Cape Trainer Stan Elley will have a final tilt at the Vodacom Durban July before retiring at the end of the season and is likely to be double-handed as Saturday’s Gr 3 Cup Trial winner Punta Arenas and his Gr 2 Betting World winner Dynastic Power are both still on course for the big race.
Punta Arenas pulled up well after his flying finish in the Cup Trial over 1800m at Greyville on Saturday under Ian Sturgeon, but Dynastic Power’s well below par effort in the same race was explained by him pulling up lame on one hindleg.
Elley said, “Puntas was hundred percent sound next morning but Dynastic Power had an issue with his stifle and I have no doubt it affected his performance. But I expect it to respond well to treatment and he will be back in full work in a day or two.”
Elley has a good record in the July. Small yards to have gained a place in the big race can be counted on one hand this century, yet Elley has done it twice. His Badger Land colt Red Badge ran third in both 2003 and 2004.
Passionate racing men Mike Fullard and James Drew were shareholders in Red Badge and own Punta Arenas in partnership with Butch Watson-Smith. Punta Arenas has already had two attempts at the July, finishing a 5,75 length 12th in 2013 and a 3,85 length 8th last year. This year there will be no biting of fingernails for the connections before the final field announcement and draw ceremony on June 23 as the six-year-old Silvano gelding’s win on Saturday secured him a place. However, they will be hoping their beloved galloper finally lands a good big race draw. He was drawn 17 and 13 in his first two July runs, while his respective third and fifth-placed finishes in the J&B Met were achieved from draws of 13 and 11.
Watson-Smith is also a shareholder in Dynastic Power together with John Kinsley, Braam van Huyssteen and Okkie Schoeman. The strapping four-year-old Dynasty gelding moved up powerfully around the final turn in the Betting World 1900 on May 15 before staying on strongly to win by a neck from Power King with Punta Arenas a further 1,25 lengths back in third. He was poised to strike from second place in the Cup Trial on Saturday but found nothing and finished 12,8 lengths back. However, Betting World 1900 winners are usually automatic July qualifiers. Dynastic Power’s other career Graded Stakes victory was in the Gr 3 Winter Derby over 2400m at Kenilworth, so he will have no problem staying the July 2200 trip.
Greg Cheyne, who won the July in 2009 on Big City Life, looks likely to remain aboard Dynastic Power and Ian Sturgeon, who finished second on Sushisan in the 2006 July, will continue his productive partnership with Punta Arenas.
By David Thiselton
Picture: Dynastic Power (Nkosi Hlophe)
