Andrew Fortune and the weighing room scale have fought a three decade long battle with the former champion jockey most often on the wrong end of exchanges and also officials.

The following epic saga of jockey versus scale will play out over the next two weeks after Sean Tarry declared Fortune on Samurai Blade for the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July.

Fortune is most comfortable at the top end of the weights but he has shown in the past that given incentive he has the willpower to lay off the pasta and 55,5kg is within his capabilities – just!

Fortune’s booking could also be a master stroke by Tarry given that many pundits have expressed fears that there is no obvious pacemaker in the race. There is no finer judge of pace than Fortune and while he will make the most of his chances – there are no ‘gimme’s’ in Fortune’s resume –  he is likely to ride at a pace to suit his mount and quite possibly top weight and stable companion to Samurai Blade, French Navy.

Tarry’s stable jockey and champion elect S’manga Khumalo was widely expected to be aboard Trophy Wife after Weichong Marwing kept the ride on French Navy but there may still be more intrigue to unfold before Saturday week.

Tarry was no doubt expecting Trophy Wife to make the final cut and was outspoken in his criticism of the selection panel. “Not only was she beaten only two lengths by Met winner Smart Call at Turffontein in November, she was third behind the same horse in last season’s Woolavington and, more recently, won the Gr 2 Gerald Rosenberg Stakes – tell me how they can leave her out?”

Trophy Wife is first reserve so much could hang on how the Rabada saga plays out.

Mike Azzie made no bones at the function to announce the July field that he was unhappy in being forced to run the Gr1 Daily News winner in both the KwaZulu-Natal Million Mile this coming Sunday and the July. He may still get his way should Rabada contest Sunday’s race.

That would leave MJ Byleveld with a hard-luck story as he has been booked for Rabada in the July but it would open the way for Khumalo to partner Trophy Wife.

Adding fuel to the intrigue is that Anton Marcus, successful on Rabada in the Daily News, passed him over opting for the mount on the relatively unexposed St Tropez. Winner of the East Coast Derby in PE, he was a smart second to Solid Speed – beaten a neck – and ahead of Dynamic and The Conglomerate in the G2 Betting World 1900. The Betting World 1900 had somewhat lost its reputation as a July pointer until last year when Power King and Punta Arenas, second and third respectively, finished first and second in the July.

Piere Strydom was offered the ride on Gr1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge winner Mac De Lago by Weiho Marwing but because of prior commitments finds himself aboard The Conglomerate, winless this season but slowly finding his best form.

By all accounts current champion jockey Gavin Lerena’s stint in Hong Kong is all but over and he heads back to partner Geoff Woodruff’s runner Master Sabina.

Duncan Howells was pleasantly surprised that Saratoga Dancer made the field and was quick to book rising star Craig Zackey, a rider he mentored in his apprenticeship before his move to Gauteng.

Justin Snaith, with four runners in the race and three top flight jockeys in Anthony Delpech, Dougie Whyte and Richard Fourie, has placed huge faith in apprentice sensation Lyle Hewitson. Barely a year into his apprenticeship, Snaith has booked him for Dynamic and with his mount being drawn in pole, his mettle will be properly tested.

By Andrew Harrison