The 2200m Durban July will be run at Greyville Racecourse boasts a superb card headlined by African Night Sky and Do It Again, both trained by Justin Snaith who also saddles 3 other runners.
African Night Sky is the favourite and he arrives in good shape after winning his preparation race over a shorter distance on 9th June. The last 4 runnings of this race have all gone to 4 year olds and this one looks likely to make a bold bid.
African Night Sky jockey Grant van Niekerk, (already facing a 10-day suspension for causing interference), has picked up a further 10 days on Tuesday after an inquiry into his riding of Strathdon in the Lonsdale Stirrup Cup last month.
He is due to leave shortly for Hong Kong, where he has been given a year’s contract to ride along with Callan Murray from September onwards.
Do It Again is a year younger than the favourite and is drawn wide at 16 but Anton Marcus takes the ride.
White River is from the Brett Crawford yard and the trainer has been bullish concerning the chances of this 3 year old who has a light mass.
Striker Strydom, who partnered The Conglomerate to victory in 2016, takes the ride on Abashiri who also found betting support in recent days. The Azzie stable gave Abashiri a preparation run over 1400m a month ago and this sort of distance will be more to the 5 year olds liking.
Majestic Mambo was second in the Daily News 2000 recently and could well come from off the pace again having being allocated an outside gate.
Made To Conquer and Elusive Silva are 2 other Snaith runners who have been drawn pretty wide but they are reasonably prominent in the betting. Bernard Fayd’Herbe takes the ride on Elusive Silva and bids for back to back July’s having ridden Marinaresco to glory last year.
Yakeen represents the Mike de Kock stable and steps up in class whilst Sean Tarry has Matador Man, Tilbury Fort andLeige in the field and after that we come to the outsiders in the betting.
Click Here To Watch Durban July Winner Race 2017
1st Marinaresco (C. Bass-Robinson B. Fayd'Herbe), 2nd Al Sahem (S. Tarry,S. Khumalo), 3rd Edict Of Nantes (B. Crawford,A. Marcus), 4th Krambambuli (J. Snaith,A. Domeyer), 5th Nightingale (C. Bass-Robinson A. Delpech), 6th Horizon (C. Bass-Robinson,R. Fourie), 7th Black Arthur (J. Snaith,G. Van Niekerk)
1.Coral Fever (Muzi Yeni Robbie Sage), 2.Gold Standard (Craig Zackey Glen Kotzen), 3.Abashiri (Piere Strydom M G Azzie/a A Azzie), 4.African Night Sky (Grant Van Niekerk Justin Snaith), 5.Elusive Silva (Bernard Fayd'herbe Justin Snaith), 6.Liege (Raymond Danielson Sean Tarry), 7.Star Express (Aldo Domeyer Justin Snaith), 8.Do It Again (Anton Marcus Justin Snaith), 9.Majestic Mambo (Callan Murray Paul Peter), 10.Matador Man (S'manga Khumalo, Sean Tarry), 11.Fiorella (Mark Khan Duncan Howells), 12.White River (Corné Orffer Brett Crawford), 13.Tilbury Fort (Lyle Hewitson Sean Tarry), 14.Yakeen (Randall Simons Mike De Kock), 15.Made To Conquer (Jeff Lloyd Justin Snaith), 16.Rocket Countdown (Stuart Randolph Candice Bass-robinson), 17.Dark Moon (Rising Warren Kennedy Paul Lafferty), 18.Secret Potion (Marco V'rensburg Geoff Woodruff), 19.Pack Leader (Reserve 1 Glen Kotzen), 20 Crowd Pleaser (Reserve 2 J A Janse Van Vuuren)
Distance: 2200 meters (10.94 furlongs), Surface: Turf, Track:Right-handed, Qualification: Three-year-olds & Up, Weight: Handicap,Purse:R4.25 million
Credit: Pallavi Shevade pallavi.shevade@secretariatsworld.com