Craig “Eagle Eye” Peters proved himself one of the world’s best racing commentators in the 1980s and 1990s and will be calling a record 30^th Vodacom Durban July this year.

Efficiency makes a good commentator but “the voice” is what separates the greats from the rest of the pack and in the days when there were no off course visuals Peters’ unique  tones and commentary style generated an electrically charged atmosphere into the packed betting rooms. The crowd hung on his every word and those that had, for arguments sake, backed Illustrador, would be hoping to hear his tone reach a crescendo at the 300m mark with the words “BUT ILL-USSS-TRADORRRR!!”. The emphasised pronunciation would immediately be followed by a roar. Peters was rarely wrong when he put his opinion on the line. He was also known for his ability to separate horses in a tight finish and KZN’s on course disseminator, Roy Parker, began calling him “Eagle Eye”.

Craig’s son Sheldon, who became the youngest to call a July in 2002, has followed in his footsteps and non-regular racegoers can hardly tell their voices apart. The pair became the world’s first father-son combination to call a big race simultaneously in 2004, one being the on course commentator and the other for the SABC. Sheldon will be calling his 14^th July this year.

July week for a broadcaster is always hectic due to panel discussions and functions, but in his earlier days Craig didn’t mind a late pre-July Friday night, knowing that he would not be able to sleep anyway.

Pouring over the form is also important on the eve of the race. He said, “A commentator needs to be an all rounder. You need to know colours, which horses jump slowly, the betting, the merit ratings, well handicapped and badly handicapped horses, the breeders, owners, trainers and jockeys. Today the eyes of the world are on you before, during and after the race.”

Peters lack of sleep before Julys had no adverse affects. The phone rings off the hook in the commentary box, the day goes by in a “blur”, and the mind is kept alert by the pumping adrenalin.

The nerves settle during the July canter past. It is here that the commentator first feels an indescribable connection to the crowd. With just a slight change of tone, he can spark a huge cheer.

Peters confirmed, “The crowd are with you all the time.”

Peters’ normal pre-race routine is to take note of the colours as the jockeys mount and then, when they canter past, he will call the horse’s name publically once but also many times over in his head. As they are circling at the start he will go through all of the horses over and over again and imagine them in a race situation. Even then there is invariably a voice in the back of the head saying, “Have I done enough homework?”

The commentaries themselves are instinctive and only when listening to the replay will he know what he had said.

No great commentator will ever plan a commentary, but Peters never forgets to mention the sponsors name at the off and provide excitement throughout with his changes in tone and pitch. Being aware of the listeners is paramount and if commentating for TV he will call off the TV, as long as the camerawork is good enough, in order to have the same perspective as the viewer.

He also invariably throws in one or two of the phrases that he has become famous for and which many latter day commentators have copied. He first noticed their impact the day he said spontaneously of the brilliant but ill-fated juvenile Delectable  Day “And he’s breathing fire, this one is every inch a racehorse!” Roget’s Thesaurus has helped him compile hundreds of these phrases. Sayings like “And Its tickets and tax!” serve to break the tension for punters and are much appreciated.

Craig regards his first July commentary in 1984, won by Devon Air, as a memorable one, despite his nerves. He remembers emphasising her name as she moved forward and for the same reason he regards Illustrador’s win in 1990 as one of his best July commentaries. He also recalls that in 2000 he correctly called El Picha the winner, despite the judges taking close to ten minutes to announce the result,  while in 2008 he didn’t attempt to split the dead-heaters Pocket Power and Dancer’s Daughter.

His least memorable July was 1989, won by Right Prerogative, when heavy overnight rain forced the scrapping of the earlier races. The July was the first race run and the on course atmosphere was affected.

Peters arrived in Durban in 1982 to be assistant commentator to Trevor Denman, having earlier been junior commentator to Peter Duffield and Wolfie and Francois Wolfaardt in Johannesburg. He made his debut as a fifteen-year-old, when becoming the first to broadcast on radio from the old Bloemfontein track. However, he was actually quite an old hand by then. In his primary school days he stood on the bonnet of his father’s car outside the old Newmarket racecourse in Alberton and commentated through his binoculars. As a thirteen-year-old he was granted permission by Turffontein manager Sandy Christie to sit upstairs at Turffontein and commentate into a tape recorder. It was on one such day that he had his best ever lesson, from the great Australian commentator Bill Collins who had come over to commentate on the Holiday Inns, and he still carries the latter’s many points of advice with him today.

Peters’s attitude was influenced by Collins, Trevor Denman and SABC sports presenter Kim Shippey, whom he regards as the most professional of media personalities.

However, he remains humble despite being on the verge of breaking the legendary Ernie Duffield’s record of 29 July commentaries and concludes by saying, “Painting a picture is the most important duty of a commentator. Raising your voice doesn’t mean you have backed the winner, it means you are enthusiastic and love the game.”

The Sean Tarry-trained three-year-old Greys Inn gelding Legal Eagle will almost certainly be the best handicapped horse in the Vodacom Durban July after his 4,5 length romp in yesterday’s Gr 3 Jubilee Handicap over 1800m at Turffontein Standside and he could give Anton Marcus a record-breaking fifth July victory.

Betting World reacted by shortening Legal Eagle to 4/1 second favourite. Futura remained 3/1 favourite, Majmu is at 9/2, Wylie Hall is 6/1 and French Navy and The Conglomerate are both 10/1.

The weights were set for the July last week so Legal Eagle’s weight of 54kg will not change despite the handicapper being expected to raise his 112 merit rating today.

The leggy gelding impressed Marcus even more than he had when winning the Gr 1 SA Derby over 2450m in his previous start. Marcus warned about there being a knee jerk reaction to yesterday’s win and pointed out that the tight Greyville circuit was a completely different course to the galloping Turffontein Standside track. However, he quickly added that if he could choose any horse to ride in the July it would be him. Marcus also revealed there was not much between Legal Eagle and another horse he could choose to ride, The Conglomerate, but added that he would battle to make the latter’s 53kg weight.

Tarry will be going for his third July win in the space of four years and gave Legal Eagle fans even more reason to be confident in yesterday’s post-race interview when saying that he had “taken his foot off the gas” with the horse since the Derby. He said he would now have a good idea how to add the finishing touches for the July.

Marcus’s four July winners to date is the joint-record with Antony Delpech and Harold “Tiger” Wright. Delpech will have a fine chance of breaking the record too as he will be aboard Majmu.

The great six-time July-winning trainer Terrance Millard believed that a July winner needed to be able to stay the mile-and-a-half Derby distance and Legal Eagle could become the second Tarry-trained horse after Pomodoro to do the SA Derby/July double. Legal Eagle’s sire Greys Inn did the SA Derby/July double himself and could become the fifth July winner to sire a July winner.

Yesterday Legal Eagle ambled along at a comfortable gait in the running and after moving up from near the tail of the small eight horse field he showed a telling turn of foot at the business end. He returned generous odds of 2/1. The Tyrone Zackey-trained 25/1 shot Judicial found his usual strong finish after his normal sluggish start and pipped Killua Castle for second. Tarry’s former July winner Heavy Metal finished a well-beaten fourth while the Tarry-trained 15/10 favourite Cagiva found nothing in the straight from a perfect position and trailed in last.

Tarry said he would scratch both Heavy Metal and Cagiva from the July and target them at the Gr 1 Sansui Summer Cup.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Legal Eagle (JC Photos)

Cuban Emerald, who justified a wholesale plunge in the opener at Kenilworth on Saturday, could well turn into the classic horse he is bred to be.

Gaynor Rupert’s homebred Trippi colt is a son of the 2008 Cape Fillies Guineas winner Sparkling Gem and, although the 4-1 shot only gained the advantage in the last 50m, his stable is convinced he has a big future.

Jonathan Snaith said: “He has improved a hell of a lot since his first run and he did a superb gallop at Durbanville two weeks ago. I was surprised when he opened at 16-1 and I told most of our owners to have a little dabble – and they obviously did!

“He is a big horse who needs time and we will probably stick him away to bring him out in the summer. He is definitely one to follow and he could be a Guineas horse like his mum.”

The Snaith team and retained jockey Richard Fourie made a clean sweep of the three two-year-old races and Brandon Morgenrood completed a four-timer for the stable after making light of a horrific accident to spring a 40-1 shock on Harvard Crimson in the Mother City Handicap.

Morgenrood, hobbling like a cripple when he got off, had taken the ride when Craig du Plooy could stand the pain from his injured wrist no longer. Yet 35 minutes earlier he himself had come within a flailing hoof of his own funeral.

The once-raced Princess Ashreya took fright in the pens and panicked. “She wasn’t happy in the gates – she’d been in quite a long time,” Morgenrood related. “But she flipped so fast that her back legs went from under her and I got stuck underneath. It was a scary moment.”

Aldo Domeyer won that race on the Adam Marcus-trained Boomtown Belter, justified two days of near-starvation to do 55.5kg for Piet Steyn on Friendly Tibbs in the 2 000m handicap, and made it four with a Mike Bass double.

However he was fined R500 for using his whip more than three times in successive strides as Castlethorpe earned a reprieve from retirement in the Pinnacle. Grant van Niekerk, who has form for this particular offence, was fined twice as much for doing the same on runner-up Waiting For Rain.

Blarney Bay, four lengths clear a furlong out, weakened just as Mike Robinson predicted he would but he thrilled both his connections and himself, and victory number seven cannot be far away. Lockheed Jetstar (sixth) also tired in the closing stages and is entered for the so-called Super Sale at Greyville on Thursday week.

Bass trained his first winner in the world-famous Niarchos colours when 10-1 shot Three Balloons led a furlong out in the concluding maiden.

Favourite backers got their money back when Petty Officer, 3-1 for Castlethorpe’s race, failed to jump. The stipes declared her a non-runner as this huge 564kg filly had her head in the neighbouring stall when the gates opened.

But trainer Greg Ennion was most unhappy, claiming that his warnings about such an eventuality had gone unheeded.

He said: “I asked the starter to load her last because of her size – she doesn’t fit in – and that, if he had to load a few after her, he was not to close the back gates until the last horse had gone in. But the gates were shut after she was loaded and she had to stand with her head turned sideways.”

By Michael Clower

Picture: Richard Fourie (Liesl King)

Leading Vodacom Durban July fancy The Conglomerate is having a few days rest and relaxation as Joey Ramsden carefully gears the colt’s preparation towards the big day.

Ramsden, who has yet to win the historic race, said: “The Conglomerate is doing fab and at the moment he is having a bit of a break – there is quite a big space between the Daily News and the July. He still has to do the July gallops and I feel you are better off leaving them a bit underdone rather than killing them.”

The Conglomerate, now generally available at 10-1, is one of the best backed horses in the race. He was shrewdly supported at 33-1 on the morning of his KRA Guineas win and he was backed again before finishing third in the Daily News.

However stable companion Flying Fiona, who made such a big impression when comfortably landing the odds on her Greyville debut, has had a setback and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Ramsden said: “She has had a hiccup but hopefully I will bring her back for the Cape season. I think she is quite useful.”

The Dynasty filly was to have gone for the Devon Air Stakes nine days ago but was scratched the previous day after going lame on her left fore.

By Michael Clower

Picture: The Conglomerate (John Lewis)

Duncan Howells and Dennis Drier are once again out in front in the race for the KZN Trainers Championships and they dominated the three R200,000 KZN Winter Challenge Finals races at Scottsville on Saturday.

Ashburton-based Howells won the KZN Trainers Championship for the first time last season, usurping many-times champion Drier, but ended Saturday 12 winners behind the Summerveld-based maestro. However, he landed both the Winter Challenge 1950m and 1600m finals through Crime Victim and the exciting three-year-old gelding Saratoga Dancer and four of his other five contestats finals contestants earned cheques in their respective races.

Crime Victim, who started 3-1 favourite in the 1950m final despite carrying third top weight of 59kg, was a bit slowly away, but settled well on the rail from the off. He looked to be enjoying himself throughout and turned for home full of running. Jockey Anton Marcus switched him inward and he easily made up the leeway on the Mike de Kock-trained Semra before being given his head at about the 300m mark. He readily repelled the persistent Semra as well as the Paddy Lunn-trained Cat In Command, who was running on down the inside rail, before finding another gear and going on to win by 3,5 lengths. Semra held on for second from a fast finishing Howells-trained His Approval. Cat in Command was next best and the Alyson Wright-trained Go West McGraw was 7,5 lengths back in fifth. Crime Victim is a four-year-old gelding by Bezrin and is owned by Barry Reardon, who bred him at Yellow Star Stud. He is a consistent sort and from 18 career starts has won three times and laced nine times.

In the 1600m final Saratoga Dancer started second favourite at 4/1 behind his stablemate Baltic Amber, who was backed into 7/2, but this classy three-year-old gelding by Mambo In Seattle never looked in danger of defeat under championship-chasing jockey Gavin Lerena. Saratoga Dancer jumped from a tricky draw of eight carrying 57,5kg and took a little bit of time to settle as Lerena looked for a good position. The top jockey managed to slot him in just before the first turn. He settled well in about fifth place behind a steady pace set by Baltic Amber. The rangy Saratoga Dancer gained more and more momentum down the straight, despite hanging inward late, and won easing up by 3,5 lengths from the Garth Puller-trained Translunar with the Howells-trained Entrée just pipping his stablemate Baltic Amber for third. The Gavin van Zyl-trained Silver Spring finished fifth. Saratoga Dancer, bred by Gary Player Stud, is owned by Howells himself in partnership with Rodney and Jane Trotter, CV Winter, Mr and MRs RAJ Nidd and S Westwater. Howells has deliberately avoided running him in the big Champions Season features this year as he believes he will be at his best as a four-year-old. He definitely looks one with the potential to win a feature or two next season and to date had won four times from nine starts.

In the 1200m final The Drier-trained Sea Fever, who started at odds of  6/1, broke well under Sean Cormack and showed pace throughout. He was able to go straight the whole way from a low draw and from the halfway mark was able to sit behind the Howells-trained 18/10 favourite Hunting Owl, who had tracked over to the inside rail from a draw of eight to set the pace. The Mark Dixon-trained second favourite London Call, carrying a welter 62kg, tracked over all the way from draw 13 and threw down a strong challenge. However, Sea Fever stayed on resolutely and got up to beat a gallant London Call by 0,25 lengths with Hunting Owl a further 0,5 lengths back. The Tony Rivalland-trained Lucky Break finished fourth ahead of Kumaran Naidoo-trained Royal Roy. Sea Fever, a three-year-old gelding by Argonaut, was bred by Cheveley Stud and is owned by Jack and Nancy Mitchell. He has won three times from seven starts.

Gold Circle’s Challenge series’ have always been a good incentive for smaller owners to race for good prize money.

Mumsy’s Jet emerged leading horse of the Winter series, earning 32 points, and landed a cheque of R30,000 for his trainer Alyson Wright. Discourse was second on 31 points, earning a cheque of  R15,000 for trainer Craig Eudey, and joint-third on 30 points were Libertine and Fire The Rocket, whose trainers Colin Scott and Doug Campbell shared prize money of R7,500.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Saratoga Dancer (Nkosi Hlophe)