There is a double header in KZN this weekend, at Greyville tonight and Scottsville on Sunday, and the meetings include three Gr 2 feature races.

The Gr 2 Post Merchants over 1200m on turf tonight is an intriguing affair, but the best weighted horse is Willow Magic and he also has a good draw of six, considering trends suggest draws between 5 and 8 are best for this race. Willow Magic has lost a little of the speed lately but his class could pull him through.

Normanz is drawn well in five and like most of the best progeny of Var has early pace plus the ability to kick again so he will be a big runner from draw five.

The speedy Daring Dave ran a fair race in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m despite not having had the best of preparations and having had to stand in the stalls for close to five minutes. This time he has had a better preparation, is drawn well and was also given a two point merit rated drop by the handicapper.

Isphan has a favourable draw of seven and on recent 1000m form has a chance here, especially considering his merit rating is at the top of one of the bands. He should be running all the way to the line.

Aurum Pot has plenty of pace and should be able to take advantage of his low draw.

There looks to be plenty of pace in this race, so closers like Moofeed and Tevez have to be considered.

Brutal Force has pace and won’t be intimidated in the mad scramble, so he could earn too.

Race one on the card over 1300m could see Sharp Princess following up on her ever so easy maiden win last Sunday, but Mella Maria has not been disgraced against some of the best two-year-old fillies around and should give her a good run.

In race two Muwaary will love the slight step up in trip to 1300m and should go close if getting a better start than he did in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion.

Shap Shap might appreciate the slight step down in trip.

The third is a maiden over 1200m and Forary showed signs of promise last time and Strydom stays aboard.

In the fourth the likely favourite Dark Rose might be better suited to 1000m, so the vote is given to the improving Jive Session.

In the fifth Scots Party looks ready to win from a pole position draw. First-timer Variety Romp is a half-brother to Jet Jamboree, who won the Listed Darley Arabian over this trip, but the concern is that he is a four-year-old by the speed influence Var making his debut over 1900m.

In the sixth Grey Light has caught the eye running on strongly in her last two and is likely better than her merit rating suggests. One of the joint-best weighted horses is Acrostar, who needed her last start. She has a smart turn of foot and is course and distance suited.

Black Velvet should be improving all the time and could win the eighth over a suitable course and distance.

The last could be won by Slip Dance, who is starting to improve and is well drawn with Delpech up.

The Scottsville meeting features the GR 2 Track And Ball Derby and the Gr 2 Gold Circle Oaks, both over 2400m.

The Equus Champion Stayer Hot Ticket will be hard to beat in the Derby as the wind operation he has had appears to have been a success and he should run close to his best. French Revolution is a well regarded sort who has always been viewed as a staying type and he could show up well here in his first hurdle towards the eLan Property Group Gold Cup field.

Kingston Mines has a touch of class and this will likely be another preparation run ahead of the Gold Cup. Krambambuli has been working very well at Summerveld and will relish the trip. Disco Al ran a cracker in the Lonsdale and should make another bold bid here. Double Clutch has had a better preparation than he had for the Betting World 1900 and on pedigree he should stay the trip. Master James is a progressive sort who is coming into his own and he runs as if he will enjoy the trip, although on pedigree there will still be question marks. Savage Wind looks outclassed here.

Shingwedzi likely needed her last run and could be the one to beat in the Oaks.

Patchit Up Baby ran a cracker in the Gr 1 SA Oaks and this solid sort should be right there. Vino Veritas is the best weighted horse in the race and is in fine form. The progressive Gallica Rose impressed last time when winning the Listed East Coast Handicap over 2000m with joint-topweight and is proven over this trip. Supercede was beaten just a length in the East Coast Handicap and faces Gallica Rose on the same terms, so is interesting stepped up to this trip. Former SA Oaks winner Ash Cloud doesn’t have an easy task at the weights, but the yard are confident of her running a fine race. Olma ran well in the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000 and if settling better than she did in the SA Oaks she could be a big runner.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Willow Magic (Nkosi Hlophe)

The “miracle horse” Double Clutch is being given “a good chance” of winning Sunday’s Gr 2 Track and Ball Derby over 2400m at Scottsville by the Paul Lafferty yard, “provided he stays the trip”.

The four-year-old Stronghold gelding will be making a last minute bid to book a place in the Vodacom Durban July as the final field for the big race will be announced two days later on June 23.

Lafferty’s assistant trainer Roy Waugh said the courageous bay gelding had wrenched his back after being knocked sideways in the Listed Easter Handicap on April 10. He had still gone on to win the race, but he had subsequently required physiotherapy and had missed about a week of full work.

He was consequently not fully stripped before his unplaced run in the Gr 2 Betting World 1900.

Before that he had won three races in succession, all over 2000m, and leapt 20 points in the merit ratings to 99.

He had won most of those races from the front, but this was chiefly due to a lack of pace in the races, as he has shown before that he is capable of coming from last.

His dam by Northern Guest was unplaced but is a full-sister to a horse that won over 2400m and his second dam also won over the Derby distance.

Waugh was confident Double Clutch would stay the 2200m July trip, but still felt there would be a question mark over this 2400m distance.

Double Clutch has a tough task on Sunday receiving only 1kg from 112 merit rated Equus Champion Stayer Hot Ticket, meaning he is 5,5kg under sufferance. However, he is the third best weighted horse in the eight horse race on official merit ratings so has a chance of winning if Hot Ticket fluffs his lines.

Double Clutch has run three times at Scottsville and finished second in two of them, so appears to handle the track.

Furthermore, he will be ridden by the very much in-form championship chasing jockey Gavin Lerena from a plum draw of two.

Double Clutch was diagnosed with West Nile  disease in the first half of last season. This is the same disease that was believed to have killed the mighty Jet Master.

Double Clutch weighed 100kg less than he does now and was close to being euthanized. The veterinarian had also advised that even if he did recover he would never race again. On one occasion the yard were unable to help him walk from his stable across a strip of concrete onto a grass patch. He was simply too weak.

He eventually managed to  achieve this short trip after being fitted with special foam shoes. It is quite incredible that he has won five races since making a full recovery from his illness and is an entry in the country’s premier race the Vodacom Durban July.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Double Clutch (Nkosi Hlophe)

Sheik’s Brashee was touted for a place by trainer Mike Miller before the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m at the end of May and didn’t disappoint, finishing third despite opening at odds of 50/1, although he was backed into 33/1 on the day.

Miller said the four-year-old gelding by The Sheik was as well as ever before his engagement in Friday night’s Gr 2 Post Merchants over 1200m at Greyville, but he was not as bullish this time. He cited his extreme outside barrier position of 15 and his preference for the Scottsville straight as two negatives. However, he has decided to run him from the draw as he comes up for auction in the Michael Holmes Bloodstock Super Sale in the Greyville parade ring on June 25, where he will be lot 30, so he has nothing to lose.

The middle draws between barrier positions 5 to 8 appear to be the most favourable in this race by trends and the widest drawn horse to have won it in recent times has been Splash Gold who won it from draw eleven in 2011.

On the plus side for Sheik’s Brashee is that the handicapper didn’t alter his 103 merit rating after the Tsogo Sun, in which he received 6,5kg and a 1,75 length beating from topweight Captain Of All.

The Post Merchants weights are decided on merit rating bands and Sheik’s Brashee will only be 0,5kg under sufferance with the best weighted horses.

Apprentice Mathew Thackeray keeps the ride.

By David Thiselton

Sheik’s Brashee (Nkosi Hlophe)

The new Vodacom Durban July favourite Legal Eagle will almost certainly be the best weighted horse on paper that the Vodacom Durban July has seen since merit ratings were introduced to South African in 1999, as the handicappers have raised him eight points to 120 for his 4,3 length romp in the Gr 3 Jubilee Handicap over 1800m on Sunday, and on form he looks to be worth every one of those points.

His July weight will remain unaltered on 54kg, because the weights were published in the week before the Jubilee Handicap. This means he will be 4kg better off than he should be in a true handicap. He will be 3kg better off than he would be if the weights had been set after the Jubilee, because the maximum weight for a three-year-old in the July is 57kg.

Anton Marcus warned straight after Sunday’s race that there should not be a “knee jerk”  reaction to Legal Eagle’s easy victory.

However, whichever way it is looked at, the form does not support his caution.

Legal Eagle beat Judicial by 4,3 lengths and Killua Castle by 5,1 lengths when giving them 3,5kg and 1kg respectively. In the month of June three-year-olds receive an allowance of 2kg from older horses over a distance of 1800m, meaning Legal Eagle’s performance was about 20 merit rated points superior to Judicial’s and 16 merit rated points superior to Killua Castle’s.

Wylie Hall beat Judicial by 9,2 lengths in the President’s Champions Challenge over 2000m at level weights and beat Killua Castle by 6,6 lengths in that race when giving him 1kg. His performance was therefore about 16 merit rated points superior to Judicial’s and 13 merit rated points superior to Killua Castle’s.

Wylie Hall now has to give Legal Eagle 4kg in the Vodacom. That amount of weight would be worth four merit rated points considering three-year-olds should receive an allowance of 2kg from older horses in the month of July over a distance of 2200m.

Therefore, on a line through Killua Castle, Legal Eagle should beat  Wylie Hall by 4,75 lengths in the July and on a line through Judicial he should beat Wylie Hall by 4,1 lengths.

The above calculations were made by using the official handicapping factor of 2.0, that is the drag effect measured in 0,5kg units of races from 1300-1800m, and the official factor of 1,7, the drag effect measured in 0,5kg of races from 1801-2200m. It also used the official allocation of one merit rated point per 0,5kg of weight.

It can get become very confusing but amateur handicapping can give punters an edge and the website http://www.nhra.co.za/pubs/docs/handicapping/Handicapping_Guidelines.pdf is well worth studying.

The bookmakers  initially shortened Legal Eagle to 4/1 after his Jubilee run, but have been now forced to cramp the odds even further to 5/2.

Previous favourite Futura, who is also merit rated 120 and has to carry 60kg, has drifted out to 7/2 and Majmu has gone right out to 6/1. Wylie Hall on 7/1 and French Navy on 10/1 are next best in the betting.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Legal Eagle (JC Photos)

Freeman Stallions has secured the syndication and management rights to Wylie Hall. Michael Leaf’s star son of the Australian legend Redoute’s Choice will stand at Vaughan Koster’s Cheveley Stud Farm in Ceres after the 2015 renewal of the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July.

Having won the Gr1 SA Derby in fine style, Wylie Hall grabbed international attention in last year’s Vodacom Durban July and then lowered the top performing Grade 1 filly Majmu’s (Redoute’s Choice) flag in the star studded Gr1 President’s Champions Challenge earlier this year. Wylie Hall has been first past the post in three Gr1 races with career earnings of over R3.6million, 6 wins from 1400m to 2450m and 9 places. He earned a cheque in 10 black type races – 6 of them at Gr1 level. He is being aimed at the Vodacom Durban July (Saturday, July 4) again this year and will then retire.

Wylie Hall was the Racing Association’s Champion 3yo Of The Feature Season in 2013 and he was Horse Of The Season, Champion Middle Distance Horse and Champion Older Horse in 2015.

Wylie Hall’s owner Michael Leaf was recognised by the Racing Association and Gold Circle as Owner Of The Month in May this year. Leaf grew up in a family that loved racing and now, with a string of over 40 horses, he is well known as a gentleman of the game, successful racehorse owner and breeder with a growing broodmare band.

By Freeman Stallions