This year’s Gold Cup to be run on July 27 over 3200m at Greyville will mark the 40^th anniversary of one of the most famous renewals of the country’s premier staying event.

The winner was The Basil Cooper-trained The Maltster, who was talented but also a rogue and inconsistent.

This bay provided the legendary Lester Piggott with one of the most astounding wins of his celebrated career.

That race took place at Scottsville in November 1975 and the three-year-old The Maltster lost at least 12 lengths at the start.

However, Piggott somehow managed to get him up to win the race in class record time.

In a book written by Sam Magee called My Greatest Race, Piggot nominated his win on The Malster as his greatest ever ride.

In the Gold Cup of 1979 the now seven-year-old The Malster, ridden by Freddy Macaskill, was sent off at 16/1 and carrying 53,5kg beat the 9/2 favourite, the grey five-year-old Preciptack, by 0,3 lengths.

The Malster had a pathological hatred of greys and some will say it was his refusal to be overtaken by Preciptack which won him the race.

Years ending in nine have often produced Gold Cups to remember.

In 2009 the small Cape yard of Stephen Page had their biggest ever success, scoring a one-two in the Gold Cup with 8/1 shot Mokaro and 75/1 chance Noblewood, both owned by Bridget Oppenheimer. Mokaro was ridden by Richard Fourie. The race was run on August 1 and Mokaro’s sire Manaloj was briefly leading the National Sires championship, despite having left the thoroughbred stallion ranks and being registered as a warmblood sire. Manaloj (Gone West), whose third dam was Natalma, dam of the great Northern Dancer, produced pretty horses and it was little wonder that he became sort after by dressage fans.

In 1999 Robbie Hill scored a July-Gold Cup double when winning the big staying race on the Pat Shaw-trained 8/1 shot Place Of Gold, who beat the 2/1 favourite Golden Hoard by 1,5 lengths. The race was run on August 28 and nine weeks earlier Hill had won the July on the Geoff Woodruff-trained 14/1 shot El Picha, who went on to win the July again the following year.

The 1989 Gold Cup saw a spectacular win by the Ralph Rixon-trained 9/2 shot Tropicante ridden by Paddy Wynne. He sat in last place for much of the journey and emerged out of the blue to deny the outsider Allied Party who had looked all over the winner. Tropicante was a most deserved winner because as an unconsidered outsider he had been most unlucky to not win the July, finishing a 0,25 length second to Right Prerogative despite suffering interference in the straight.

The 1969 Gold Cup was won by the 2/1 favourite Golden Jewel under top jockey Marti Schoeman. Among the beaten were the previous year’s winner Caradoc, a classy, versatile horse who later had a staying race named after him, and another previous winner Smash And Grab.

In the 1959 race the former July and Gold Cup winner Excise started favourite and ran a gallant fourth carrying 58,5kg, just 0,6 lengths behind the winner, the 14/1 chance Cumanus, who carried only 44,5kg and was ridden by Shorty de la Rey.

This year’s entry list includes some good stayers and it is sure to produce another race to remember.  

By David Thiselton

Dean Kannemeyer has more winners with his Durban string than with the yard at Milnerton these days but Joseph Jagger should make the winner’s box in the opening mile maiden at Durbanville today, particularly with Keagan de Melo flying down to ride him.

The Ideal World colt is a well bred sort and, although one of only two juveniles taking on three-year-olds, he finished well in good to soft last time (only his second start) in a manner that suggests he can beat the older horses. His current price of around 8-10 is pretty miserly but he just might start at slightly more generous odds when the on-course punters cast around for better-priced alternatives..

The obvious danger is the Justin Snaith runner Peter Paul Rubens, the 2-1 second favourite. Forget his last run – he stumbled shortly after the start and was returning not striding out behind. He went close in a reasonable maiden on his previous start.

First time out of the maidens is a traditional no-no for punters but it could be worth making an exception with Silver Dazzle in the Betting World Handicap (race four)- particularly as odds of 11-2 look particularly attractive.

The Andre Nel runner was having her fifth start when she tackled a mile fillies maiden at Kenilworth just over five weeks ago and she led a furlong out to win every bit as comfortably as the three-length verdict would suggest. She was rated 63 going into the race and the handicappers have assessed her only three points higher for this race.

What is more, the going last time was good to soft – the sort of underfoot conditions that she may well encounter here – and Andre Nel is having a tremendous season with 74 winners so far and ninth on the national log while 149-winner Greg Cheyne has only four above him in the jockeys’ lists. You could argue that Kawakami (7-2) and 5-1 shots Indian Song and Blush Scarlet have stronger claims but I don’t think so.

The Play Soccer 6 Maiden 35 minutes later looks a toss-up between It’s My Life and Duntoche with the verdict going to the former for the sole (and rather unsatisfactory) reason that Duntoche is a four-year-old who has already run 16 times without winning. She is rated 3.5kg behind the Brett Crawford runner but her recent form looks just as good and Fayd’Herbe rides.

Deposition had Winter Shadow four lengths behind over 1 800m on good to soft at Kenilworth last time, he stays 2 500m and so should confirm the form in the 2 400m Tabonline.co.za Maiden. But don’t completely ignore Nel’s Head Boy.

By Michael Clower

The various national championships have become clearer over the last couple of weeks and it will be a surprise if there is an upheaval in any of the major ones.

In the jockeys championship both Lyle Hewitson and his nearest rival Muzi Yeni rode at every meeting in the past week. Hewitson accumulated eleven winners, including a treble at Fairview on Friday, while Yeni only rode five winners. Anton Marcus only had four rides during the week and had one winner. Hewitson is consequently on 211 winners, 12 clear of Yeni on 199 and 28 clear of Marcus, who is on 183. WSB were 1/11 on Hewitson, 9/2 on Yeni and 25/1 on Marcus yesterday morning.

In the trainer’s champions Sean Tarry increased his lead during the week. The log was last updated at 16h38 on Saturday and Tarry was on R24,830,200, Justin Snaith was on R22,579,463 and Mike de Kock was on R22,354,563. Snaith has to make up a leeway of 2,250,737 according to those figures and De Kock has to make up a leeway of 2,475,637. There is only one big meeting left, Gold Cup day, where there are ten feature races. Snaith has eleven horses entered in the features on that day and in the unlikely event they score a perfect return they will accumulate R2,568,750.

De Kock has twelve entries, although effectively only eleven as Frosted Gold is entered in both the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes and the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint. His perfect return which would have to include Frosted Gold running in the Mercury and finishing in the top two would net him R3,198,750. So it is possible for either De Kock or Snaith to catch Tarry but unlikely especially considering Tarry has 23 entries in the features on the day and is unlikely to go home empty handed. Hollywoodbets make Tarry a 0,08/1 shot, De Kock a 5/1 chance and have defending champion Snaith at 10/1.

In the apprentice championship Luke Ferraris had two winners during the week to his nearest rival Dennis Schwarz’s one. Ferraris’s 79 winners are 18 clear of Schwarz’s 61.

The Breeders championship has been wrapped up by the Mary Slack and Jessica Jell-owned Wilgerbosdrift and Mauritzfontein Stud breeding operation. Slack and Jell are Harry and Bridget Oppenheimer’s daughter and granddaughter respectively and by all accounts this will be the first time the Oppenheimer family have won the championship. It is long overdue as they have done an enormous amount for South African racing.

Maine Chance Farm’s stallion Silvano will be the champion sire for the fourth time. Seven-times national champion sire Jet Master will be champion damsire for the first time. The important Freshman sire title is wide open. Captain Of All (Captain Al) has had 12 winners of 14 races for R1,635,525 in stakes, Vercingetorix (Silvano) has had eleven winners of 17 races for R1,376,425 in stakes and Soft Falling Rain has had 12 winners of 14 races for R1,130,125 in stakes. The title is decided by stakes money.

Chris van Niekerk is almost R3 million clear of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the owners championships. Do It Again is likely to be crowned Equus Horse Of The Year, having won three ‘Grade 1s, the Vodacom Durban July, the Rising Sun Gold Challenge and the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, as well as the Grade 2 Green Point Stakes. In his only other run he finished second in the Grade 1 Sun Met. However, he has not earned the most stakes for the season. Hawwaam, who also won three Grade 1s, has earned R5,628,125 to Do It Again’s R5,102,500.

By David Thiselton

Justin Snaith will have a strong hand in the Grade 1 eLan Gold Cup with the ruling ante-post favourite Strathdon as well as Doublemint and Made To Conquer.

Snaith quipped, “Strathdon is going for world record of days without a win (588)!”

He continued, “This was the best my horses have pulled up out of the Vodacom Durban July day for years and they are well, although I wasn’t happy with all of their runs.”

Made To Conquer was one of the horses he was unhappy with and felt his July preparation had been affected by a couple of hiccups at the July gallops.

He said, “Things didn’t go his way in his July gallop.”

Snaith said there was a delay caused by the trainers not galloping in the specified order and Made To Conquer began sweating in the parade ring while ringing around waiting.

He said, “By the time he had finished he was dripping sweat and was not the same after that in my opinion. I thought I had him right but he wasn’t. So I thought the gallops affected him but when I saw it happening there was nothing much I could do.”

He was also disappointed with Doublemint’s July run and said, “Unfortunately he got caught three wide without cover. You can run three wide in the July but you must have something in front of you. He never settled, so a little bit of a wide draw, bad luck and that was his chances all gone.”

Snaith said about Doublemint staying the Gold Cup trip of 3200m, “To be honest in South Africa staying races are not strong, so he does not need to stay, if he is a 2400m horse that’s good enough for the Gold Cup. You don’t have to be any stronger than that. What does always worry me is the Jo’burg horses carrying 52kg and being full of oxygen from the high altitude training. That is more my worry. It has been a disappointing season for Doublemint and Made To Conquer so why not give them a chance in the Gold Cup and see how they go and then decide their futures from there. Doublemint will be gelded after the Gold Cup.”

Snaith has the favourite in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m, Kasimir, and said he had been doing very well. He also has Snowdance entered in the Mercury.

He said, “Kasimir just needed his last run. They denied him a gallop at Greyville so we had to use that last race as a prep. He will have come on a lot from that. Snowdance might also take her place. We are going to decide also whether she will still race again next year.”

Snaith will not be contesting any of the two-year-old events on Gold Cup day but will have a strong hand in the Grade 2 Gold Bracelet over 2000m with July fifth-placed Miyabi Gold, Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 winner Silvano’s Pride and Listed East Cape Oaks winner Madonna.

By David Thiselton

Rainbow Bridge, 16-10 favourite with the sponsors for Saturday week’s World Sports Betting Champions Cup, has yet to be confirmed a runner and punters might want to hold their fire until a final decision is made.

Eric Sands said on Saturday: “He was off his manger for a couple of days after the Vodacom Durban July and, although he was trotting sound, he had a little bit of warmth in one joint.

“He is fine now but I am only going to run him in the Champions Cup if everything is 100%. He is only turning five, he is not an over-raced horse and we want to keep him going as long as possible. But by the same token it is a Grade 1 and we are not going to run away from it if we can go.”

If he does line up, Gavin Lerena will be first call – “I thought he rode a good race in the July and he settled the horse well but he may have other commitments.”

Sands, who sent out Jungle Warrior to win what was then known as the Champion Stakes at Greyville back in 1988, believes that Rainbow Bridge was adversely affected by the delay at the start in the July.

He is not claiming that his horse would have beaten Do It Again – “We were beaten fair and square but the second loading was a killer. He was sweating up before the first loading but he was bouncing and ready to go. I know that the reloading played against a lot of horses but Rainbow Bridge is not the type of horse to whom you can say ‘Come back and go in again.’”

There is also a Champions Cup question mark about 15-1 shot Head Honcho who was picked out along with Rainbow Bridge by commentator Craig Peters as sweating up badly at the delayed start.

Andre Nel said: “Head Honcho is not a highly strung horse but Keagan de Melo said the first time he was ready to go and the second time he was flat. We were all in the same boat so I am not making excuses and setting the horse alight 200m before turning for home was never part of the plan.”

Head Honcho, who was in the first two much of the way, dropped right out in the final furlong to finish with only four behind him casting doubts about whether he really got the trip. “He did win the Betting World 2200 the previous year but it is not his proper distance and it was a much weaker race,” Nel pointed out. “It seems as though he can gallop 1 800m almost flat out and then he tires.”

The Champions Cup trip would therefore seem ideal but Nel said: “We are debating whether to run. He was slightly jarred up after the July but nothing catastrophic. Possibly he could run but he is better in Cape Town and we might decide to wait for the Cape season.”

There has been relatively little movement in the Champions Cup market so far with the most noticeable being last year’s runner-up Undercover Agent (14-1 to 9-1) and second favourite Buffalo Bill Cody who has been cut from 3-1 to 22-10.

Lyle Hewitson, now almost unbackable to retain his championship – some bookmakers are quoting odds as short as 1-11 – gives Durbanville a miss tomorrow but Muzi Yeni is refusing to concede defeat and has taken five rides – two each for Joey Ramsden and Glen Kotzen and one for Glen Puller. However none of the quintet has a particularly obvious chance.

Run Fox Run, winner of all her four starts including most recently the Olympic Duel Stakes, is the highest rated of the 14 entries for the Champagne Stakes at Kenilworth on Saturday and is the only representative for Brett Crawford who won this 1 200m Grade 3 with Beach Goddess three years ago.

By Michael Clower