Years ending in seven have always produced significant happenings in Africa’s Greatest Horseracing Event, the Vodacom Durban July.

The first running of the great race was in 1897. The winner Campanajo became the first dual winner of the big race the following year.

Michael Roberts

In 1907 Corriecrian was the winner and became the second dual winner a year later.

In 1917 the biggest field the race has ever had, 33 runners, faced the starter and Fanous won at odds of 25/1, collecting a £1000 stake prize.

1927 was the last time the race was run under its original name of the Durban Turf Club Handicap, before it was renamed the Durban July Handicap. It was won by 4/1 favourite Hussein and winning jockey Granville Gorton went on to become a successful bookmaker and founder of Noreen Stud, home of the twice champion sire Drum Beat.

1937 saw one of the biggest upset result as 40/1 shot Ballyjamesduff beat home 50/1 chance Ygor.

In 1947 the 3/1 favourite Brookhill gave the legendary jockey Harold “Tiger” Wright his second July victory. Wright went on to win a record-breaking four Julys, but this record has been equaled by three current jockeys  Anton Marcus, Anthony Delpech and Piere Strydom.

1957 saw a rare win for a three-year-old filly, Migraine winning by a short-head.

The 1967 remains the most celebrated July in history as the immortal Sea Cottage just got up to dead-heat with the lightweight Jollify. Sea Cottage still had the bullet lodged in his leg from the shooting incident which occurred three weeks before the previous year’s July and it was also the first dead heat in the history of the race.

Anton Marcus

In 1977 Syd Laird, trainer of Sea Cottage, was expected to land his record breaking seventh July with Politician, but Lightning Shot from the small yard of Des Rich ran out the winner. Politician made amends the following year.

The 1987 race attracted a strong field and in a thriller the three-year-old Bush Telegraph, trained by Bert Abercrombie and ridden by Garth Puller, remained unbeaten in nine starts. Runner up Model Man ran one of the greatest July races in defeat.

In 1997 the legendary jockey and now trainer Michael “Muis” Roberts won his first and only July on the David Ferraris-trained Super Quality.

In 2007 the late great “Queen Mother” of South African racing, Bridget Oppenheimer, watched the famous Oppenheimer black and yellow silks win the July for the sixth time. It was Anton Marcus’s fourth July win and trainer Charles Laird joined his great grandfather Alec Laird, great uncle Syd Garrett, uncle Syd Laird and cousins Dennis Drier and Alec Laird as a winner of the great race.

2017 is already a record breaking year as the stake of R4,25 million is the biggest in the July’s history.

By David Thiselton

The R40k fine imposed on trainer Paul Gadsby for an indiscretion by one of his grooms, has been met with consternation by the racing fraternity, especially in light of the fact that Gadsby followed all legal procedures in disciplining the transgressor.

This obviously did not impress the National Horseracing Authority (NHA) enquiry board who imposed the fine reasoning that even though Gadsby was not even on the racecourse when the incident occurred, he was still responsible for the actions of his employee. Gadsby has since appealed against the finding and the fine.

Paul Gadsby

Robert Mauvis, former Chairman of Gold Circle, although disagreeing with the findings of the inquiry board, said it was time that all role-players got together in an effort to educate the grooms.

“While I was chairman of Gold Circle it was one of my plans to start some sort of groom’s school.

“Training racehorses is one of the most difficult jobs there is. They all love their horses but it is time that grooms undergo some sort of formal education,” he said. He suggested that every training centre have a groom’s school where someone with the knowledge is able to talk to the grooms three or four times a week to educate them on how to treat and look after horses properly.

“These grooms look after millions of rands worth of horseflesh and many of them have never even dealt with horses before being employed,” reasoned Mauvis.

“This is a serious matter and grooms must know that it is totally wrong to hit an animal, but they need to be taught the correct way to treat the horses.

“Now is the time for all in racing to stand together and the NHA should help in this regard,” he concluded.

By Andrew Harrison

Emerald Gal goes for a quick follow-up in the Itsarush.co.za Handicap at Kenilworth tomorrow and at 5-1 she makes a lot of appeal.

Grant Van Niekerk (Nkosi Hlophe)

First time out of the maidens is normally a no-no for punters but Stan Elley made the point recently that horses who have taken some time to win a maiden, but have run consistently close, tend to go on doing so when pitched into handicaps.

Indeed Elley’s pre-race previews are an essential tool for the serious punter. The former trainer does a tremendous amount of homework and he invariably informs his listeners of the strength of the form in often-tricky maidens by pointing out how many, or how few, winners and placed horses have come out of the various races.

But back to Emerald Gal. She looked one of those expensively frustrating horses who keep on running well but without finding enough at the end of a race to actually win. However all that changed last Tuesday when Grant van Niekerk took her down quietly on her own, several minutes before the others, and then bounced her out of the pens straight into the lead – and there she stayed.

True, it wasn’t a strong maiden – the third and fourth were both newcomers – but the handicappers have left her on an unchanged mark of 62. The one negative is that Van Niekerk has switched horses and is now on Elusive Empress for his old ally Ronnie Sheehan.

That filly opened 3-1 favourite with World Sports Betting yesterday with top weight Frosted Honey next on 7-2. Darryl Hodgson has booked Donovan Dillon for Emerald Gal and at 5-1 in a field of eight you can take out insurance by backing her each way. Sun At Midnight and Varifast are both 4-1 chances.

The three Joey Ramsden two-year-olds failed to collect on Saturday but 5-2 joint favourite Apollo Star can resume normal service in the first. Dillon’s mount was second against older horses when he suffered slight interference over 1 400m last time but the stable reckons that he is just as effective over this shorter trip. Indeed he was fourth in the Kuda Sprint on Met day.

Supreme Orator (5-2) and What A Summer (28-10) both made the frame first time and are obvious dangers.

Oh Susanna, ponied to the start when second favourite on debut, lost significant ground coming out of the pens but recovered to beat all except surprise fellow newcomer Raya Baya and could prove hard to beat at 17-10 in race two.

Donovan Dillon (Nkosi Hlophe)

She should confirm the placings with 5-1 chance Evie’s Light (1 ¼ lengths back third) as well as with Daring Jayne, Easy Virtue and Dubai Queen who were all long shots and ran accordingly. Mainland’s debut fourth has been franked by the subsequent win of second-placed Lily Theresa and Aldo Domeyer’s mount is second favourite at 9-2.

And in other news.

Anton Marcus, bidding for his fourth Winter Guineas win in six seasons, has been snapped up by Snaith Racing for Turbulent Air in the Highlands Stud-sponsored Winter Series opening leg at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Bernard Fayd’Herbe rides the stable’s other runner African Night Sky and Jonathan Snaith said: “Both horses are in a good space and have the right jockeys on them.”

Turbulent Air is part-owned by Mayfair Speculators who retain Marcus and are also represented by Joey Ramsden’s Investec Cape Derby fourth Newlands (Donovan Dillon) and stable companion I Travel Light. Piere Strydom flies in to partner the last-named.

The connections of last year’s winner Marinaresco – he beat subsequent Met winner Whisky Baron by less than half a length – have a fancied candidate in Our Mate Art, one of four runners for Candice Bass-Robinson. Mike Stewart has opted out with the badly drawn Icon King who instead carries top weight in the last-race 1 400m handicap.

By Michael Clower

There were some fine Vodacom Durban July trials over the weekend and as seems to happen every year in this great race it was two relatively lowly merit rated horses, Elusive Silva and Nother Russia, who burst into prominence as potential winners.

However, they were not the only pair who caught the eye.

Elusive Silva (Liesl King)

The Justin Snaith-trained Elusive Silva is a four-year-old gelding by the former champion sire Silvano, who set a record a couple of years ago when his progeny ran one-two-three in the July. The winner that year, Power King, did not possess the class that Elusive Silva possesses if Sunday’s running of the Listed Sledgehammer over 1800m at Greyville is anything to go by. The tall and athletic four-year-old gelding’s previous run had been when winning the Gr 3 Winter Derby over 2400m in effortless fashion on June 25 last year. He was turned out in fine condition on Sunday and turning for home in midfield under Anthony Delpech the acceleration was once again effortless.

He was admittedly receiving 4,5kg from the 1,75 length runner up Helderberg Blue, but won with more than a ton in hand. Betting World reacted by shortening him from 25/1 into 14/1 fourth favourite. Snaith was cautious in his comments and said Elusive Silva would still need to make a considerable step up. However, under the conditions of the race he can only be raised a maximum six merit rated points to 99. Snaith said he would give him one more run in either the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 on May 19 or the Gr 3 Cup Trial on June 10.

The former might be the better option, considering he has proven he runs well fresh and that race also carries a condition that the winner cannot be raised more than six merit rated points. A ten point raise is possible for the Cup Trial winner. If he does run in and win the 1900, he will go into the July with a 105 merit rating and as things stand will carry just 54,5kg. Furthermore, Snaith said he could not have come out of Sunday’s race in better shape. It is too early for Delpech, a record-equalling four-time July-winning jockey, to make a commitment, but Elusive Silva is sure to be on his shortlist.

Horizon (Liesl King)

Elusive Silver’s stablemate, the four-year-old Dynasty gelding Prince Of Wales, ran on from last to finish a good two length third in the Sledgehammer, despite needing the run. He was giving the winner 3kg and will relish the step up to 2200m in the July. Betting World shortened him from 50/1 to 25/1 for the July. Placed horses were not allowed to be given any merit rated raise under the Sledgehammer conditions, so he will remain on a 100 merit rating. Snaith said Prince Of Wales had come out of the race perfectly, and would come on from the run tremendously. For the superstitious Prince Of Wales runs in colours which look almost identical, if they are not the exact same colours, to those of the immortal Sea Cottage who won the July exactly 50 years ago.

The expensively purchased Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Horizon also caught the eye at Greyville on Sunday when winning an Allowance Plate over 1400m under Bernard Fayd’Herbe. The R5,2 million three-year-old Dynasty colt is not by Silvano, but is out of a full-sister to Silvano. He ran on strongly to beat Zodiac Ruler on Sunday by a head with Palladium a further two lengths behind. Both Zodiac Ruler and Palladium were having their first runs as geldings. Zodiac Ruler finished runner up in the Cape Derby and Horizon only managed fifth, but it still remains to be seen whether the form of the Cape Derby will turn out to be as strong as it was last year.  Betting World reacted to Horizon’s win by shortening him from 18/1 into 16/1, the same price as Cape Derby winner Edict Of Nantes’. Zodiac Ruler drifted from 20/1 to 25/1.

The four-year-old Tiger Ridge filly Nother Russia looks to be a chip off the old block as, just like her famous dam Mother Russia, she is a smallish chestnut with a massive heart and a beautiful action which covers a lot of ground. On Saturday she joined her mother as a winner of the Turffontein weight for age mile event, the Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes, which was this year sponsored by HSH Princess Charlene of Monaco. She ran on fluently under Craig Zackey to win by 1,4 lengths from Bella Sonata. July entries Safe Harbour and Trophy Wife were a 3.05 and 3,3 length fourth and fifth, while other July entries Heaps Of Fun, Fort Ember, Juxtapose and Star Express were all unplaced. Nother Russia possesses the exceptional turn of foot of her mother, so will love Greyville and her odds have been slashed by Betting World to 22/1. However, the Gr 1 win mean the handicappers did not have to cap her merit rating and they have raised her to a 106. This means she will, as things stand, carry 53kg in the July.

By David Thiselton

There is a tricky nine race meeting tomorrow on the Vaal Inside track where low draws are favourable by trends in all races.

A MR 86 Handicap over 1700m is the highest rated race on the card and there are question marks about all of the leading contenders, so it is not easy to pick a winner. Hamaan from the yard of champion trainer Sean Tarry could be the one to beat. This horse is capable of running on well from off the pace and proved unsuited to handy tactics last time.

Lyle Hewitson

Lyle Hewitson takes over from S’Manga Khumalo and if he can tuck this horse in off the pace he will stand a good chance, but he has a tricky draw. Hamaan proved his ability when finishing a decent third in the Listed Derby Trial over 2000m and being by Silvano he should be improving all the time. The trip is a bit of a concern, as he would likely prefer further, although his only win has been over 1800m on the tight Turffontein Inside course.

The horse selected to be the main danger, Yer-Maan, would also prefer further. However, this former winner of the Gr 1 Castle Tankard seldom has any luck with the draw and now has a plum draw, so should be staying on resolutely. Hieronymus has been given two points relief from the handicapper after staying on for a fair fifth over this course and distance last time and he is well drawn again. However, he is yet another horse in this race who would likely prefer further.

Smart Mart would also prefer further but does have a touch of class and can make his presence felt. Dan The Lad stayed on well to win his maiden over 1400m in his penultimate start but then over raced in a 1600m race next time out. He is better than that effort and if settling could be a player.

Urgent Fury’s last win was over this course and distance, but he was drawn in pole that day as opposed to eight here and he is also three points higher in the merit ratings. He does get on well with Gavin Lerena though, so has a chance.

Econium Love made a respiratory noise in a 1450m Graduation Plate last time when finding little extra and that does not augur well for the step up in trip. However, Khumalo is an interesting booking and he has a fair draw.

Lava Flow will have to improve on his first two outings back in South Africa, although if he recaptures his best SA form he will be a threat and it is also his third run after a layoff. Neuf De Pape is drawn well over a suitable trip and although he is off a four point higher merit rating he has a chance if reproducing his going away win over 1600m in his penultimate start.

Lion’s Emblem is the only horse who can be ignored as he has poor recent form and his best form is over staying trips.

S’Manga Khumalo (Liesl King)

The previous race is an interesting MR 80 Handicap over 1800m and here the promising Captain Al colt Crowd Pleaser has an ideal draw for his handy racing style. He was thought good enough run in the Gr 1 SA Classic over this trip last time and although not featuring his previous run in handicap company saw a comfortable win over 1900m, albeit on the Greyville poly where the competition is generally weaker than on the Highveld. However, he has always been well regarded and is the one to beat with Gavin Lerena up.

Cockade, being drawn two outside of Crowd Pleaser, is a handy type who will have the chance of getting a good tow. Scotland is a nice type who rose rapidly through the ranks after finding his feet and he was consistently close up after reaching the 70s in the merit ratings. His last run was all wrong and he would likely have benefitted from a layoff. Dawn Assault just got up to beat the handy type Cockade 1700m last time and is only 0,5kg worse off, so can go close again from a similarly tough draw. Kanonkop has breathing issues, but can never be ignored as he has plenty of ability.

Boiling Point had poor form until winning a 1450m workrider’s maiden like an odds on shot with first time blinkers on. He wasn’t disgraced behind a promising sort last time and is an interesting runner r with Strydom up over a step up in trip which should suit.

The best bet of the day could be My Angelface in race two over 1700m as she should relish the step up in trip and is drawn well. Furthermore, being a Northern Hemisphere-bred who is six months younger than her contemporaries she should be improving all the time.

By David Thiselton