Too Cute may reverse debut placings with Dark Crystal and Richard Fourie in the Tabonline.co.za Maiden Plate at Kenilworth today and the pair dominate the betting.

Dark Crystal opened 28-10 favourite and World Sports Betting had Too Cute on 33-10 yesterday with Sweet Karma (15-2) the only other in single figures. Dark Crystal came out a length and a quarter the better 17 days ago despite losing ground at the start. Anton Marcus’s mount, on the other hand, raced prominently only to weaken in the final furlong. Crucially she had to switch approaching the 300m mark.

There is no shortage of confidence in either camp. “She just needed that first run and I think she has improved a hell of a lot since,” says Brett Crawford of Too Cute while Jono Snaith reports that the favourite has also come on, adding: “She has a lot of ability and I think she will take some beating.”

Sweet Karma, the mount of champion Lyle Hewitson, also has solid form and was fourth to the smart Mirage with subsequent Perfect Promise winner Amy Johnson third. But she has less obvious scope for improvement.

Donovan Dillon makes a welcome but overdue return on 10-1 shot Caribbean Sunset after the knee damage he suffered in the pens on Met day took longer than expected to heal. His best hope of a winner is probably the Joey Ramsden-trained Lip Service in race seven.

Two-year-olds have won only three times against older horses in Cape Town this season but they mount a strong challenge in the first as well as in race three. The Dean Kannemeyer-trained Sir Michael was only three-quarters of a length behind the more experienced Pick Eight Captain on debut at Durbanville and so it is reasonable to suppose that he will reverse the placings with his fellow 9-2 joint favourite.

But the vote goes to the older Fergie’s Rock (5-1) who went close on this course three weeks ago. “That was his first run since being gelded and he has done well since,” says Brett Crawford.

Man About Town has the benefit of the in-form Bernard Fayd’Herbe in the Play Soccer Handicap, his recent form is good and he has won over the trip. His price (12-10) is nothing to write home about but he is hard to oppose.

Kursk, on the other hand, carries a red warning light as he is drawn on the wide outside in the 16-runner Betting World Maiden. He finished third from a similar draw last time (Crawford: “It cost him that day and it is going to be tough for him again”) but his jockey’s famed ability at the gate may just be enough. Stable companion High Key and 15-1 longshot Sark (slight interference last time) look the dangers.

By Michael Clower

Top Cape jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe has made a significant statement ahead of Saturday’s Grade 2 WSB 1900 by opting to ride the Andre Nel-trained Kampala Campari in preference to either of the Justin Snaith-trained pair Magnificent Seven and Made To Conquer.

Snaith said, “Bernard decided not to ride either of them, so maybe that’s a sign that Kampala Campari is a big runner.”

Fayd’Herbe won this race last year on the Snaith-trained Elusive Silva.

The Nel yard have made a deliberate decision to go into the race fresh with Kampala Campari and the five-year-old Querari gelding was looking in fine shape at Summerveld yesterday. 

He has the same draw as last year, pole position, but a better run can be expected than his 6,30 length tenth. He went to the front in that race but was doing a touch too much. He still had the lead at the 200m mark before being swamped.

Assistant trainer Byron Foster said, “Corne (Orffer) didn’t really know the horse last year. Kamapala Campari was also more aggressive in his racing back then and has now learnt how to race.”

Fayd’Herbe has only race-ridden Kampala Campari once before, a victory over 2000m at Durbanville last October. The big bay led at a comfortable gallop that day and stayed on well.

He carries topweight of 60kg on Saturday off a 107 merit rating, which puts him 3kg under sufferance with the best weighted Fresnaye. This is as opposed to carrying 58kg last year off a 100 merit rating (which put him 4,5kg under sufferance with best weighted Fort Ember). 

Foster concluded, “His work has been good.”

Kampala Campari is the only runner in the twelve horse field who is not entered in the Vodacom Durban July.

Meanwhile, Sun Met third-placed Head Honcho has been doing well since arriving at Summerveld in March. 

He runs in a Pinnacle Stakes race over 1600m on Saturday and Nel is hoping that will bring him on enough to go straight into the July.

He said, “He seems to run better when his races are spaced widely apart.”

Nel said Foster had reported the long-striding five-year-old Querari gelding to be “ring rusty” at present. However, he won his first start this season following a virtually identical layoff of three months and three weeks and that race was over this same 1600m distance on the equally tight Kenilworth Old Course.

By David Thselton

Only six of the 49 original entries for Africa’s greatest race, the R4.25-million, Grade 1 Vodacom Durban July to be run over 2 200m at Greyville in Durban on Saturday, July 6, failed to stand their ground at the first declaration stage today together with the recent sad loss of SA Derby winner Samurai Warrior.

There are 42 horses still in contention for a run with a further two, recent The Sledgehammer winner Orpheus, trained by Mike and Adam Azzie and Insignis from the Geoff Woodruff yard, in line to be supplemented tomorrow.

While some of the six that have been withdrawn might have found it difficult to make the final 20 runners carded for the race based on their current rating status, and with limited opportunities available to improve their situations, saving the R3 450 non-refundable fee to move forward may not have been seen as worthwhile.

Heading the withdrawals is the five-year-old Captain Al gelding Doosra from the Johan Janse van Vuuren stable that had a 104 merit rating and the Wolf Power victory on which to make a claim while the three-year-old Querari filly Arianos Shadow and the two entries from the Sean Tarry yard, Shenanigans and Silver God, would require considerable improvement to catch the eyes of the July Selection Panel.

The three horses seen generally as the main contenders for victory, Hawwaam, Do It Again and Rainbrow Bridge, have stood their ground with many racing fundis expressing opinions that it “looks like” a three-horse race.

The full early ante-post betting as declared by World Sports Betting is: 7-2 Hawwaam; 5-1 Do It Again; 11-2 Rainbow Bridge; 11-1 Barahin; 20-1 Head Honcho, Doublemint, Magnificent Seven; 25-1 Twist Of Fate, Orpheus; 28-1 Made To Conquer; 33-1 Return Flight; 35-1 Bunker Hunt; 40-1 Legal Eagle, Tilbury Fort, Hero’s Honour, Zillzaal, Charles, 45-1 Oh Susanna, Platinum Prince; 50-1 Lady In Black; 66-1 Alyaab, Miyabi Gold, Noble Secret; 70-1 Dark Moon Rising, Divine Odyssy; 75-1 Eyes Wide Open, Elusive Silva; 85-1 Alyaasaat, The Dazzler; 100-1 Fresnaye, Camphoratus, Secret Potion, Run Red, Protea Paradise, Silva’s Bullet, 125-1 Dawn Assault; 150-1 Roy Had Enough, Herodotus; 200-1 Banner Hill, Thanksgiving; 250-1 Red Chestnut Road, Fiorella, Roy’s Riviera, Flichity By Farr, Top Classman.

First declartions for the R4.25 million (Gr1) Vodacom Durban July

Sc#  Horse               Mass   MR       Draw  B  A  T  Jockey                    Trainer

 0  DO IT AGAIN          0.0  125 (125)    0      A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  RAINBOW BRIDGE       0.0  124 (124)    0      A     ……………           Eric Sands

 0  HEAD HONCHO          0.0  122 (122)    0      A  T  ……………           Andre Nel

 0  HAWWAAM              0.0  121 (117)    0      A     ……………           Mike de Kock

 0  OH SUSANNA           0.0  118 (118)    0      A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  TWIST OF FATE        0.0  117 (113)    0      A     ……………           Joey Ramsden

 0  LEGAL EAGLE          0.0  116 (116)    0      A  T  ……………           Sean Tarry

 0  BUNKER HUNT          0.0  112 (108)    0      A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  LADY IN BLACK        0.0  112 (112)    0      A     ……………           Dennis Drier

 0  DIVINE ODYSSEY       0.0  111 (111)    0      A     C Habib                   J A Janse van Vuuren

 0  TILBURY FORT         0.0  110 (110)    0      A  T  ……………           Sean Tarry

 0  EYES WIDE OPEN       0.0  109 (109)    0   B  A  T  ……………           Glen Kotzen

 0  RETURN FLIGHT        0.0  109 (105)    0      A     ……………           Sean Tarry

 0  ROY HAD ENOUGH       0.0  109 (109)    0      A     ……………           Frank Robinson

 0  BARAHIN              0.0  108 (104)    0      A     ……………           Mike de Kock

 0  MADE TO CONQUER      0.0  108 (108)    0   B  A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  HERO’S HONOUR        0.0  107 (107)    0      A     ……………           Gary Alexander

 0  DARK MOON RISING     0.0  106 (106)    0      A     ……………           Paul Lafferty

 0  DAWN ASSAULT         0.0  106 (106)    0   B  A  T  ……………           St John Gray

 0  THANKSGIVING         0.0  106 (102)    0      A     ……………           Duncan Howells

 0  ATYAAB               0.0  105 (101)    0   B  A     ……………           Mike de Kock

 0  CAMPHORATUS          0.0  105 (105)    0      A     ……………           R A Hill/S R Hill

 0  MIYABI GOLD          0.0  105 (105)    0      A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  NOBLE SECRET         0.0  105 (105)    0      A  T  ……………           Mike de Kock

 0  ZILLZAAL             0.0  105 (101)    0   B  A  T  ……………           Sean Tarry

 0  CHARLES              0.0  104 (100)    0      A     ……………           Brett Crawford

 0  DOUBLEMINT           0.0  104 (104)    0      A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  FRESNAYE             0.0  104 (104)    0      A     ……………           Joey Ramsden

 0  MAGNIFICENT SEVEN    0.0  104 (104)    0      A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  ELUSIVE SILVA        0.0  103 (103)    0      A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  SECRET POTION        0.0  102 (102)    0      A     ……………           Geoff Woodruff

 0  HERODOTUS            0.0  101 ( 97)    0      A     ……………           Glen Kotzen

 0  FIORELLA             0.0  100 (100)    0      A     ……………           Duncan Howells

 0  THE DAZZLER          0.0   99 ( 99)    0      A     ……………           Mike de Kock

 0  PLATINUM PRINCE      0.0   97 ( 97)    0   B  A     ……………           Justin Snaith

 0  BANNER HILL          0.0   96 ( 96)    0      A     ……………           Geoff Woodruff

 0  ROY’S RIVIERA        0.0   95 ( 95)    0      A     ……………           Frank Robinson

 0  FLICHITY BY FARR     0.0   94 ( 94)    0      A     ……………           Alyson Wright

 0  RUN RED              0.0   94 ( 94)    0      A     ……………           Andre Nel

 0  PROTEA PARADISE      0.0   92 ( 88)    0   B  A     ……………           Mike de Kock

 0  SILVA’S BULLET       0.0   91 ( 91)    0      A     ……………           Dean Kannemeyer

 0  TOP CLASSMAN         0.0   84 ( 84)    0      A     ……………           Paul Lafferty

(42)

STILL TO BE DECLARED – 2 Horses in Category

 0   INSIGNIS            0.0  102 (102)    A     N  Supplementary Entry                 2816231 Geoff Woodruff 

 0   ORPHEUS             0.0   94 ( 94)    A  T  N  Supplementary Entry M v Rensburg    2813027 M G Azzie/A A Azzie 

  SCRATCHINGS 

   SILVER GOD                               

   SAMURAI WARRIOR    

   RED CHESNUT ROAD   

   ARIANOS SHADOW     

   SHENANIGANS        

   DOOSRA             

   ALYAASAAT     

Important Vodacom Durban July dates to diarise:

• First Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Tuesday, 14 May 2019
• Second Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 3 June 2019
• Final Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Tuesday, 18 June 2019
• Weights Published: Tuesday, 18 June 2019
• Final Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 24 June 2019
• Final Field and Draw: Announcement of the Final Field and Barrier Draws will take place on Tuesday, 25 June 2019
• Public Gallops:  7am at Greyville Racecourse, Thursday, 27 June 2019

Twelve horses will face the starter in the traditionally important Vodacom Durban July pointer, the Grade 2 WSB 1900, at Greyville on Saturday and eleven of them are entered in the country’s premier horseracing event.

Saturday’s race is run under merit rated band conditions and female runners receive a further 2,5kg allowance.

The horses are listed below in sequential order according to how well they are weighted according to official merit ratings and in brackets is the number of kilograms they are under sufferance:

Fresnaye (best weighted), Camphoratus (1,5kg), Eyes Wide Open (2kg), Fiorella (2kg), Made To Conquer (2,5kg), Doosra (2,5kg), Doublemint (2,5kg),  Magnificent Seven (2,5kg), Kampala Campari (3kg), Dawn Assault (3,5kg), Orpheus (3,5kg), Silver God (8kg).

However, official merit ratings are not always a true reflection in South African handicapping due to the effect the “guidelines” have on them. For example Doublemint ran to a 117 when finishing sixth in the Sun Met if the official line horse, Undercover Agent, is used as the yardstick. However, a clause in the guidelines which only allows upward adjustment to the top five in Grade 1 and Grade 2 races saw him escaping punishment.

Doublemint could thus be seen as the proverbial penalty kick,, but, on the other hand, races are not run on paper.

However, adding to his chances is that Anton “Superman” Marcus is aboard. Furthermore, he has a good draw of four.

Doublemint has not run since the Sun Met, so will be a bit ring rusty, although he did gallop on the Greyville turf recently under Marcus.

The Twice Over colt is trained by Justin Snaith who won this race last year for the second time. He also has Made To Conquer, and Magnificent Seven engaged on Saturday so has a fine chance of making it a third.

The conditions of this race are attractive for July qualifiers as the winner cannot be raised more than six points and placed horses will not incur any merit rating raise unless requested.

Doublemint and Magnificent Seven can both afford to win without any change to their July weight due to the presence in the big race of their 125 merit rated stablemate Do It Again.

They are both merit rated 104 at present and off a potential 110 rating they would carry 53kg in the July and still be 0,5kg under sufferance.

However, Made To Conquer, who finished runner up in the July last year after winning the Grade 3 Lonsdale Stirrup, is merit rated 108 and a potential 114 rating would see him having to carry 54,5kg in the July.

Magnificent Seven has not run since winning the Grade 2 New Turf Carriers Stayers over 2800m on Sun Met day. This progressive gelding by Horse Chestnut has won seven of his last nine starts and will be effective over the 1900m trip as he won the Listed Algoa Cup over 2000m last October. He has a fair draw of five and should make his presence felt. He had Luke Ferraris aboard in a recent Greyville grass gallop. The latter retains the ride, suggesting there is a chance he might have his first ever July ride.

July runner up Made To Conquer finished eleventh in the Met in his last start. He was beaten 5,25 lengths by Doublemint and now has to give the latter 2kg, so is up against it. However, he does enjoy Greyville, as most progeny of Dynasty do. He put up a good recent grass gallop at Greyville together with July winner Do It Again. He has a tricky draw of seven and stable jockey Richard Fourie, who will ride Do It Again in the July, is aboard.

Fresnaye’s three runs in Johannesburg were a touch disappointing, but she had hardknocking form in Cape Town and should appreciate being back at the coast where the air is thicker. This twice Grade 1 Paddock Stakes-placed filly is ideally distance suited but has a tough draw of eleven under S’Manga Khumalo.

Camphoratus proved her class by winning the Grade 1 Empress Club over 1600m and if left alone for long enough will likely produce another blistering finishing effort here. She has a chance from a good draw of two.

Fiorella is distance suited having just failed in the Woolavington 2000 last year. She beat Fresnaye by a quarter of a length in the Empress Club but was way behind her in the Grade 1 Majorca. She needs to bounce back to form but has a tough task from the widest draw of all.

Kampala Campari disappointed in this race last year from this same pole position draw but if it pans out better this time he will be a threat being half-a-kilogram better off with Doublemint for a mere 0,2 length beating in the Peninsula over 1800m. However, Doublemint comes out on top on Met form. The Met was Kampala Campari’s last run. 

Eyes Wide Open will have come on from his last outing in the Sledgehammer. The Glen Kotzen yard believe they have this former Cape Derby winner back to his best as they have addressed a haemoconcentration problem he suffered in the summer. He has a tough draw of nine.

Orpheus ran them ragged in the Sledgehammer over 1800m on the poly. The jockeys will be more wary this time but he is still an interesting contender.

Doosra has a tough task at the weights and the trip might stretch him.

Dawn Assault is a resolute galloper who is capable of surprising, but he would probably prefer a less tight course.

Silver God is well bred being a half-brother to William Longsword and Real Princess but he will need to show dramatic improvement.

It is too early to make a selection as the runners still have to complete their preparations.

By David Thiselton

General Franco will make his eagerly awaited reappearance in the 1 200m Juvenile Plate at Kenilworth on Saturday and Jono Snaith reports that, with Richard Fourie at Greyville to partner last year’s Vodacom Durban July runner-up Made To Conquer in the World Sports Betting 1900, Greg Cheyne will ride the exciting Frankel colt.

The form of his debut win was given a hefty boost when Three Two Charlie, beaten three and a half lengths into second, romped home by almost as far in the Tabonline.co.za Maiden Juvenile Plate at Durbanville yesterday with Candice Bass-Robinson singing his praises as she celebrated Mother’s Day with a whole string of winners.

She said: “He is a lovely colt and he looks to me like he is pretty quick but he is quite lazy at home and he has taken a bit of time to come to hand.”

The Milnerton trainer and Bernard Fayd’Herbe made a clean sweep of the first three two-year-old races, courtesy of Roll In The Hay who swept to a five-length victory in the opener and Snow Report who pulled too hard for both his trainer and his jockey’s liking in the third. All three winners started at odds-on but the last one now has some serious tuition to come.

Mrs Bass-Robinson said: “I don’t want him to race like this. I would have preferred him to have had a bit of cover and in his next race I will have him dropped in and taught to settle.”

Fayd’Herbe added: “I was in two minds today. I didn’t want to get caught behind a couple of the others if I dropped him out. I knew he was the best horse in the race so I just used his class.”

Plans for the trio are fluid but the trainer said: “Features would be a possible but I will play it by ear with all of them.”

Mrs Bass-Robinson is now responsible for ten of the 42 races in Cape Town won by two-year-olds this season – Justin Snaith has also had ten and Vaughan Marshall seven – but her hopes of going into a clear lead with Elusive Rain in the fillies maiden juvenile were dashed when the 9-2 chance could manage only eighth behind the Glen Kotzen-trained Third Runway.

The 27-4 winner was ridden by Gavin Lerena on his first visit to Durbanville since 2012 when he was locked in a battle royal with Anton Marcus for the championship, a battle which ended painfully (for him) at Kenilworth on the final day of the season.

This winner was some compensation for Cedar Man managing only fifth in Saturday’s East Cape Derby and Lerena said: “I was expecting to win that but the horse didn’t travel great. I was in the box seat on Third Runway, though, and every time I asked her for an effort she gave it to me.”

The in-form Brett Crawford celebrated his second successive century when Hudoo Magic won at Scottsville but he had to sweat on an objection and a lengthy boardroom inquiry before he knew he had followed up with Indi Anna in the Tellytrack.com Handicap.

This meeting was put on at short notice to replace the scrapped election-day fixture and many owners and trainers praised the efficient way the gears were put in motion but it would not have happened at all but for representations made by Jono Snaith in his capacity as Western Cape Racing Association chairman. He is entitled to take a bow.

By Michael Clower