David Thiselton

Dean Kannemeyer spoke on Monday morning at Summerveld about the scratching of the reigning champion The Real Prince from the Hollywoodbets Durban July. He was one of a number of big scratchings from the big race on either Sunday or Monday, but the two horses who won the traditional July pointer races, the Gr 3 Betgames Cup Trial and the Gr 3 TAB Jubilee Stakes, Zeitz and Aladdin’s Lamp respectively, were both supplemented.

Kannemeyer said about The Real Prince’s 2,95 length fourth in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge on Saturday, “The jockey said it was a slow run race, but he was sitting behind Questioning and then they made a bit of a sprint up the straight. Well I’m making excuses, but he had to wait, wait, and then move out, move out, but then 300m out I thought he is now going to come and get them with his turn of foot. He did quicken up and he was running up to them, but I just thought that in that last 75m he may have just flattened out.”

When asked whether the run would put him spot on for the Hollywoodbets Durban July, he replied, “Well there’s a great possibility he won’t run in the July and may go straight into the Champions Cup. He won it last year because of the right weight and the right draw and everything and this year having won the July and the King’s Plate and coming third in the Met he has a big weight and I have a big doubt he will run in the July, but he’s doing well and is definitely going for the Champion’s Cup.”|

The Real Prince was duly scratched from the July later in the morning.

Not only is The Real Prince out, but so is his runner up from last year Eight on Eighteen, whilst the 2023 runner up and incumbent topweight See It Again was also a casualty and so was the Gr 1 SA Classic winner Grand Empire, last year’s Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge winner Fire Attack and also former Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup winner Atticus Finch.

Other scratchings include Parisian Walkway, Aristotle,  JP’s Palace, Wild Intent, Buster Barnes and Otto Luyken.

There are 29 horses still standing with the Gr 1 winners among them being Wish List (X2), Gladatorian, Mocha Blend, Hazy Dazy and Star Major.

The Andre Nel-trained Zeitz and the Mike and Mathew de Kock-trained Aladdin’s Lamp have both been supplemented and both are on merit ratings of 110 following their good wins over the weekend, with Zeitz being raised three points and Aladdin’s Lamp four points.

They will both be carrying 53kg as things stand with Legal Counsel the new incumbent topweight on 62kg off his 128 merit rating following the scratching of See It Again.

David Thiselton

King Pelles is an under the radar horse for the Hollywoodbets Durban July who might just be fair value in the ante-post market at 20/1 with the sponsor.

He put up a good gallop at Hollywoobets Greyville on Saturday before the races and will be back there for the Hollywoodbets Durban July Gallops.

Trainer Gareth van Zyl said, “The gallop went well and he is doing very well.”

He is not having another race before the July as there is nothing suitable for him, so he will go into the race running off a merit rating of 122.

That means he will carry 59kg in the big race as things stand with Legal Counsel as the topweight on 62kg off a 128 merit rating.

Gareth said about King Pelles’ suitability to 2200m, “I don’t think it is going to be a problem, I think he will be alright over the trip.”

The Drakenstein Stud-bred five-year-old Duke Of Marmalade gelding is stoutly bred being out of a Galileo mare.

He is the reigning Gold Cup (3200m) Champion and the reigning Equus Champion Stayer.

However, he is derfinitely not a dour staying stype and when landing four Gr 3s last season over trips between 2400m and 3200m he showed an exceptional turn of foot.

He has also been shown this season to be effective over shorter trips with good performances over distances of 1200m to 1950m.

He was strongly fancied for the Betway Summer Cup over 2000m and disappointed, running a 16,25 length 12th.

However, a number of horses ran below par in that race on a day in which the humidity was high.

King Pelles bounced back after the Summer Cup to win the Umthombothi Stakes over 1950m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville. He showed a good turn of foot to win it by 1,30 lengths, despite carrying topweight of 62.5kg. Among the horses he beat was July entry Isivivane, who went on to win the Gr 3 WSB 1900. In the July he will be 1,5kg worse off with Isivivane for a 1,80 length beating, which puts King Pelles marginally ahead of him. King Pelles will also relish the step up to 22000m, a trip which will be new territory for Isivivane.

Followng the Umthombothi Stakes King Pelles ran in the Listed Kings Cup over 1600m and finished a fine 0,60 length seoond to Okavango recieving just 1kg. The lattter went on to run second in the Gr 1 wfa Premier’s Champions Challege before winning a Conditions Plate over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville in which he beat the like of Equus Horse Of The Year Eight On Eighteen and the crack three-year-old Note To Self, who is one of the favourites for the July.

King Pelles’ Hollywoodbets Durban July Gallop will be keenly observed by his supporters and he will provide his passionate owner Ravi Padayachee with a dream come true, a runner in the country’s biggest race in his hometown of Durban. The horse is not without a chance of winning it either.

Ravi owns King Pelles in partnership with Dave MacLean, Gary Player and N V Parmanand.

Gareth said there were one or two contenders to ride King Pelles, but added he did not want to divulge anything about the riding arrangements yet as nothing had been confirmed.

Please note: The below pool time changes due to Match Time Change.

SOCCER 10 –  : SPORT 16 POOL 1 : 13 JUNE 2026

Match 7 (M7): MIDLAND vs ATLETICO ATLANTA . Match Time Change To 19:30

New Pool closing time 19:30

Soccer4 Saturday 13 June 2026. ADD-IN R25 000. Estimated Pool: R 100 000. Pool Closes at 21h00. Sport 23 Pool 2.

Soccer10 Saturday 13 June 2026. ADD-IN R200 000. Estimated Pool: R1.8 Million. Pool Closes at 20h00. Sport 16 Pool 1.

Soccer Any 13Xtra Saturday 13 June 2026. Carryover R75 000. Estimated Pool: R200 000. Pool Closes at 15h00. Sport 13 and Pool 1.

Soccer13 Saturday 13 June 2026. Carryover R5 228 236. R10.5 Million (All-13-Correct Pool). Pool Closes at 15h30. Sport 10 Pool 1.

David Thiselton

The Andre Nel-trained Vercingetorix gelding Zeitz won the Gr 3 Betgames Cup Trial over 1800m on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Greyville and has been supplemented for the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

The Vercingetorix gelding ran off a 107 merit rating on Saturday  and carried 56,5kg to a cosy 0,70 length victory over two July entries, I Salute You and JP’s Palace.

Summerveld assistant to the Nel yard, Byron Forster said, “He is a horse you have to give a lot of TLC to but I am very happy with the way he has pulled up.

“He said about his stamina capacity, considering the July is run over 2200m, “There are some questions marks but he is laid back and he has shown in his work that he settles beautifully. Obviously we will consider taking the blinkers off. In the second dam there is a lot of staying pedigree there and I think he will stay. The furthest he has run over was in last year’s Cape Derby over 2000m and he was well beaten (12.25 lengths behind Equus Horse Of The Year Eight On Eighteen), but he pulled up sore after that run, I believe, so I think a line can be drawn through that run. He is two from three over 1800m. He won last year’s Politician Stakes and he was running on strongly in last year’s Cup Trial but had a wall of horses in front of him and had nowhere to go. He has now backed up the potential of that run with his win in the Cup Trial on Saturday.”

Byron believes he has the class to be a contender in the July too. A precedent was set for him by a Nel-trained horse last year, Selukwe, who finished third in the big race.

Selukwe, like Zeitz, had won a traditional July pointer, the Gr 3 WSB 1900, running off a 103 merit rating and carrying 54kg and had followed up with a strong-finishing 2,65 length third in the Hollywoodbets Durban July off a 111 merit rating. Under last year’s conditions Selukwe was actually 2kg under sufferance.

The interesting point there is Zeitz might not be as badly in as Selukwe was with the new weight structures and yet Byron does not think there is much between them.

He said, “I don’t think there was much between them last season. He just gave us that hint that he could be on a par with a horse like Selukwe and we know what the latter went and did.  He has obviously got to prove it at Gr 1 level now, but he has got all the makings to be a nice horse. He has shown it in his form. If you go and look closely at his form he has run with some quality horses and he hasn’t been far off them or has been in front of them.

“The ideal merit rating for a four- year-old July runner to have is 108, which means coming in with bottom weight of 52kg and not being under sufferance. Zeitz should be close to that mark after the handicappers have assessed the race.

The Maine Chance Farms-bred gelding entered the Hollywoodbets Durban July betting with the sponsor at 25/1 and has already shortened to 20/1.