Andre Nel, successful with Head Honcho in the July Consolation last Saturday, steps out Sharpe’s Eagle in the opening leg of the Pick 6 at Scottsville today where the colt should take to the step up in trip. After two modest showings in barrier trials, Sharpe’s Eagle has come into his own on the track proper, finishing close-up in two sprints which should have set him up nicely for his first crack over ground.

The son of Querari was out-paced late when trying to make all on the Greyville poly last time out but should much prefer this trip and jumps from a plum draw.

His most obvious threat is Dennis Driers charge Holy Land who finished with a rattle when fancied over course and distance last time out. He runs in blinkers today so it would appear that Drier thinks Holy Land is better than that showing show Sharpe’s Eagle will have to be on his game.

Gone Baby Gone (Candiese Marnewick)

Gone Baby Gone, a winner second run back for his old stable, can follow up in a highly competitive Natal Carbineers Handicap, opening leg of the jackpot. The race is a mine field with almost every runner in with a winning chance but after a somewhat disappointing Highveld campaign Gone Baby Gone has come good again for Glen Kotzen, making all the running to win on the poly last time out.

He faces a much stiffer task this afternoon but does look capable of going to the well again.

Verdier over-raced when tried in blinkers and ran out of gas inside the last furlong in a race won by VDJ second Made To Conquer and looks a threat. Mark Dixon has removed the blinkers and Verdier can turn in a better performance this time around.

Ballymaine has recorded all three of his wins at Scottsville, the two most recent over course and distance, and he has not been out of the money since being tried in blinkers by Ivan and Darryl Moore. He was a game fourth in the recent Track & Ball Derby behind, It’s My Turn who followed up on Saturday with victory in the Gold Vase and with a drop in class he is a must inclusion in all exotic bets.

With little over a fortnight before the end of the season, two-year-olds could hold sway in the Natal Associated Agencies Maiden where current two-year-olds Pearl Tiara and Targaryen Queen could hold sway. Pearl Tiara trialled well and carrier that form into her debut, made in feature company, where she finished close-up to Firdoas in the Devon Air Stakes. She was a trifle unlucky not to have finished closer as she found traffic and can make amends here.

Targaryen Queen caught the eye on debut behind hot favourite Charge D’Affaires and she has a pedigree that suggests that she will much prefer this extra furlong.

Nauticus was deemed good enough to make the trip for the Western Cape summer but the Drier string did not enjoy the best of seasons. He has had three races since his return and showed last time out why he had earned his place on the float to Cape Town. He finished a close-up fourth and can make it home in front in the Blomeyers Electrical Handicap.

But in another tough race Royal Kaitrina is due a change of fortune and should be right there again while Ronnie Rocket takes a drop in class and is over his best trip.

Valedictorian was a reserve runner in a tough Pinnacle Stakes race on July day which was possibly an indication of how Vaughan Marshall rates the lightly raced gelding. He was a good fourth in Graduation company at only his second start at Kenilworth and trialled well in his only outing this winter. He takes on some more seasoned opposition in the Splash Distributors Handicap but could have a touch too much class.

Finally, Paul Lafferty is one of the principal proponents of barrier trials and his colt Celebration Rock turned in an eye-catching trial that is unlikely to have gone unnoticed. The Australian-bred colt is likely to start favourite for the last.

By Andrew Harrison

Dean Kannemeyer is to have a crack at the eLan Gold Cup at Greville on July 28 with It’s My Turn even though he expects last Saturday’s DStv Gold Cup winner to again be shouldered with top weight.

Dean Kannemeyer

Kannemeyer said: “There is nothing else for him in Durban this season and he has earned his stripes for the weight.”

But there was no ‘we wuz robbed’ cry from the Milnerton trainer about Fred Crabbia’s five-year-old not getting a run in the Vodacom Durban July.

Instead he said: “I thought the horse had done enough to make the cut when he won the Track And Ball Derby and we were surprised and disappointed that he didn’t. But, that said, when the referee blows the whistle for a penalty in the World Cup one side is happy and the other is unhappy.”

The Durban Golden Horseshoe winner has not gone on to take the Premiers Champion since Argonaut 11 years ago and whether Barahin or short head stable companion Soqrat run in the July 28 Grade 1 will depend on the draw.

Mike de Kock said: “I will nominate them both but I am not going to run either from a bad draw. They are two very good horses. I said beforehand that I couldn’t separate them and it almost came to that on the line.”

De Kock’s threat to turn his back on South African racing following the way he and other Johannesburg trainers were treated by the grooms and their EFF backers last month sent shock waves round the world. De Kock is still stung by what happened and said: “I am keeping my options open but I am cutting my string down.”

Sean Tarry, who was also at the centre of those negotiations, combined with S’Manga Khumalo for their third Samsung Golden Slipper victory in six seasons and said: “Celtic Sea (who was hampered early overcoming a 13 draw) is a classy filly and I will nominate her for the Thekwin and see how she draws but I am not going to put her through that again.”

By Michael Clower

Jeff Lloyd flew back to Australia yesterday and he has left a hot tip for his legion of fans in South Africa.

He said: “I ride a very good two-year-old called Asharani at Ipswich on Wednesday and I expect her to win.”

Asharani is a newcomer and she runs in the Schweppes QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap which is due off at 6.32am South African time. The race will be shown live on Tellytrack.

Jeff Lloyd (Candiese Marnewick)

Before he flew back to his adopted home the six-time South African champion relived his final Vodacom Durban July ride, saying: “Going down to the start I could hear the crowd cheering me. That was nice although I was trying to keep Made To Conquer as calm as possible because he was getting a bit stirred up and too keen.

“The delay at the start didn’t help because it was upsetting him and he was agitated. He doesn’t like having other horses around him and he tries to kick them so for the 20 minutes, or however long it was we were down there, I was trying to keep away from the others.

“When we broke the tempo wasn’t that fast. Made To Conquer is quite a lazy horse and it was only when African Night Sky came round us all that he started to concentrate and pick up well. I was going better than African Night Sky and I took it up early on purpose because my horse doesn’t quicken.

“I knew he would run to the line but at the back of my mind I always felt something would quicken quickly and catch him. Had Anton on Do It Again come at me later my horse would have found a bit more but he came to me quick and got a length up on me. He had a better turn of foot than me but mine ran his heart out. I couldn’t have asked him to run any better than he did.”

And the future?  “At the moment I am going to stop riding about the end of the season but I haven’t set a date yet. We will, though, be staying in Australia.”

By Michael Clower

Richard Fourie, who kicked off July day with a Justin Snaith winner, can score for the stable on Snowdance’s full sister Juniper Spring in the Racing.It’s A Rush Maiden Juvenile Fillies at Kenilworth today.

This Captain Al filly was considered good enough to make her debut in last month’s Fillies Nursery (Jonathan Snaith said then: “She has a lot of class and we rate her very highly”) and she ran a creditable fifth of six to some really smart fillies.

She has far less on her plate here and, although the bookies are not giving much away at 13-20, she is bound to have come on from that first outing and she looks a banker.

Richard Fourie

Fourie also rides leading fancy Lanza in the opening Maiden Juvenile. The Glen Kotzen-trained colt was 28-10 joint favourite with World Sports Betting yesterday and is much better than last time’s second to shock winner Quarllo would suggest – the ground was so atrocious that racing was abandoned after only two races.

But marginal preference is for Bernard Fayd’Herbe’s mount Cash Call even though he has not raced since Met day.  He was seventh in the Listed race and had Lanza nearly four lengths behind. Little wonder that he has already been nibbled at from 3-1 to 28-10.

Some of those with more recent form also have claims, notably the Brett Crawford runner Hudoo Magic (17-2) and Dean Kannemeyer’s 11-1 shot Larry Jack. The draw could play a part here because at the Kenilworth meeting last Wednesday penetrometer readings for the straight showed the going to be seven per cent faster on the inside than either the middle or the outside.

Fayd’Herbe can also win races three and four. He rides Suite Francaise for Andre Nel in the TAB Telebet Maiden and the 16-10 favourite stands out after her half-length second to Ikebana over this course and distance three weeks ago. She is well drawn and should prove too good for Flower Of Carmel (9-2) and Fourie’s mount Courtisan (11-2).

Photcopy keeps running well and reverts to sprinting in the Tabonline.co.za Maiden but the 16-10 favourite has been frustrating to follow and the Justin Snaith-trained Captain Of Tortuga is preferred at 22-10. Fayd’Herbe’s mount made a whopping R4.5 million at last year’s Cape Thoroughbred Convention Centre Sale and, while no match for the classy Clouded Hill last month, he proved too good for everything else.

The Michael Robinson-trained Blue Roller has finished second in all three starts and can justify 11-10 favouritism in the Betting World Maiden even though his wide draw is a cause for concern.

By Michael Clower

Justin Snaith’s response to learning he had delivered the most dominant finish by a trainer in Vodacom Durban July history was to say “That is incredible, there is no history like the July.”

Terrance Millard did the 1-2-3 in both 1986 and 1990, although in the latter race one of his horses dead-heated for third. However, Snaith went one better by doing the 1-2-3 and fifth place. He did have five runners in the race, while Millard only had three runners on each of those two occasions. However, Snaith’s winner Do It Again was 6,75 lengths clear of the first non-Snaith-trained horse home while Millard’s winners in those two years, Occult and Illustrador, were respectively 1,85 lengths and 3,3 lengths clear of the first non-Millard-trained horse home.

Some will argue Millard’s horses faced much stronger fields and they would probably be correct as this year’s race did not have a vintage field. However, the winner might turn out to be something special. Snaith was forced to ride him work last Wednesday as there was a groom’s strike on and he phoned Anton Marcus immediately afterwards excited about the horse’s prospects.

VDJ winners (Candiese Marnewick)

Snaith said, “I have sat on a lot of champions in Australia and South Africa and the feel he gave me was as good as any horse I have ever sat on. His movement and the whole package he has, there is a lot of potential. I have to thank Malan Du Toit too because he put in a lot of work at the starting stalls with him.”

Do It Again had in fact been a real handful upon arriving at the yard.

Snaith said, “He was a very naughty horse. If ever there was a horse you would have wanted to have gone to war with it was him. You just had to point him in the right direction and he would have run through a wall. He has always been a very strong-minded horse. The first time we wanted to take him to the gallops we couldn’t get him on the float.”

Not surprisingly he was gelded about two-and-a-half months before his debut on July 27 last year. Snaith explained, “Gelding gets them to focus more. But a year of effort has been put in to get him to have full trust in humans. He is now comfortable around humans. Even in the lead-in on Saturday people were able to touch him. A year ago if that had happened he would have lashed out. His groom Isaac Mwelafse has learnt a lot about horsemanship over the last year. He has done a very good job looking after him and also looks after my polo ponies.”

Do It Again won his first two starts over 1200m and 1600m respectively and then ran a close third in the Selangor Cup over 1600m at Kenilworth. He disappointed when unplaced in the Grade 1 Cape Guineas. However, Snaith earmarked him for the July after he had produced a flying finish to run second in the Grade 1 Cape Derby.

In KZN he won the Grade 2 KRA Guineas in his first start and Snaith pointed out that not having the best horses competing there, like Eyes Wide Open, had meant he escaped punishment by the handicapper and helped his July chances. However, he added, “The way he won on Saturday it would not have made a difference anyway.”

Snaith said he was not an easy horse to get to right and he had been a bit flat for the Daily News but had then turned the corner.

The Northfields Stud-bred Do It Again is owned by Nick Jonsson, Bernard Kantor and Jack Mitchell.

He is by Twice Over and hails from a strong female line. His dam Sweet Virginia is a three-time Grade 3 winner and did the Winter Classic and Winter Derby double, beating the boys. Do It Again is a half-brother to Listed winner Strongman, who also did well in Hong Kong, and is from the family of stakes winners of the like of Grade 1 winners Smart As Paint, Mill Hill and Dancewiththedevil.

He was a strapping individual at the National Yearling Sales of 2016. Nick Jonsson made him his pick of the sale, but bloodstock agent John Freeman had also selected him in unison with Jack Mitchell. Bernard Kantor was also interested as a shareholder in Klawervlei Stud where Twice Over stands. Jonathon Snaith approached the trio of investors and suggest they try and secure him together instead of bidding against each other. All were agreeable to the partnership, but they still had to go to R1,1 million to secure him.

Snaith said everything had gone “like clockwork” for all five of his horses going into the July. The only disappointment on the day was the favourite African Night Sky and Snaith had to confess his team were not impressed by the ride he was given. It had definitely not been the plan to come around horses at the 800m mark and take the lead. Grant van Niekerk had battled to hold the horse behind the pedestrian pace but Snaith believed he should rather have taken a stronger hold than come around them as the horse had been in a perfect position. However, he did admit African Night Sky’s move had inadvertently helped Do It Again as Marcus was able to get on to the train provided by both him and Matador Man.

Snaith said all of the horses had so far appeared to have pulled up well, but it was too early to tell for sure. It was also too early to speak about their futures.

He was also frustrated by cut off for the nominations for Gold Cup day being 11 a.m yesterday, before the new merit ratings for his July day horses had come out. He felt Made To Conquer was a perfect horse for the Gold Cup but would not want to run him with too much weight and he was thus going to have to estimate his new merit rating.  Snaith concluded by saying he hoped Ben Jonsson had been watching from a high with a smile and a sip of champagne as his son led in the winner.

By David Thiselton