There were no surprises in the Vodacom Durban July final field announcement today but there would have been a few gasps around the country during the draw ceremony.

The July logs were adhered too and as expected the vacant three places in the top 18 following the scratchings of Hawwaam, Snapscan and Eyes Wide Open were filled by Cup Trial winner Capoeira, Jubilee Handicap winner Divine Odyssey and Track & Ball Derby runner up It’s My Turn. The two reserves are Tristful and Hero’s Honours.

The draw procedure started on draw 13 then went incrementally up to 18 and then went down to one and incrementally up to 12.

When Justin Snaith’s runners appeared four times in the first six draws some were wondering whether the cards had been shuffled.

His fancied runners Belgarion, Do It Again and Bunker Hunt landed draws 17, 18 and 14 respectively. His expected pacemaker Silvano’s Pride landed draw 15 and his other female runner Miyabi Gold landed draw 4, meaning all five of Snaith’s runners were drawn in the first ten draws.

Eric Sands’ pair, Golden Ducat and last year’s runner up Rainbow Bridge, also came out together in draw one and two respectively.

The L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner Vardy drew nine. His stablemate Twist Of Fate, third last year, also drew well in barrier position six. 

The leading three-year-old Got The Greenlight was first out the box and drew thirteen. 

National champion trainer Sean Tarry’s pair Shango and Tierra Del Fuego drew positions seven and eleven respectively. 

Potential pacemaker Padre Pio drew well in three, meaning Silvano’s Pride out in 15 might have her work cut out to get to the front. 

Capoeira is also a potential pacemaker and drew in eight so there is a nice spread of draws among the potential frontrunners.

Mike De Kock, who like Snaith has won four July’s, has only one runner this year, Soqrat, and he drew nicely in five. 

Although, connections would probably prefer to be drawn close to the middle, history indicates that the draw is not of much significance in the July. 

By David Thiselton

The Gavin van Zyl-trained Track & Ball Derby winner Marchingontogether’s next race will be in the Grade 3 Gold Cup on August 29, so he will thus be avoiding the Vodacom Durban July consolation race, the Grade 3 Campanajo 2200.

The Pathfork gelding will be attempting to emulate the respective 2017 and 2018 feats of Hermoso Mundo and It’s My Turn by completing a hattrick of Grade 3 staying race victories in the Gold Cup.

Van Zyl said, “I would like to have him going in to the Gold Cup with fresh legs.”

He has no doubt the big horse will see out the 3200m trip.

Van Zyl has won the Grade 3 Gold Vase twice but has never won the Gold Cup.

His Grade 1 SA Derby winner Seal won the Gold Vase in 2012 and Heart Of A Lion won it for him in 2015.

Seal went on to run a gallant fourth in the Gold Cup, which was still a Grade 1 back then, carrying topweight.

Van Zyl admitted Seal still edged it in comparison to Marchingontogether before adding, “But Marchingontogether is a very, very good horse.” 

He said he had avoided the July this year with Marchingontogether as he felt he still had to prove himself at a lower level but he added that if winning the Gold Cup he would consider the July next year.

Marchingontogether was not given a merit rated raise for his Track & Ball Derby win, so the connections will be hoping It’s My Turn lines up in the Gold Cup. It’s My Turn remains on a 118 merit rating and Marchingontogether on 110, despite the former having received 1kg from the latter in Saturday and running a 1,1 length second. 

Meanwhile, the Van Zyl-trained Gabor, who was Equus Champion two-year-old filly last season, is being prepared for the Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes on Vodacom Durban July day.

The father and son team of Gavin and Gareth have won four Graded races this season and three other features between them.

Gareth scored his first Grade 1 victory two weekends ago when landing the Allan Robertson Championship with Vernichey. The latter also won the Grade 3 Strelitzia Stakes.

Gavin has won the Grade 3 races the Lonsdale Stirrup Cup and the Track & Ball Derby with four-year-old Marchingontogether. 

Gavin has also won one Listed race and a Non-Black Type event and Gareth has won one Listed race.

It is ironic that Gareth’s star filly Vernichey is by Vercingetorix as the latter denied Gavin’s No Worries victory by a nostril in the 2013 running of the Grade 1 Daily News 2000, a race he had won with The Apache in 2011.

Nevertheless, the Voadacom Durban July is the race Gavin would most like to win in KZN followed by the Gold Cup, so he might achieve one of his major goals next month with Marchingontogether.  

-David Thiselton

Vodacom Durban July trainers will have the option to take part in the traditional July Gallops at Greyville tomorrow (Wednesday).

The gallops will start at 9 a.m. and Gold Circle will provide a feed but it is not clear yet whether Tellytrack will cover the event live.

Justin Snaith is one trainer who will definitely be bringing his horses to the course and he said, “The July is an important race. The planning for each horse has to be meticulous and the gallops were always part of their program. I feel I will be able to take on the Johannesburg horses after they have completed this important part of their preparation. There were rumours at one stage that the gallops would not take place but my feeling is that you should not fix something that is not broken. The gallops do not work in Cape Town but they have been part and parcel of the July forever. The public are able to see each horse working and it creates atmosphere too.”

The public, of course, will not be allowed on course this year but will hopefully be able to watch the gallops live on Tellytrack.

Each gallop will be put on a Gold Circle platform for viewing online. 

The gallops schedule will be published on this platform later today following the Vodacom Durban July Final Field Announcement.

By David Thiselton

All eyes will be on the Vodacom Durban July Final Field Announcement tomorrow, which will be shown live on Tellytrack from 13h05.

The July draw ceremony will follow as per tradition. 

The final field announcement brings with it annual disappointment which is often accompanied by criticism of the selection panellists. 

However, it is impossible to please everybody and the particular problem the panellists invariably face is that different criteria can produce a different order of selection. 

An example can be seen in the case of Pack Leader, whose respective seventh place finishes in both the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and Sun Met have likely been the best performances on paper put up this season by any of the borderline horses, but against him was his lack of a placed run this season (until his recent running on fourth in the Cup Trial) and this was presumably the reason he was excluded from both of the July logs.

He also performed slightly worse on paper (i.e. at the weights) than runner up Tristful when finishing fifth in the recent WSB 1900m. 

Pack Leader did perform better than third-placed Camphoratus in that race on paper but finished behind her too and, furthermore, the latter is a Grade 1 winner and finished sixth in last year’s July. The latter accolade is a big plus in Camphoratus’ favour and was presumably the reason she was placed 17th on the last July log ahead of 20th positioned Tristful, who beat her in the WSB 1900 and performed better on paper too. 

In any case there have been no subsequent performances that can justify Pack Leader leapfrogging Camphoratus and Tristful, so Pack Leader’s chances depend on how important sticking to the log is considered to be. 

The scratching of Eyes Wide Open today made it easier for the panel. 

Hawwaam and Snapscan were two other top 18 log incumbents previously scratched. 

The log 19th-positioned Lady Of Steel was also previously scratched. 

So Tristful who was in 20th place on the last log, looks set to fight out one of the three vacant places with three other horses, Cup Trial winner Capoeira, the Jubilee Stakes winner Divine Odyssey and the Track & Ball Derby runner up It’s My Turn. The latter has proved he retains his ability with two good runs following a layoff of about a year-and-a-half. 

Of the others Roy’s Riviera had some good form earlier in the season, including winning the Flamboyant Stakes and finishing a 4,50 length third to Queen Supreme in the Yellowwood Handicap over 1800m when giving the latter 6,5kg. She was also just a quarter-of-a-length behind subsequent Grade 1 winner Ronnie’s Candy in the latter race receiving just 1kg. 

Roy’s Riviera also beat last year’s July fifth-placed Miyabi Gold in both meetings they had over 2000m last season. However, she was only in the five horses looking in on the last July log and then dented her chances by finishing last in the Cup Trial. She had a chance to make amends in Saturday’s Grade 2 Track & Ball Oaks but unfortunately the race had to be abandoned.

Western Fort finished a good 1,10 length fourth in the Grade 1 SA Derby but then did himself no favours by finishing a 17,75 length eighth in the Grade 1 weight for age Premier’s Champions Challenge. 

Hero’s Honour’s 9,50 length fourth in the latter race was good by comparison but he was among the five horses just outside the top 20 on the last log and nothing has happened since to justify him leaping over those top 20 incumbent’s still standing their ground. 

Sovereign Spirit finished third in the Cup Trial but that was not good enough considering he was receiving 6,5kg from Pack Leader and beat him by only 0,70 lengths.

Victoria Paige has some fair form including an unlucky third in the Grade 2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas and a fourth place finish in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000. She is also half-a-kilogram less under sufferance than Tristful according to official merit ratings and the weights. However, against her is that she has not appeared on either of the July logs. 

All in all the final field this year is going to be tense for the connections of Capoeira, Divine Odyssey, It’s My Turn and Tristful, unless the panelists choose to ignore the July logs then others will also come into it. The conditions of the July name the winners of the Cup Trial and Jubilee as horses who are given preferential consideration so Capoeira and Divine Odyssey will be surprise omissions. It’s My Turn has a much higher merit rating than Tristful, so it looks as if the latter is favourite to be named first reserve. 

The debate, sometimes acrimonious, which follows the final field announcement has become part and parcel of the July and adds to the intrigue of the great race. 

The hard-done-by also have the chance to prove a point in the Grade 3 consolation race on the day, which is known as the Campanajo 2200, named after the horse who won the first two runnings of the July.

By David Thiselton

Eyes Wide Open was the most significant scratching just a day before the Vodacom Durban July final field announcement.

The other scratching was Duke Of Spin.

Eyes Wide Open finished a strong-finishing fourth in last year’s July.

However, he has not been able to match that form this season and could only manage a moderate fourth in Saturday’s final qualifying race, the Grade 3 Track & Ball Derby.

Trainer Glen Kotzen said he had pulled up a hundred percent sound and explained, “It was a big rush to qualify him after his gelding and he has had three quick runs in successions. The owners have now decided it would thus be better to give him a breather until the Gold Cup so he will have no more runs until then.”

He was bought recently by the Gujadhur family, who have one of the world’s oldest racing stables and are virtually royalty in Mauritius racing circles. 

The five-year-old is out of a mare whose only win was over 1000m and his female side is a mixture of speed and middle distance class. His fast finish off a slow pace in last year’s July also suggested he has plenty of speed.

However, both his sire Dynasty and damsire Jallad impart stamina so there can be hope he will stay the Gold Cup 3200m distance.   

By David Thiselton