Please Note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Taunton and Wolverhampton (UK) – 9 March 2026.

David Thiselton

The main race at the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly meeting yesterday, a Middle Stakes event over 1200m for fillies and mares, saw a comfortable victory for the Wendy Whitehead-trained Buttercup Baby and it brought up a 100^th win as owners for Sandy and Eugene Arundel’s Itssa IT and Business Solutions ownership concern.

Buttercup Baby was off an 88 merit rating which did not make her well weighted as she was officially 1,5kg under sufferance with Convocation. However, Rachel Venniker’s gender allowance of 1,5kg brought the pair together at the weights. On the same weight terms Convocation had beaten Buttercup Baby by 0,45 lengths over this trip at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on February 18, but Buttercup Baby had some fine poly form over this trip and she was duly backed in to 5/2, although Convocation also shortened from 28/10 into 18/10. Buttercup Baby, a four-year-old by What A Winter, was taken straight to the front from the widest draw of seven and got their quite easily, with the tardy start of the well known front-runner Hierkommiebokkie in pole position aiding her cause. Buttercup Baby stayed on well in the straight and fended off the challenge of Sovereign Grant to win by half-a-length, although not before drifting outward and this led to an unlucky Kythera, who was going for a gap between the two front-runners, having to be snatched up late and it probably cost her third place. Back At The George was third and Convocation only managed fifth place.

It was fitting Wendy Whitehead trained the Arundels 100th win as she was their first trainer when they went into the sport in a big way and she picked some of their best horses at the Sales, including Gr 1 winner Rascova and the many-times Graded-placed Minogue, so their were some emotions shown in the winner’s enclosure by both trainer and owners.

Earlier in a C Stakes event for all horses over 1200m, the Glen Kotzen-trained Gimmethegreenlight gelding The Mask scoring a deserved victory after finishing second in his three previous starts. The Mask was actually at the bottom of his merit rating band in this contest so was 1kg under sufferance with the best weighted males and 3kg under sufferance with the best weighted runner, the raiding Highveld filly Dondoyaki, but nevertheless he started favourite at 9/4. Chad Little managed to get him to the front from draw six out of seven and after stealing a march at the top of the straight at the same time as second favourite Ibutho was looking for gaps to open further back, he never looked like being caught and won by 3,20 lengths from Winter Waves with Ibutho next best.

The meeting started with a surprise result as the Gareth van Zyl-trained I Am Invictus led from start to finish under S’Manga Khumalo and held on by 0,60 lengths from Sail The Horizon and Light The Fire to convert odds of 10/1. The good looking Vercingetorix gelding had finished last on debut, but looks a type who can progress.

In the second race, an Open Maiden over 1400m, the hard-knocking Louis Goosen-trained Pomodoro filly Saudi Sweep carried joint topweight of 60.5kg but that didn’t stop her scoring by 0,60 lengths under Rachel Venniker from the odds-on favourite Vaans Spirit. She jumped from pole and came from a handy position with a sustained run down the inside.

In the fifth race, a fillies and mares Class 5 over 1000m, the Alyson Wright-trained three-year-old Willow Magic filly Magical Sky was taken to the lead under Damyan Pillay, just heading a horse inside of her,  and she kicked on well under a finely judged ride to win by 1,50 lengths.

In the sixth, a Class 5 for fillies and mares over 1900m, Glen Kotzen and Chad Little clinched a double together as Legislate filly Sesame came from midfield and outfought Sweeter Than Honey under a typically powerful ride by Little.

In the seventh, a D Stakes event over 1900m, the MJ Odendaal-trained What A Winter gelding Takeyourbestshot had just won an Open Maiden off a 61 rating and off a 64 was at the bottom of his merit rating band in this race, but he was nevertheless backed into 18/10 favourite and he led throughout to win by an easy 1,70 lengths under Keagan de Melo.

In the eighth, a Class 4 over 1600m, Fanie Bronkhorst’s journey down with six horses hadn’t looked to be going well, but Erupt mare Boom Boom made it worthwhile as Serino Moodley extracted a strong charge from her to win by a head and a shorthead from Blue Poppy and Prom Queen in a thrilling finish.

In the last race, a Class 5 over 1600m, S’Manga Khumalo managed to get the Vengi Masawi-trained Potala Palace gelding into a handy position with cover from draw five and with the rest of the field being held up by Master Silvano, who was battling to keep up, Khumalo just had to steer Pied Piper straight to chalk up a 1,10 length victory from a closing Basie Raakvat. Hollywood Racing’s Ashburton-based trainer Masawi has now had 14 wins in his first full season as a licensed trainer and he has the highest strike rate in the country at 25.45%.

David Thiselton

Sean Tarry won two Grade 1s and two Listed races at the 12 race World Pool Classic day meeting at Turffontein Standside on Saturday. It was also a fine meeting for the Corne Spies yard and owner Rob Macnab and partners as they won a Gr 1 and a Gr 3 together

Tarry’s gelding Grand Empire had run on well from some way off the pace in the Gr 2 TAB Gauteng Guineas for a 0,60 length second and was surprisingly easy to back at11/2 in the Gr 1 HKJC World Pool SA Classic over 1800m.

The SA Classic favourite at 5/2 was the dual Gr 1 winner Jan Van Goyen.

A furious pace was set in the race from a vanguard of three rank outsiders, All Systems Go, Yippee Kiyay and Radio Star.

There was a gap of eight lengths back to Trust, whose jockey Serino Moodley’s pace judgement was later proven to be just about perfect.

Jan Van Goyen sat on Trust’s quarters without cover.

Grand Empire was in the box seat of the main contenders, on the rail behind Trust.

Going through the 400m mark All Systems Go had skipped clear and there was still no move from Moodley, although Craig Zackey on Grand Empire had moved past Trust on his inside.

Trust got going just after passing the 400m mark and One Eye On Vegas was also running on strongly from off the pace.

Jan Van Goyen never looked threatening.

Raymond Danielson had sat in last place on Gauteng Guineas winner Splittheeights and looked to be planning to follow Jan Van Goyen at the top of the straight. When that plan went awry the horse was left with too much to do to catch Grand Empire and Trust.

The pacemaking vanguard were swamped at the 100m mark with Grand Empire being challenged in front by Trust. One Eye On Vegas began wilting and was mastered by the running on late Splittheeights.

The front pair crossed the line as one and it was just the head-bob that gave Grand Empire the win over the luckless Trust.

The result gave the phenomenal sire Vercingetorix yet another Gr 1 winner. Grand Empire was originally bought by Eric Sands for R400,000 at the National Yearling Sale. He was bred by Al Adiyaat and is owned by Mrs H Kuhn.

Had the handicappers’ initial handicapping of the Gauteng Guineas been in place a line horse would have been easy to find for the SA Classic, but they look to instead be in the same boat as they were for the Guineas, i.e. the choice of using a line horse that will either make the ratings too high or one that will make the ratings too low. Using the 118-rated Jan Van Goyen, who was beaten 4,25 lengths, would make Grand Empire about 126 or 127, while using either Trust or Splittheeights will give him a maximum of about 113.

The handicappers might be justified in using the higher rating, because of the result of the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Stakes, in which the Tarry-trained Tin Pan Alley blew away a top class field to win by 3,75 lengths. He was originally used by the handicappers as the line horse for the Gauteng Guineas on 117, while Grand Empire later became the official line horse. Both horses proved themselves better than their respective ratings of 117 and 108 on Saturday.

Jan Van Goyen was viewed as the best three-year-old in the country prior to Saturday and his 9,10 length defeat in the L’Ormarins King’s Plate was excused because he had gone too fast when chasing pacemaker Dave The King. However, there was one nagging doubt created by the King’s Plate and that was that the horse who was together with him in the running at that too fast pace i.e. Legal Counsel, beat him by 4,65 lengths. However, Jan Van Goyen shouldn’t be written off yet because he did have no cover throughout in his one wide position on Saturday.

In the Horse Chestnut Tin Pan Alley found the perfect position in midfield on the rail.

The surprise pacemaker was Fire Attack.

The conditions were sticky on the day and after Tin Pan Alley had powered into the lead down the inside the favourite See It Again, who prefers 2000m, had too much to do coming from midfield on the outside.

See It Again was doing fine work late to pip last year’s runner up Texas Red for second. Fire Attack was fourth and two previous winners of this race, Main Defender and Cosmic Speed were next best.

The Real Prince appeared to hate the conditions and was never in the hunt.

The Moutonshoek-based stallion The United States now has a second Gr 1 winner this season and he also had first and third in Saturday’s race.

Tin Pan Alley, bred by Moutonshoek, is owned by the Wernars Family & D Chinsammy

In the Gr 1 Wilgerbosdrift SA Fillies Classic the Corne Spies-trained Hazy Dazy gave the Summerhill Equestrian-based sire Act Of War a third career Gr 1 winner thanks to a fine ride by apprentice Trent Mayhew. Hazy Dazy led and appeared to have been swamped in the straight, but in fact Mayhew had just been  reserving her in the sticky conditions and she came back to lead handsomely before Golden Palm produced a late surge to limit the winning margin to a length. Bred by Breedon Stud, she is owned by Mr D Dasrath & Mrs C Dasrath, Messrs R P Macnab, S Poriazis, Vikash Sobaren, X Spies & D Vayapuri, and she remains on track for the Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara.

Macnab is also a shareholder in the Spies-trained stalwart William Robertson (Rafeef), who later won the Gr 3 J J The Jet Plane Stakes over 1000m.

Tarry’s two Listed wins were with Secretary Bird (Rafeef) and Care Forgot (The United States), while Mike and Mathew de Kock won a Listed race with the unbeaten World Attraction (One World).

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.