be back on next time she races.

David Thiselton

The Hollywoodbets Durban July first entries are on Monday the 20th of April and “July Fever” will begin building from the first entries announcement on Wednesday April 22 until the big race on July 4.

One of the annual questions is whether any July records will be broken.

Andrew Fortune could become the oldest jockey to ever win the race, with the oldest to date probably being Piere Strydom who was 50 years old when winning on the Joey Ramsden-trained The Conglomerate in 2016.

The record for the youngest jockey can never be broken.

Frank McGrath was just 12 years old when winning the July in 1922 on the J Gard-owned and trained Collet.

Allan “Snowy” Reid was both the last apprentice and last teenager to ride a July winner when successful on the Fred Rickaby-trained Naval Escort in 1969.

Both records could potentially be equalled by leading apprentice Mxolisi Mbuto.

Blaine Marx-Jacobson’s current momentum makes him the favourite for the apprentice title, but only one of the records is available to him as he is already 20 years old.

The record for the youngest trainer cannot be broken this year as David Payne was just 24 years old when sending out the great In Full Flight to win the July in 1972.

Payne to this day regards In Full Flight as the best he has ever trained and a coincidence is that he lives in New South Wales in Australia, because In Full Flight’s sire was called New South Wales.

Payne also became the youngest to ever both ride and train a July winner, having ridden the Brian Cherry-trained Chimboraa to victory in 1968.

He joined Syd Garrett, who rode Goldwing and Pamphlet to victory in 1919 and 1920 respectively, before training all of Full Dress (1930), Sadri II (1941) and Left Wing (1960) to win the great race.

Bert Abercrombie later joined that elite club as winning rider on the Ralph Rixon-trained Jamaican Music in 1976 before training Bush Telegraph to win the race in 1987.

Current trainers in South Africa who have won a July as a rider include Garth Puller, Michael Roberts and Robbie Hill.

The record for most wins as a rider can’t be challenged this year.

Anton Marcus is the only one to have had five July wins and the trio on four wins are no longer riding i.e. Piere Strydom, Anthony Delpech and the late Harold “Tiger” Wright.

Richard Fourie could join that trio as he has had three wins.

The record for most wins as a trainer, held by Hall Of Fame trainer Syd Laird, cannot be caught this year either.

Justin Snaith and Mike de Kock have both had five July wins and can join the late great Terrance Millard on six wins, although De Kock has a joint-operation these days with son Mathew.

Dean Kannemeyer will be going for a fifth July win and his charge The Real Prince will be out to become the seventh dual winner and sixth back-to-back winner.

Lady Laidlaw’s Khaya Stables owned The Real Prince and will be going for a third victory as an owner, which is well short of the record of six July wins as an owner held by Bridget Oppenheimer, three of them in partnership with her husband Harry.

The Oppenheimer winners as owners were Tiger Fish (1959), King Willow (1965), Principal Boy (1975), Spanish Galliard (part-owned 1992), Greys Inn (2004), Hunting Tower (2008).

Of those winners the Oppenheimers bred all of them except for Spanish Galliard.

Harry and Bridget’s daughter Mary Slack bred the 2003 winner Dynasty and owned the 2022 winner Sparkling Water, which she bred in partnership with her daughter Jessica Jell. Jessica Jell bred the 2017 winner Marinaresco.

So that is a total of nine July winners for the Oppenheimer family either as owners-and-breeders or as owners or breeders.

Mary and Jessica can add to that record this year operating under the banner of Wilgerbosdrift Stud and Mauritzfontein Stud respectively.

The most prolific July-winning extended family is the Laird family.

Alec Laird, still training today, belongs to this July-winning dynasty. He has won it once himself as a trainer with London News (1996); his grandfather, also called Alec Laird, won it once as a jockey in 1911 on Nobleman; his great-uncle Syd Garrett won it twice as a jockey and three times as a trainer as mentioned earlier in this article and he also owned all three of the winners he trained; Alec’s Hall of Fame father Syd Laird won the big race a record seven times as a trainer with (Kerason (1961), Colorado King (1963), Java Head (1966), Sea Cottage (1967), Mazarin (1971), Yataghan (1973) and Politician (1978)); Alec’s cousins Dennis Drier and Charles Laird won it once apiece as trainers with Spanish Galliard (1992) and Hunting Tower (2007) respectively. That is 16 July wins for the family dynasty in total and 18 if Dennis Drier’s father-in-law trainer John Breval is included (King Willow (1965), Principal Boy (1975)).

Alec could add to the dynasty’s success this year as the trainer of the like of Gr 1 winners Fire Attack and Atticus Finch.

The Real Prince won last year after a 62 day layoff, the longest layoff for a winning horse since Sun Tor was off for 161 days before winning the July in 1934.

The record in this respect is likely held by the 1929 winner Gifted as this import from England only got off the boat on January 20 and the July was his first run in the country.

See It Again will be having his third run in the July this year, well short of his half-brother Do It Again’s record six appearances which included two wins, one third and three fourths. Do It Again was the best performed horse at the weights in his first four Julys, second best performed in his fifth appearance and the best-performed in his final appearance. He is undoubtedly the greatest July horse in history.

• 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.