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.