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The Citizen
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Durban July: Salads, saunas for Gavin and Callan
Six July jockey bookings as race weights announced. There's going to be some serious weight watching in the Lerena and Murray households over the next few weeks. Jockey Gavin Lerena is booked to ride Madison Valley in the Hollywoodbets Durban July and will have to lose 3kg before the 5th of next month if he is to make the 54kg allocated to the Frank Robinson-trained four-year-old. This week, the former champion is riding at a minimum of 57kg – so a lot of salads and saunas are in his near future. Callan Murray has landed the July ride on Immediate Edge for the Mike and Mathew de Kock stable. The ex-champion apprentice presently rides at 55kg minimum so must shed a couple of kilos to meet the three-year-old's 53kg. These two top riders are among six jockeys thus far confirmed for 18 runners in the 2025 edition of South Africa's biggest race. Lerena and Murray The other four – easily hitting their assigned weights – are: Muzi Yeni on Nathan Kotzen-trained Royal Victory, whom he steered to third place in last year's July; Calvin Habib on Alec Laird's Atticus Finch, on whom he won the Summer Cup in November; Craig Zackey on lightly raced The Real Prince for his retainer Dean Kannemeyer; and ex-pat, now Kiwi champ, Warren Kennedy, on SA Classic victor Confederate for Fabian Habib. Lerena has been here before, famously slimming down from 55kg (at the time) to 53kg to ride Kommetdieding to glory in 2022. Last year he dropped from 57kg to 53.5kg for Barbaresco – who wasn't so obliging, result-wise. On his recent return from a lengthy stint in Australia, Murray – looking taller, stronger and more mature than when he left – declared he would be prepared to waste for 'the right horse'. Clearly Immediate Edge fits the bill. Given tight handicapping rules for the Durban July, there were no surprises when weights for the Grade 1, R5-million, 2200m showpiece were unveiled this week. The top permissible weight of 60kg will be shared by three horses on a merit rating of 127: Gladatorian, See It Again and defending champion Oriental Charm. At the other end of the handicap of 30 hopefuls are a number in the 54kg-53kg bracket – but, of course, some of these will not make the cut when final field is announced by a selection panel on Tuesday 24 June. Still, top lightweight jockeys will have their phones ring-toning like crazy as connections of handily weighted runners seek to give their charges the best possible chances of immortality. Reigning champion Richard Fourie will surely be declared on ante-post favourite Eight On Eighteen if the colt's prevaricating connections decide to run him. If the three-year-old drops out at final declarations next week, all serious punters' eyes will be on Fourie to see which way he jumps. Will he opt for another of the platoon of Justin Snaith runners he knows well, or a Sean Tarry familiar, or even Alan Greeff's left-field aspirant My Best Shot? Sean Veale, currently in the form of his life, is the regular partner of Gladatorian so is probably not touting for business. Similarly, JP van der Merwe looks certain to try for a repeat on Oriental Charm. Ray Danielson has taken over as first choice on warhorse See It Again. In-form lightweight Serino Moodley has been a regular on Andre Nel-trained Selukwe, but he'll possibly get a few other offers before next Tuesday. JULY WEIGHTS [name, weight, MR, trainer (jockey)] Gladatorian 60 127 Stuart Ferrie Oriental Charm 60 127 James Crawford See It Again 60 127 Michael Roberts Royal Victory 59 125 Nathan Kotzen (Muzi Yeni) Purple Pitcher 57.5 122 Robyn Klaasen Atticus Finch 57 121 Alec Laird (Calvin Habib) Eight On Eighteen 57 129 Justin Snaith The Real Prince 56.5 120 Dean Kannemeyer (Craig Zackey) Son Of Raj 56 119 Tony Peter Pomodoro's Jet 55.5 118 James Crawford Future Swing 55 117 Justin Snaith Okavango 54.5 120 Justin Snaith Holding Thumbs 54 108 Glen Kotzen Litigation 54 113 Sean Tarry Madison Valley 54 115 Frank Robinson (Gavin Lerena) Magic Verse 54 113 Justin Snaith Mucho Dinero 54 115 Justin Snaith Native Ruler 54 119 Justin Snaith Selukwe 54 111 Andre Nel The Equator 54 110 Tony Peter Thunee Playa 54 104 Mano Pandaram Underworld 54 109 Justin Snaith Confederate 53.5 118 Fabian Habib (Warren Kennedy) Beating Wings 53 113 Stuart Pettigrew Immediate Edge 53 108 Mike/Mathew de Kock (Callan Murray) Joy And Peace 53 110 Alan Greeff Legend Of Arthur 53 117 Sean Tarry My Best Shot 53 116 Alan Greeff On My Honour 53 116 Glen Kotzen Rainbow Lorikeet 53 111 Candice Bass-Robinson
The Citizen
11-06-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Underworld plots a Durban July heist
A big race final log has been unveiled amid a scramble for places. Bowlers take great delight in hurling surprise bouncers at batters who appear settled at the crease. Jolt them out of a comfort zone is the idea. Racehorse trainer Justin Snaith did something of the sort this week when he made four-year-old Underworld a supplementary entry for the Hollywoodbets Durban July, to be run at Greyville next month. Underworld wasn't among the 61 first nominations, or a late addition at the first supplementary stage of South Africa's premier horse race. Indeed, Snaith watchers had more than enough to keep them busy with a dozen or so of his July aspirants, including a clutch of them near the top of the betting boards. Then Underworld ran in the Grade 3 1800m Dolphins Cup Trial at Greyville this past weekend and did fairly well – as he should have as a 3-1 favourite. He finished a close runner up to 40-1 roughie Madison Valley, with 14-1 chance On My Honour just behind in third place. Here's the thing: Madison Valley and On My Honour were both Durban July entrants and the surprise Cup Trial result, along with a slew of scratchings at second declaration stage, saw them catapulted into the final July log announced on Tuesday. Neither had featured among the 20 'most favoured' entries of a few weeks earlier. Underworld gave 2kg and 1.5kg respectively to his adversaries in the Cup Trial, but the distance and venue were a good pre-July test and indicated that Snaith's charge might not be wildly outclassed in the big race. Shaking things up The bottom rungs of the Durban July ladder are always hotly contested spaces but connections of horses that make it into 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th on the final log can generally start planning their outfits for the parade ring at Greyville on the first Saturday of the seventh month. Comfort zone; but here comes the bouncer. Based on his merit rating of 108, Underworld has no chance of trumping Madison Valley (115) and On My Honour (116) in the minds of the July selection panel. But Snaith is fond of a mischievous argument and a dig at the official handicappers. One of the horses on those lower rungs of the new July log is My Best Shot in 17th spot. No-one can remember when last there was an Eastern Cape-based runner in the July and many would be delighted to see Alan Greeff saddle up his star three-year-old for the big race – and Snaith wouldn't be a popular chap if his Underworld nixed the country cousin. Merit rating adjustments following the weekend's hectic pre-July action saw Oriental Charm and Gladatorian both hiked to 127, which means they will share the July's top burden of 60kg with See It Again – when weights are concluded next week. Cape Town Met champion Eight On Eighteen – who wasn't in action at the weekend – still tops the final log with his MR of 129. The race conditions stipulate that, as a three-year-old, he cannot carry more than 57kg. The log indicates that there is unlikely to be a female horse in the 2025 July. Three fillies are on the 'next best' list, but they will only come into contention for a place in the field if there are scratchings aplenty in the coming week. Hollywoodbets Durban July Log of 10 June 1. EIGHT ON EIGHTEEN (3C) Justin Snaith 129 2. ORIENTAL CHARM (4C) James Crawford 127 3. SEE IT AGAIN (5G) Michael Roberts 127 4. ROYAL VICTORY (5G) Nathan Kotzen 125 5. CONFEDERATE (3G) Fabian Habib 118 6. GLADATORIAN (5G) Stuart Ferrie 127 7. PURPLE PITCHER (4C) Robyn Klaasen 122 8. ATTICUS FINCH (5G) Alec Laird 121 9. SELUKWE (5G) Andre Nel 111 10. THE REAL PRINCE (4G) Dean Kannemeyer 120 11. OKAVANGO (3G) Justin Snaith 120 12. NATIVE RULER (3G) Justin Snaith 119 13. LEGEND OF ARTHUR (3C) Sean Tarry 117 14. IMMEDIATE EDGE (3G) Mike / Mathew de Kock 108 15. MADISON VALLEY (4G) Frank Robinson 115 16. ON MY HONOUR (3G) Glen Kotzen 116 17. MY BEST SHOT (3G) Alan Greeff 116 18. FUTURE SWING (5G) Justin Snaith 117 19. MUCHO DINERO (5G) Justin Snaith 115 20. POMODORO'S JET (6G) James Crawford 118 Next 9 in alphabetical order BEATING WINGS (4F) Stuart Pettigrew 113 HOLDING THUMBS (4G) Glen Kotzen 107 JOY AND PEACE (4F) Alan Greeff 110 LITIGATION (6G) Sean Tarry 113 MAGIC VERSE (4G) Justin Snaith 113 RAINBOW LORIKEET (4F) Candice Bass-Robinson 111 SON OF RAJ (5G) Tony Peter 119 THE EQUATOR (IRE) (4C) Tony Peter 110 THUNEE PLAYA (4C) Mano Pandaram 104 Final supplementary entries close on Tuesday 17 June after which the weights will be published by the National Horseracing Authority. Final declarations are due on Monday 23 June and the field of 18 runners, with two reserves, will be revealed on Tuesday 24 June when the draw for barrier positions will also take place.
