Final field for JULY?

Hoping that Zambucca gets a run.

Press Wrote:

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> Hoping that Zambucca gets a run.


I'm with you, but I really doubt that he will get in - his run in the Jubilee just not good enough

By David Thiselton

Glyn Schofield has been booked to ride E-Jet in the Vodacom Durban July, while the country’s champion elect jockey Piere Strydom will attempt a double in the big race aboard Pomodoro.



Sean Tarry, who trains that pair, said also that Bernard Fayd’herbe would ride Whiteline Fever, while the riders for both Heavy Metal and his borderline horse Gold Onyx were yet to be confirmed.



E-Jet, a four-year-old Jet Master gelding, was in 21st spot on the last Vodacom Durban July log and should get into the final field as some of those above him have been scratched and he does fulfil the criteria of good recent Graded race form as the winner of the Grade 2 Colorado King Stakes in April.



This free-striding galloper did not have things go his way in his last two outings and looks to be good value for the July at 40-1 with Betting World.



In the Grade 1 President’s Champions Challenge he raced one wide just behind the leader in a very slowly run race, the opposite sort of race to the testing gallop that would best suit him.



In the Betting World 1900 he didn’t break well and was caught too far out of his ground.



If he can get handy in the July in a strongly paced race, he has a shout, especially considering Schofield returned from his Hong Kong days as an outstanding judge of pace.



Meanwhile, Pomodoro has enjoyed an excellent July preparation and will attempt to be the first horse since Pocket Power, who dead-heated in 2008, to win with top-weight.



Pomodoro, a four-year-old Jet Master colt, will also be attempting to be the first horse to retain his July crown since the 2000 win of El Picha, who also carried top-weight.



Little went right for the Pomodoro in his Cape Town campaign and we haven’t seen the best of this top class sort yet.



The bookmakers agree that he is going to be a huge runner as they have him joint-favourite at 5-1.



Whiteline Fever has also enjoyed a good preparation and finished 0,5 lengths behind Pomodoro in the Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m last time out at level weights.



Some doubt the four-year-old Right Approach gelding’s stamina reserves, but he baulked late in the big race last year when staying on strongly and on that performance should get the trip.



However, that doubt coupled with him only receiving 0,5kg from Pomodoro has allowed the bookmakers to quote him at 33-1.



Heavy Metal was given a 112 merit rating after winning the Grade 1 Champions Challenge from off the pace by a comfortable 1,75 lengths, meaning he will also be receiving only 0,5 kg from Pomodoro.



The four-year-old Silvano gelding looks to be suited to Greyville as he has a good turn of foot and won the Listed Darley Arabian over 1900m on Super Saturday last year.



However, he appears a bit harshly handicapped and this has put punters off as he is available at 33-1 with Betting World.



Gold Onyx finished third in the Betting World 1900 to stake a claim for a position in the final field, but he will have to leapfrog a few horses considering he was only in 28th position on the last July log.



However, Tarry believes all of his horses have done enough to get into the race and is happy with all of their preparations.



Meanwhile, he looks likely to run The King And I in the Betting World Derby over 2400m at Clairwood this Sunday, as the field looks likely to cut up with the likes of July entries Capetown Noir, Gothic and Wild One avoiding the race.



Tarry was leading the Trainer’s Championship recently, but incumbent champion Mike de Kock has since kicked into gear and is now almost R2 million clear.



Tarry believes De Kock will be hard to catch and is putting all of his current focus on the Vodacom Durban July.

By DT

Wagner will be attempting to complete a Sansui Summer Cup-Vodacom Durban July double on July 6 for the first time since El Picha achieved the feat in the 1999/2000 season and his trainer Joey Soma is not only perfectly content with his current well-being but believes he will be the best handicapped horse in the race.



Soma said, “In the past the Summer Cup winner carried top-weight in the July 99% of the time and it is unheard of for a Summer Cup winner to come into the July with bottom weight. The handicapper saw fit to rate Wagner a 99 for his Summer Cup win, so he must be a massive runner. Anybody who knows anything about horseracing would know that I couldn’t have done anything else but aim him at the July after he was given that handicap mark. Some say the Summer Cup is not the greatest race anymore, but it’s still a difficult race to win. The July has been planned between myself and Derek Brugman for the last seven months.”



The four-year-old Tiger Ridge gelding’s shot at the big race double will fall on the 60th anniversary of one of the best ever achievements by a three-year-old in this country, namely Flash On’s Summer Handicap (today’s Summer Cup)-July double in 1953.



Flash On, the previous horse to do the double before El Picha, won the Summer Handicap as a young three-year-old on December 20 1952, although he was admittedly carrying only 98 pounds and receiving a massive 38 pounds from the great Mowgli, who had won the July earlier that year.



In the July, ridden by Johnny Westwater, Flash On carried 112 pounds, receiving only 13 pounds from the top-weight and twice winner of the big race Milesia Pride, but he won with consummate ease by two lengths and also broke the race record over the then distance of a mile and two-and-a-half furlongs (about 2100m).



Soma was very happy with Wagner’s final Vodacom Durban July preparation run last Friday night, although he didn’t see the race as he was away in Johannesburg mourning the recent passing of his brother Gary.



Wagner stayed on strongly for third in the Allowance Plate over the Greyville 1600m, beaten five lengths by Run For It.



Soma said, “What was most impressive was that he was giving 3,5kg to Run For It and in the July will be receiving 3,5kg. Anthony Delpech said after the race that he had been very impressed and reckoned he had a big chance in the July. He said the horse had given him a very nice feel. The 1600m trip was definitely too sharp and they left him a bit flat footed, but the race has brought him to peak fitness. He has come through the race very well and is very sound. Everything has gone well with his prep and he is spot on at where I thought he would be at this stage, or maybe just a length out. There is no doubt he will be the best weighted horse. He will also be at level weights or better off with the horses he beat in the Summer Cup. I am very content with him and expect a big run. It’s a hard race to win and I will be over the moon if he finishes in the first four and a win will be a bonus. But he definitely won’t disgrace himself.”



Soma said that everything the horse had done for the last seven months had been with Saturday, 6 July in mind and this will include his Vodacom Durban July gallop on June 27.



“There is only three weeks to go and he will be 100% on the day.”



Wagner will be ridden by his Summer Cup rider S’Mango Khumalo and Champion Apprentice Nooresh Juglall is on standby as a substitute.



The bay ran unplaced in his penultimate start in the Betting World 1900 and the handicapper consequently dropped him another point to 98.



He will therefore officially be 0,5kg under sufferance in the July off his minimum weight for an older gelding of 53kg.



Wagner is owned by Markus and Ingrid Jooste and, despite being the country’s perennial leading owners, the Summer Cup was the first time their colours had been carried to victory in one of the country’s traditional “big three”, which consists of that race, the Vodacom Durban July and the J&B Met.



Betting World currently quote Wagner at 28-1 down from an opening price of 50-1.

Brandon Lerena will retain the ride on Gavin van Zyl’s Vodacom Durban July stable elect No Worries, while Francois Herholdt will also stay aboard Seal and Karis Teetan gets the ride on Shogunnar.



Bulsara is a borderline Van Zyl horse and Keagan de Melo is the provisional booking.



Lerena has always thought a lot of No Worries, who relished the change of tactics with second time blinkers in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000, producing a powerful finish from the tail of the field and failing by a shorthead to catch Vercingetorix.



Up to then he had always been placed handily as both his career wins have been from the front.



No Worries, a three-year-old Summerhill-bred gelding, will be one of two three-year-olds in the final field that are by KZN’s leading stallion Kahal.



No Worries is owned by Brian “Buffalo Bill” Burnard, who acquired this nickname as he owns a buffalo bull, whose role is to produce disease-free progeny.



The post-race celebration if he wins is likely to be as animated as the 2009 one of Big City Life’s part-owner Raymond Deacon, who entertained the crowd with a new dance that he invented on the spur of the moment, as Burnard is just as passionate about the sport.



No Worries will carry 55kg, meaning he will receive 5kg from last year’s winner and joint-favourite Pomodoro.



He is quoted at 16-1 by Betting World, while the horse he beat by a short-head in the Daily News, Capetown Noir, is joint favourite at 5-1, despite the pair meeting on the same terms.



Seal is an interesting runner as there is no doubt that he has a touch of class.



He is probably the best stayer in the country, but showed that he will be effective over this trip when winning the Grade 3 Jubilee Handicap with 61kg on his back in his last start, beating Grade 1 Champions Challenge winner Heavy Metal by 0,25 lengths, although he was receiving 1,5kg from the latter.



Herholdt had a pick up ride in the Jubilee and earned a Vodacom Durban July leg-up with a fantastic performance.



He dropped the former SA Derby winner into midfield from a wide draw, before finding the rail and extracting a strong finish.



The five-year Silvano gelding was raised two points for that effort to a 110, meaning he will have to carry 59kg and receive only 1kg from Pomodoro.



He is consequently quoted at 33-1 by Betting World, but can’t be written off, especially in a strongly paced race.



Shogunnar’s career does have some similarities to Seal’s as he is crying out for further, but for the time being has been kept to the big money middle distance events and has never disgraced himself, gaining three Grade 1 places.



He is a handy type who will also need a strong pace.



He was in position six on the last July log, as opposed to Seal’s 20th position and No Worries’ 12th, but the bookmakers disagree and have him out at 40-1.



However, Teetan has a realistic chance of gaining his first placing in the big race.



Van Zyl actually entrusted Teetan with his first ever Vodacom Durban July runner, Cape Town, in 2009 and that was the young Mauritian’s first ride in the big race too.



Teetan rode the Paul Lafferty-trained Goat the following year.



Both of those first two mounts were long shots and duly finished unplaced.



However, Teetan was in the headlines for months in last year’s July build up, as he was the regular partner of the favourite Jackson.



The disappointment was palpable when the big horse ran below par, finishing nearer to the back than the front.



However, the upbeat youngster quickly put that experience behind him and is currently in seventh place on the national log with 88 winners.



Bulsara finished second in the recent Vodacom Durban July pointer, the Grade 3 Cup Trial over 1800m, but the competition for a place in the final field is fierce and he is not a certainty to get in.



The six-year-old Silvano gelding finished a very good fifth two years ago, considering he carried nearly 2kg overweight.



De Melo is yet to ride in the big race, so will be hoping that Bulsara is one of the twenty up in lights when the final field is announced on June 25.

Brandon rides Greyville as good as any JOCK,and i`m not just saying that because he`s a member (tu)

by David Thiselton


Paul Lafferty will go ahead with his plan to run Love Struck in both the KZN Breeders Million Mile and the Vodacom Durban July.



Lafferty pointed out that it was common practise in Australia to give horses a preparation run in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes just three days before the Melbourne Cup.



Lafferty reckoned Love Struck would win the KZN Breeders Million Mile and is unperturbed by his unplaced effort in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000, where he finished back in the pack, nearly five lengths off the winner.



He reminded that the horse’s first run in Cape Town had been below par and he had then won the Listed Politician Stakes over 1800m, and then in his first Johannesburg run he had also been disappointing, before winning the Grade 1 SA Classic, also over 1800m.



The Daily News was his first run in KZN since travelling back home, so if the pattern follows he should run to his best in the Million Mile.



The rangy Summerhill-bred Kahal gelding is currently the third highest merit rated horse in the Million Mile on 103.



Festival Fire on 107 and E-Jet on 104 are the two top rated horses in the race.



Interestingly, the former has not been entered in the Grade 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m on July day, which might be a signal of her Million Mile intent.



Sean Tarry said at the beginning of this month that he would not run E-Jet again before the Vodacom Durban July, so he is unlikely to take part in the Million Mile as he looks likely to make it into the final July field.



Love Struck will sneak into the handicap for the July with the minimum weight for a three-year-old colt or gelding of 53kg.



However, this means that his regular pilot Sean Cormack will not be aboard.



Cormack could possibly waste down to that weight, but Lafferty pointed out that as he would have a full book on the day it would be unwise to go in weakened.



Lafferty has been attempting to book another top jockey and even contacted the brilliant Singapore-based Joao “Magic” Moreira.



Unfortunately, Moreira has committed to a big race in Singapore on the day, although he reportedly would have loved to have ridden in the July.



However, Lafferty would likely have had to compete with other July trainers for his services as the Brazilian was a big hit out here when riding in last year’s Jockey’s International.



Love Struck is as big as 110-1 for the July.



This lack of confidence would be due to his Daily News run and also due to doubts that he will stay the trip, a reservation first raised by Anton Marcus after winning on him in the Politician Stakes.



However, the horse did show plenty of fight to ward off Tellina when winning the SA Classic over the tough Turffontein 1800m, and furthermore, his dam by Rambo Dancer was placed over 2000m.



It will also be interesting to see if his run six days earlier turns out to have a positive effect.



He could be one of the Vodacom Durban July dark horses.

top stuff Tipster keep'm coming......

the interesting thing about a handicap is that everybody has a chance or so they believe....

Frodo Wrote:

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> Press Wrote:
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> > Hoping that Zambucca gets a run.
>
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> I'm with you, but I really doubt that he will get
> in - his run in the Jubilee just not good enough
>


Soft ride imo - I remain hopeful mate. ()

If Lovestruck gets a run surely Tellina has equal if not better claims to be included?

dandanct Wrote:

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> If Lovestruck gets a run surely Tellina has equal
> if not better claims to be included?


I hope so

My opinion only - Love Struck got beaten out of sight in the Daily News (giving Tellina the benefit of doubt because of the blinkers), on the SA Classic form nothing between T and LS though, so neither of them should be in the final field