David Thiselton

The Corne Spies-trained filly Hazy Dazy is on the cusp of a repeat fairy tale story with just the Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift SA Oaks standing between her and Wilgerbosdrift Triple Tiara glory.

She will become the second daughter of Act Of War to do the Triple Tiara following the success five years ago in 2021 of the Paul Matchett-trained War Of Athena.

The other similarity in the stories of the two fillies is that War Of Athena was purchased for just R30,000 while Hazy Dazy was bought for just R37,000.

Act Of War is by Dynasty, who was a stamina influence, and Hazy Dazy’s damsire Eightfold Path is by stamina influence Giant’s Causeway.

Xander Spies has no doubt Hazy Dazy will see out the Oaks trip, despite her first and second dams, Rabbedoe and Brataloochee, being speedsters.

Hazy Dazy has in fact won over 2000m before and on Saturday her win over the tough Turffontein Standside 1800m course and distance was in sticky going.

Xander Spies said, “There are no indications in my mind that she will not stay the Oaks trip. In fact what is interesting is that all of the horses who had been labelled as ones that would stay actually finished further back in the Classic than they had done in the Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas.”

Hazy Dazy’s supporters had a scary moment in the race, because after leading it appeared she had been swamped at the 400m mark.

However, she had soon fought back and established a clear lead before holding on by a length.

Xander said, “I was slightly concerned but Trent (Mayhew) gave a very good explanation. He said the same happens every race, but this was one of the few times she had been in front. So he hadn’t pulled the stick, because she was just cruising and he just waited another 50m, as he would normally do, knowing she had a lot left.”

Corne Spies deserves the success, because ostensibly he actually bred Hazy Dazy.

She is out of the Eightfold Path mare Rabbedoe, whom Corne trained.

After training her he bred with her and was responsible for putting her in foal to Act Of War.

However, COVID-19 then hit and he gave her away to David Makins prior to Hazy Dazy being born.

Makins had an association with the Spies yard because Corne’s father Tobie used to train for him.

Hazy Dazy was officially bred by Breedon Stud, owned by David Makins and his wife Martha.

Xander believes Hazy Dazy would always have ended up in the Spies yard anyway but Corne made sure of it by purchasing her at the David Makins dispersal Sale upon the latter’s passing.

Eightfold Path has a magnificent pedigree, being by “the iron horse” Giant’s Causeway out of the superstar five-times Gr 1-winning European champion racehorse Divine Proportions (Kingmambo), but Xander said, “It’s not a pairing (Act Of War-Rabbedoe) most would have thought would produce something this good, but I guess you can find them anywhere.”

Xander pointed out that although Rabbedoe’s mother Brataloochee was a “proper” racehorse, Rabbedoe’s pedigree page had “nothing” of note to the extent that on the Sales page it went all the way down to the sixth dam.

The yard received Hazy Dazy in the December of her yearling year and he remembered her being quite a runt and looking more like a weanling.

The yard often buys on spec and then puts a syndicate of owners together.

The owners of Hazy Dazy are Mr D Dasrath & Mrs C Dasrath, Messrs R P Macnab, S Poriazis, Vikash Sobaren, X Spies & D Vayapuri

Hazy Dazy has grown into a noticeably tall filly and has a fine action, which has carried her to six wins in eight starts, including a Gr 1, a Gr 2 and a Gr3.

Her first feature success was in the Gr 3 Fillies Mile at Turffontein Standside on Betway Summer Cup day.

Despite starting at odds of 17/2 she won that by an authoritative one lengths from the Alyson Wright-trained Charge It, who is a Varsfontein Stud-hombred Gimmethegreenlight filly who is a full sister to Sucharge, who won a Gr 1 in both SA and in Australia.

Hazy Dazy was supposed to run in the race Charge It won next time out, the Listed War Of Athena Handicap, but she sustained a slight injury and it was decided not to risk it.

She then started at the amazing odds of 25/1 for the Gauteng Fillies Guineas, despite having beaten most of the field in the Fillies Mile.

She won the Guineas in effortless fashion in the end, despite actually looking a bit green.

The bookmakers were way more cautious on Saturday and she was sent off as even money favourite.

Her aims after the Triple Tiara races are over look to be the Woolavington 2000, but Xander emphasised she would not be going for the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

He said that history had shown that making a full bid for the Triple Tiara took a bit out of a horse and the July would be a bridge too far this year, although it was definitely on the cards for next year.

It was a fine day for the Spies yard on Saturday as they also won the Gr 3 TAB J J The Jet Plane Stakes over 1000m with their sprinting stalwart William Robertson (Rafeef), who is now a 17 time winner and he will be going for the Computaform Sprint next, a Gr 1 wfa event he has won before.

The Spies yard only have 14 horses of three years old or older and yet have won five black type races this season.

Rob Macnab also has a share in William Robertson and both he and Hazy Dazy run in his blue, white crossed sashes, red sleeves and cap colours.

Meanwhile, Rabbedoe was purchased on the same Sale as Hazy Dazy by a bloodstock agent who seeks second careers for horses and it is believed she was subsequently sold to a riding school somewhere in the Limpopo.

Please note: South African Quartet Pools with fractional betting offered at Cheltenham and Wolverhampton (UK) – 10 March 2026.

David Thiselton

 

The Hollywoodbets Durban July conditions have been finalised and the final field panellists might be in for an interesting evening before the Final Field And Barrier Draw Ceremony, whilst the three-year-olds look to be on the back foot at present.

 

There will be a longer handicap this year with a 10kg spread in the weights from a topweight of 62kg down to a bottom weight of 52kg.

 

Furthermore, it will just be a straight handicap, unlike recent July conditions in which there was a maximum and minimum weight for certain age groups and genders.

 

If the final field happens to have a spread that is less than 10kg, the topweight will still be 62kg. If, for example, there is a weight spread of 7kg among the entries, then the bottom weight will be 55kg.

 

If the topweights are scratched after the setting of the weights, then the new topweight will be dragged up to 62kg. For example if the topweight after scratchings is 60,5kg, it will be dragged up to 62kg and after the rest of the field have been dragged up the bottom weight will become 53,5kg.

 

The final field will not necessarily be chosen by merit rating order.

 

Justin Vermaak, Executive Racing and Bloodstock of Race Coast, said, “There will be a final field selection panel like before and merit rating will be a leading aspect, but the panel will also take current form and distance suitability into account etc.”

 

In recent years the final field panellists have not had it too tough as the field was cut up before the final field announcement, with a lot of horses being scratched due to the recognition by the connections they do not have much chance, either due to the weights not favouring them or due to them being off form – the final declaration fee could have, in those cases, been considered a waste of money.

 

However, with the longer handicap, there are going to be more horses who still have form chances on paper.

 

Looking at last year’s July for example, third-placed Selukwe was rated 111 and had to carry 54kg due to the condition that the minimum weight for an older male was 54kg. He was thus 2kg under sufferance with the 127-rated topweights, both older horses, and he was 4kg under sufferance with the officially best weighted horse, the 129 rated (nett 125-rated) Eight On Eighteen, who was set to carry 57kg despite being the highest merit rated horse in the race due to a condition that three-year-old males could not carry more than 57kg.

 

In last year’s race Oriental Charm carried 60kg, Eight On Eighteen carried 57kg and Selukwe carried 54kg.

 

Under this year’s conditions the weights for those three horses would have been: Oriental Charm 62kg, Eight On Eighteen 61kg and Selukwe 54kg. Selukwe would have been 2kg and 4kg better off with Oriental Charm and Eight On Eighteen respectively under today’s conditions.

 

He would have been 2kg better off with the winner The Real Prince too and, on paper, would have been beaten 0,30 lengths instead of by 2,65 lengths.

 

There could theoretically have been a horse who would have been even more favoured by today’s conditions than the 111-rated Selukwe example.

 

Using last year’s race under today’s conditions, an older horse who had been rated 107 would sneak into the handicap under today’s conditions.

 

A 107-rated older horse last year would have had to carry 54kg, 6kg less than the topweight, but under today’s conditions it would have only had to carry 52kg, which would be 10kg less than the 62kg topweight.

 

Therefore, there are theoretically going be a lot more horses standing their ground at the time of the final field selection process this year, because a lot more of them will have chances of winning on paper than would have been the case under the old conditions.

 

Furthermore, with stakes of R10 million up for grabs there will be less cases of horses being scratched due to the  connections deeming them to be off form. They might still want to take their chances.

 

The difficulty for the panel will come in deciding whether a lower rated horse is deemed to have better recent form or better distance suitability than a higher rated horse.

 

For argument sakes let’s assume that we go back to last year and there are still many horses standing their ground until the bitter end. After the top 17 are selected, according to the last log and current form, let’s assume the next two horses are the 115-rated Madison Valley and the 120-rated The Real Prince.

 

The Real Prince is rated five points higher than Madison Valley, but he has never run a race beyond 1600m before.

 

Madison Valley on the other hand finished a close fourth in the Betway Summer Cup over 2000m and in his final run before the July he won the traditional July pointer, the Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cup Trial over 1800m.

 

Which one are they going to put in the all important 18th slot?

 

Such a scenario is going to have much more chance of happening this year.

 

Although it has been said that weight avoidance tactics are going to be used this year, those who do take that route are probably going to run a bigger risk of not qualifying than ever before.

 

Now on to the three-year-olds.

 

Eight On Eighteen was held in high regard last year and came into the race 2kg well-in, according to official merit ratings, and yet he was not able to win the race.

 

Under today’s conditions he would have had to carry 61kg, effectively 2kg more.

 

So it was tough last year for a top, top three-year-old who was favoured by the old conditions.

 

How tough will it be for good-but-not-great three-year-olds under the new conditions, considering there is no maximum weight for them and no minimum weight for older horses?

 

Likewise it will be tough for females.

 

Furthermore, this year’s three-year-old crop are arguably overrated off their current merit ratings.

 

For example, Gauteng Guineas runner up Grand Empire could not win the Wolf Power 1600 against older horses when 2kg under sufferance off a 102 merit rating (effectively a 106 merit rating), yet he is now rated 120. There will be cries of “but the handicapper is clueless” when looking at that, but those who do say that are clueless themselves, because the handicapper rates a race on that race, not on past races, and Tin Pan Alley had earned his 117 rating by beating older horses and Grand Empire had then beaten him. Furthermore, Grand Empire was likely not at his peak for the Wolf Power with the Triple crown series looming.

 

Nevertheless, the overall impression is the current three-year-old male crop is not shining and it is questionable whether any of them have properly earned a rating of 120 or above.

 

It could well be an older horse July, but on the other hand there is an impressive unexposed horse like Note To Self among the three-year-olds and more such types might emerge.

 

The build up to this year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July is going to be more intriguing than ever!

 

David Thiselton

The 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July will be a milestone one with the prize money doubled to R10 million and with a longer handicap introduced as the topweight will be upped to 62kg and bottom weight lowered to 52kg.

It will fittingly fall on the 30th anniversary of the centenary July, which turned out to be one of the greatest of all Julys as it was won by the legendary Alec Laird-trained London News, who went on to put South African racing on the map by winning the QE II Cup in Hong Kong.

The renowned South African wildlife painter Henk Vos released his celebrated work, the Painting Of The Century, depicting a century of July winners, after the July’s centenary running.

The iconic painting now hangs in the Classic Room at Hollywoodbets Greyville.

Alec Laird actually ordered one of the prints of the painting before it was completed as the print had the first of his great Uncle Syd Garrett’s five July winners on the left and the greatest of his father’s record seven July winners, Sea Cottage, was in the centre.

The right hand side just had a blank with a silhouette of a horse, because Vos did not know yet which horse he was going to paint there.

Alec, who trained out of Randjesfontein on the Highveld, related, “He hadn’t made up his mind what horse he was going to put in the last panel (the 20th panel) and he even said to me ‘I would like you to win the July because I would like to put you as the last painting.’ With about a year to go I said to him I’m not going to make it.’”

However, fate then had it that London News not only became the 14/10 favourite for the 100th running of the July, but he was also saddle cloth number 20, being the only three-year-old in the field and the bottom weight.

Piere Strydom recalled, “I remember at the traditional Friday night cocktail Henk Vos was there with his big painting and there was one spot left for the 100th winner and I can still remember saying to someone that I think my picture’s going to be up there.”

London News duly won the race and Alec, London News and Piere Strydom are now at the forefront of the famous painting’s 20th panel and the horse is fittingly carrying the no. 20 saddle cloth.

The London News story starts at the National Yearling Sale of 1994.

Alec recalled big owners Laurie and Jean Jaffee’s chief aim at that Sale was to buy a yearling by their own 1987 July winner, Bush Telegraph.

Alec recalled Harmony Forever being his number one choice at that Sale.

However, he remembered London News being “a nice horse.”

He added, “On the first day a Bush Telegraph colt called Mr Newspaperman went for about R300,000. London News looked more athletic and Jean Jaffee actually said to me, ‘What about this one?’ On the first day they didn’t get a horse, the second day they didn’t get one and the more they asked me about London News the nicer he got, because I was otherwise going to go home without a horse!”

The Jaffees managed to secure London News.

Alec recalled, “He was a light youngster and even as a three-year-old was quite light. He didn’t show immediately, but we always had the feeling that he would be a nice horse when he matured.”

In fact, London News made a particularly inauspicious debut, beaten no fewer than 16,5 lengths under Anton Marcus in a 1200m Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1200m at the Vaal on June 6, 1995.

However, he got better and better and when he smashed the Greyville 2000m course record, which still stands today, in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000, he had won six out of eleven starts including the Dingaans and two middle distance Gr 1s.

Piere Strydom was aboard for the Daily News 2000 too.

He reflected on the 1996 July, the first of his four victories in South Africa’s greatest race, “London News was a lekker horse to ride because he had gate speed, a lot of natural speed and he would travel right up there in front and he had a good kick. But at the top of the straight (having led) I thought with a light weight let me just let the reins go a bit and get a length or two for the short straight. But he accelerated way quicker than I had expected and that’s when he made up three or four lengths on the field. Obviously it was going to tell at the end and he was stopping quite badly at the end. I heard the horses coming and I was just hoping for the line and he held on.”

Alec added, “Mike Rattray had invited me to watch in his box because it was on the line and he won by a neck but my eyes wouldn’t believe it because there was so much pressure. I wanted to see the number up!”

Alec described the emotion of being on the honour roll together with his late record-breaking seven-time July-winning father Syd.

In fact his extended family is comfortably the most prolific July-winning family in history with his grandfather Alec winning one as a jockey, his great Uncle Syd Garrett winning two as a jockey and three as a trainer, his father Syd winning a record seven as a trainer, and the cousins Dennis Drier, Alec Laird and Charles Laird each winning one July apiece – a total of 16 for the July dynasty.

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