Graeme Hawkins

Garrix, seeking a clean sweep of the Winter Series, looked to be on his way to a champagne-popping victory when Gavin Lerena made his move between runners from off the pace in yesterday’s R350 000 Pocket Power Stakes (Listed) over 1950m.  But the 3yo son of Vercingetorix failed to sustain his effort all the way to the line and Otto Luyken rallied strongly over the final 50m to deny Garrix by a whisker.

A short-head separated the pair in the Legal Stakes over 1800m three weeks ago and at the revised weights Otto Luyken had a clear chance of gaining revenge, but consistency has never been Otto Luyken’s strong suit and the 5yo son of Flower Alley was allowed to start at 14/1. Racing for the partnership of Greg Bortz and Gina Goldsmith, Otto Luyken has clearly benefitted from the addition of blinkers to his racing equipment, and it was pleasing to see James Crawford’s charge string two good runs together under a driving ride by Louis Mxothwa. Garrix was beaten but by no means disgraced, and a good summer in the Cape beckons for his connections.

Beware The Bomb (33/10) ran her opposition ragged when storming to an easy start-to-finish victory in the supporting feature, the Listed R200 000 Stormsvlei Stakes (F&M) over 1800m. Beware The Bomb tends to over-race and Richard Fourie opted to allow her to stride from the jump, setting decent fractions throughout. The favourite Time For Love was perfectly poised to have a crack at the leader at the top of the stretch, but Gavin Lerena’s mount failed to respond, and it was left to Gold Poker Game (3/1) and Fun Zone (8/1) to chase Beware The Bomb home.

Beware The Bomb, a 3yo daughter of Lancaster Bomber trained by Justin Snaith for Owner-Breeders Drakenstein Stud, has now recorded three victories from only seven starts and may prove capable of scoring at a higher level in the future. 

Richard Fourie edged ahead in the race for the Jockeys’ Championship registering his 214^th seasonal victory on the 14/1 newcomer, In A Timely Manner, in the first race, a Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1200m. Trained by Justin Snaith the 2yo son of Legislate accelerated smartly from off the pace to beat Sardinia Bay (13/2) going away by a length. The favourite Chance Encounter, also on debut, was all at sea during the first half of the race but he finished powerfully to grab third spot and looks to be a winner in waiting.

Hollywood Racing recorded their 100^th winner for the season, and Sean Veale his 99^th, when Inside Voice (5/4) justified solid market support with a comfortable victory in the second race, a Maiden Juvenile (Fillies) over 1000m. Inside Voice was quickly into stride and kept on strongly to hold out Du Maurier (3/1) and Marketa (10/1) by a little more than a length.

For all the money in the world it appeared to the naked eye as if Dawn Till Dusk (25/1) had snared Air Raid (14/10) on the line in the opening leg of the Pick 6, a B Stakes over 1400m, but the official photo-finish showed otherwise with Air Raid prevailing by the narrowest of margins. Trained by Candice Bass-Robinson and ridden by Aldo Domeyer, Air Raid has now won three races from eight starts and leaves the impression that further improvement can be expected.

The juvenile Happy Verse showed himself to be a smart horse in the making when scoring an emphatic victory in the fifth race, a Class 5 Handicap over 1400m. Yes, the opposition was limited, but for a two-year-old to win so convincingly in open company under 60kgs in only his second racetrack appearance augurs well for this future. Now unbeaten in two starts to date, Happy Verse is an imposing son of Vercingetorix with a potentially bright future, possibly even a Classic contender in the making.

Happy Verse was the first leg of a race-to-race double for Andrew Fortune as recent maiden winner, English Mistress, followed up with a last-gasp victory in the sixth race, a D Stakes over 1800m. Just as the heavily supported Baton Rouge (18/10) gained the upper hand over Midway (13/2), Fortune produced English Mistress (6/1) with a late charge to nail the favourite in the final few strides. Fortune added a third winner in the ninth race as Flying Finley (33/1) proved too quick for his eight rivals in the C Stakes over 1000m, with the Paul Reeves trained 3yo son of Oratorio ensuring a massive R304 000 Pick 6 dividend.

David Thiselton
The big question after the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and Gr 2 Woolavington 2000 is whether the two respective winners, Eight On Eighteen and Little Suzie, will run in the Hollywoodbets Durban July and how the handicappers will view the race.
The pair gave Justin Snaith a big race double on the day and it was the third time Snaith had won the Daily News and the sixth time he had won the Woolavington. 
It was a great day for Johann and Gaynor Rupert. 
Gaynor’s Drakenstein Stud bred Eight On Eighteen and Johann is a part-owner of the now three-times Gr 1-winning superstar. 
Furthermore, it was an incredible fourth time in succession a Drakenstein homebred had won the Woolavington.  
Trippi filly Little Suzie’s win was particularly gratifying for the Snaith and Drakenstein Stud racing teams as she is a daughter of the great Oh Susanna, who won this race for the partnership in 2018. 
To add to the day’s success, Gaynor’s U.K. Stud operation, Cayton Park Stud, won a big handicap race at The Curragh in Ireland on Saturday with a Ed Dunlop-trained homebred colt called Skukuza, who is out of a Trippi mare called Shingwedzi.
Little Suzie became Drakenstein’s 18^th stakes winner of the season, which leaves them three short of their own SA record of 21 stakes winners in a season. 
The other part-owner of Eight On Eighteen is Nick Jonsson, who won the Daily News 2000 for a second time.
The Daily News field was reduced to six runners when Gr 1 SA Classic winner Confederate was scratched for an elevated TCO2 level.  
Eight On Eighteen jumped from the widest draw and was relaxed in last place under Richard Fourie as stablemate Makazole ensured a reasonable pace up front.
Eight On Eighteen rounded the field just before entering the straight, still travelling under a double handful. 
He had hit the front by the 400m mark such was his phenomenal turn of foot and Fourie just had to drive him out with the hands to secure a 3,80 length victory.
The handicapper is unlikely to touch Eight On Eighteen’s merit rating, considering he was at least 7,5kg better off than any of the placed horses, while the horse he was only 3kg better off with, i.e. Parisian Walkway, failed to match his 1600m performance for the fourth time in succession over further trips. 
The handicppers are also likely to be lenient on the rest of the field, due to the ease of victory. 
Spumante Dolce will therefore likely be used as the line horse.
With her gender allowance taken into consideration, this 117-rated filly effectively ran off a 112 merit rating.
So that would bring third-placed Okavango, who was beaten 0,25 lengths by Spumante Dolce, up to about a 112 and would put Native Ruler, who was beaten 0,50 lengths by Spumante Dolce, up to 111.
Spumante Dolce was in 13^th place on the July log and the proximity to her of Okavango and Native Ruler will give that pair a chance of getting on to the July log. 
However, they would have to leapfrog horses who are considerably higher rated than them to get into the top 20, presuming they will be rated 112 and 111 respectively. The only horse rated lower than 115 in the top 20 at present is the winner of the WSB 1900, Selukwe, and the winner of that race is usually given preferential treatment for July final field inclusion. Furthermore, Selukwe, performed better than both Okavango and Native Ruler in the WSB 1900 even if the weights are taken into consideration.
Justin Snaith said it would always be tempting to run in a great race like the Hollywoodbets Durban July, but also spoke of how hard a race it was on a horse, so with a lot of Eight On Eighteen’s career still ahead of him the final decision to run him would only come after careful consideration by all the connections.
The Lancaster Bomber colt would become only the eighth horse in history to have won both the Met and the July and would be the first in history to have completed that double as a three-year-old, so that would be a great accolade to have on his stud CV.
Richard Fourie believed the July will be the choice and said, “He is going about his business the right way and setting himself nicely for the July. I think the July would be the ideal target because he’s won the Met as a three-year-old already and is capped at 57kg in the July. He’s a quality horse and a big strong horse and can carry the weight.”
Little Suzie ran on well from a handy position under Sean Veale, although the latter will likely get a holiday as the filly hung inward and interfered with Rainbow Lorikeet, who was an unlucky 1,70 length fourth carrying topweight.
Little Suzie is unlikely to get much of a raise from her 106 merit rating as she was facing the 107 rated runner up My Soul Mate on 1kg terms better than weight for age   
She faced fifth placed 114-rated Beating Wings on 3,5kg better than weight for age and beat her by 2,20 lengths, so that could see her raised to about 111.
However, the Woolavington 2000 is also a race that might receive preferential treatment for July final field inclusion.
Little Suzie would have to be supplemented if she is going to run and Jonathan Snaith said, “She is progressive, she was a very immature two-year-old and is a late three-year-old and she has always been unlucky throughout her career. If you look at her her last run it was an incredible run if you watch the replay and that is why we fancied her so strongly today knowing she would relish the step up in trip. We will discuss it with the connections about supplementing her.” 

Graeme Hawkins

It was an absolute privilege to be at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday to witness the nation’s top three year old, Eight On Eighteen, demolish his rivals in the Grade 1 R2-million Daily News 2000. Riding a supremely confident race, Richard Fourie eased Eight On Eighteen out of the starting stalls and was content to bide his time at the rear of the field as stable companion Makazole set the early fractions. As the field approached the home straight, Fourie allowed Eight On Eighteen to edge a little closer along the outside of the field but once he pressed the button, the odds-on favourite accelerated smartly and put the race to bed in a matter of strides.

Although drifting towards the inside running rail in the run to the wire, Eight On Eighteen put many lengths between himself and the chasing pack and 150m from the line Fourie was able to glance back over his left shoulder and begin to relax the pressure. Now a triple Grade 1 winner, Eight on Eighteen stopped the clock at 122,37 seconds, significantly faster than the R500 000 Tote Woolavington 2000 (Gr 2).  Owned by Nick Jonsson and Johan Rupert and trained by Justin Snaith, the Drakenstein-bred 3yo son of Lancaster Bomber has now banked more than R6-million from only ten starts, with the promise of much more to come. A decision as to whether Eight On Eighteen will run in the R5-million Hollywoodbets Durban July on Saturday 5 July will be taken by the connections once the dust has settled, but his presence would certainly add a lot of glamour and intrigue to the big day.

For the record, the filly Spumante Dolce stayed on doggedly to finish second ahead of Okavango and Native Ruler but, in truth, they were chasing shadows in the stretch and were quite simply outclassed by an extraordinary equine athlete.

R500 000 Tote Woolavington 2000 (GR2)

Justin Snaith emerged victorious in the Tote Woolavington 2000, saddling his impeccably-bred 3yo Trippi filly, Little Suzie, to a workmanlike 1-length victory over the gallant My Soul Mate. Little Suzie was the subject of significant betting support, shortening from 16/1 to 13/2 and under a vigorous ride by the in-form Sean Veale, Little Suzie ran on strongly from a handy position to land the odds. Little Suzie races in the colours of Gaynor Rupert’s Drakenstein Stud and her dam, Oh Susanna (Aus), won the Woolavington 2000 back in 2018. Little Suzie still showed signs of being very green and inexperienced, and there is every chance she will mature into a top class four-year-old.

My Soul Mate was very game in defeat but never really looked like mounting a serious blow against the winner. But, to her credit, she stuck to her task well to fill the Exacta position ahead of Mocha Blend and Rainbow Lorikeet with the favourite Give Me Everything failing to fire.

R200 000 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup (Listed) 2400m

The 3yo Field Marshall, by the same sire as Eight On Eighteen, made full use of a light weight to run out a convincing winner of the R200 000 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup over 2400m. Field Marshall took over the lead from Future Swing soon after turning for home and Kabelo Matsunyane kept him going strongly to register his fourth career victory by more than a length. This was the first occasion Field Marshall was tested beyond 2000m and he passed with flying colours.

Under the welter weight of 63,5kgs, Future Swing fought back courageously to grab second spot by a whisker from the winner’s stable companion, Shoot The Rapids, with Holding Thumbs staying on at one-pace to round out the Quartet.

Patrons, please note that when it comes to the *BIPOT , the “first-timer rule” does apply. This means that should the horses that finish 1st and 2nd in the race be first-timers, then the next raced horse will qualify for the Bipot

Andrew Harrison

The Gr1 Daily News 2000 is always a guiding light as to the chances of three-year-old males going into the Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July and at first glance the race looks to be something of a Justin Snaith/Nick Jonsson benefit. Snaith saddles four of the seven runners with three of them, including the 5-10 ante-post favourite Eight On Eighteen, carrying the Jonsson silks.

The presence of Eight On Eighteen in the field has likely scared off much of the opposition given that finishing in close proximity to Eight On Eighteen would see their handicap ratings ramped up but Mike and Mathew de Kock have risen to the challenge with their filly Spumante Dolce. 

Richard Fourie will be aboard  Eight On Eighteen who arrived in KZN for South Africa’s Champions Season on the back of wins in the Gr1 WSB Cape Met and Gr1 Splashout Cape Derby. He made his debut in the Gr2 WSB Guineas and fell just short of catching stable companion Sail The Seas, with Muzi Yeni pinching a break on Eight On Eighteen who was finishing best of all, a win possibly thwarted by a difficult passage at the top of the straight.

It was an excellent effort by Eight On Eighteen over a distance now possibly short of his best. With experience on the course and back over an ideal trip he is the worthy favourite.

The De Kock’s have spurned the Gr2 Tote Woolavington 2000 and are hunting Gr1 glory for their filly. She is currently 13^th on the Hollywoodbets Durban July log and as a three-parts sister to the former Mike De Kock-trained Durban July winner Sparkling Water, this trip should suit.

Spumante Dolce was running on strongly when second in the Gr2 WSB Fillies Guineas and De Kock seldom runs ‘no-hopers’ in feature company.  Spumante Dolce, would also be a first fairer sex winner of the Daily News this century with fillies enjoying a purple patch with Roland’s Song (1989), St Just (1990) and Star Effort (1991).

However, Snaith has indicated that the Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July is not a cast iron option for Eight On Eighteen but rather the WFA Gr1 Champions Cup  while stable companions Okavango and Native Ruler are both July entries but will need to up their handicap ratings to make the field which may be what is behind Snaith’s thinking.

Okavango, the mount of Andrew Fortune, is currently joint second favourite along with Confederate  at 6-1 but is only merit rated 105 although nine points up through a 3,20 length fourth behind Selukwe in the Gr3 WSB 1900 when carrying just 52kg. He has won three races from 1600m to 1800m so today’s 2000m trip will be right up his alley and if he can finish within a reasonable distance of the 127 rated Eight On Eighteen, Okavango will get a further rise in the ratings, possibly high enough to gain a July berth.

The other joint second favourite is the classy Fabian Habib-trained Confederate, who won the Gr 1 TAB SA Classic on the first day in March over 1800m on the Turffontein standside track, beating subsequent Gr1 WFA Premier’s Champions Challenge winner and Highveld Horse of the Year, Fire Attack. That he returns  from a layoff of close to three months is a little concerning but he has won four races and has yet to finish further back than second in eight starts.

With Fire Attack sidelined with a hoof injury, Alec Laird has pinned his hopes on Gr2 TAB Gauteng Guineas winner Parisian Walkway. Also a July entry, he is the second highest rated runner on 121. He likes to race handy which will give some hope of a decent gallop although Snaith’s fourth entry, Makazole, racing in the Jonsson colours, may be sacrificed and given the role of pacemaker. He has won two races including the Champion Juvenile Cup at Fairview but has yet to race beyond 1400m.

The supporting feature, the Gr2 Tote Woolavington 2000 is wide open as the ante-post betting suggests.

But Dean Kannemeyer may hold the key with Give Me Everything. She caught the eye when closing fast from a wide draw and the back of the field when a two-length fourth in the Gr2 WSB Fillies Guineas. It snapped a four-race winning streak but the extra could see her back on track. Stuart Pettigrew is back for another bite with Beating Wings. She carries top weight but has been in good form on the Highveld and finished third in this race last year. Robbie Hill saddles the lightly raced but progressive Regeneration who was a close-up fifth in the Gr2 WSB Fillies Guineas. The step up in trip should suit and she has a handy galloping weight. Mocha Blend is a dark horse. On paper she looks held by the likes of Regeneration but she is an imposing filly who was possibly just in need of her last start when beaten by Mascherina. She found good market support that day and is better off at the weights with her rival.

There is an early start to the ten-race card, the first race off at 11.35.