Racing enthusiasts throughout the country and particularly those on course for Daily News Raceday at Greyville on Saturday, can look forward to three very exciting races where a host of Vodacom Durban July hopefuls, including four in the top six of the big race betting, will be in action.
Pack Leader
At the final acceptance stage for the R2-million, Grade 1 Daily News 2000, the R1-million, Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 and the R300 000, Grade 3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup, there were no July entries of significance that were withdrawn but Sean Tarry elected to run his Silvano filly Chariot Of Gold in the Woolavington 2000 and not the Daily News 2000 where she had also been a nominee.
Justin Snaith’s Twice Over gelding Do It Again, second favourite for the Vodacom Durban July on July 7, heads the 13-horse field for the Daily News 2000 with regular pilot Bernard Fayd’Herbe in the irons and the very inside draw from which to jump. While official betting for Saturday’s feature races were not available at the time of writing, the Daisy Guineas winner is likely to start the short-odds favourite.
The Glen Kotzen-trained Philanthropist colt Pack Leader that impressed in both the Investec Cape Derby where he finished third and the Sledgehammer at Greyville has drawn toward the outside while the Trippi gelding White River from the Brett Crawford stable will make his bid from the mid-field draw.
Snaith’s star filly Oh Susanna has stood her ground for the Woolavington 2000 and is likely to be on offer at prohibitive odds when official betting opens. She is drawn one from the outside of the 10-horse field and will undoubtedly be the exotic bet banker for most punters. However, the Duncan Howells-trained Captain Al filly Fiorella is not a runner to be ignored and with Muzi Yeni in the irons there will be some who believe she can beat Oh Susanna after having upstaged the Snaith stable companion, Snowdance, in the Daisy Fillies Guineas.
The Lonsdale Stirrup Cup has trimmed down to 12 runners with Dean Kannemeyer withdrawing four of his five nominees and leaving only the Silvano gelding Mr Winsome to fly the stable flag while Justin Snaith will campaign with three runners including the Dynasty gelding Made To Conquer that has won his last three starts.
Brett Crawford runs his Highland Night Cup winner Hero Quest while champion trainer Sean Tarry competes with Hyaku that finished second in that race and his four-year-old Dynasty colt Shenanigans that ran a good second over 2 000m at the Vaal last time out. Here are the final fields below.
By Richard McMillan.
