Black Arthur, the ruling favourite for the Vodacom Durban July, will not take part in Saturday’s R2-million Grade 1 Daily News 2000 at Greyville but trainer Justin Snaith still goes into the country’s premier classic event with a strong hand

The stable will, however, be going for the local “classic” double with the Dynasty filly Bela-Bela that won the Daisy Fillies Guineas at Greyville two weeks ago and, because of the manner in which she won, is likely to start odds-on favourite for the R1-million Grade 1 Woolavington 2000.

Snaith did not accept with Black Arthur and, according to reports, took the decision with owner Alec Foster to “protect” the horse and to ensure the Silvano colt would not be penalised in the weights for the blue ribbon event.

But he has accepted with two gelded sons of Dynasty, It’s My Turn that won the Investec Cape Derby and Brooklyn Brawler that won his last race over the Greyville mile in a time almost a second faster than Black Arthur’s winning time in the Canon Guineas.

It’s My Turn did not fare well in the Canon Guineas where the Mike Azzie-trained Brave Tin Soldier colt Rabada was just snaffled on the line by Black Arthur. Rabada lines up in the Daily News 2000 but has yet to be tested over the 2 000m trip which could give It’s My Turn the edge.

Rocketball from the Gavin van Zyl stable will have his followers after a brilliant performance in the SA Derby at Turffontein where he nearly upset Abashiri’s bid for Triple Crown glory.

Champion trainer Sean Tarry goes into the race with a four-horse team headed by the Australian-bred colt Samurai Blade that finished third to Abashiri in both the SA Classic and SA Derby and Dean Kannemeyer will be looking for a special performance from Mambo Mime that won the Byerley Turk and finished third by 1.5 lengths to Black Arthur in the Canon Guineas.

Bela-Bela will be all the rage to win the Woolavington 2000 not only because of her latest performance at Greyville, but also because of her third behind Smart Call in the Grade 1 Maine Chance Farms Paddock Stakes at Kenilworth in January.

She will, however, have to again contend with the attentions of the Mike Bass-trained Silvano filly Nightingale that flew through to finish half a length behind her in the Daisy Fillies Guineas and will most likely relish the extra 400m of this race.

Another that is likely to keep her honest is the Fort Wood filly Negroamara from the Johan Janse van Vuuren stable. She finished third in the 1 600m event and, having finished second in both the Gauteng Fillies Guineas and SA Fillies Classic before that, is another that could shine over the longer trip.

Adding to Bela-Bela’s troubles could also be the Fort Wood filly Fortissima from the Joe Soma yard. She finished second in the SA Derby and won both her starts over 2 000m before that while Tarry will not feel his Visionaire filly Heaps Of Fun is out of the picture having won the Gauteng Fillies Guineas.

The third of the graded races on Daily News 2000 day is the Grade 3 Lonsdale Stirrup Cup over 2 400m. It has drawn a full field where the Bass stable stalwart Helderburg Blue will be one of the fancied runners having shown a return to his competitive form with a third behind No Worries in the Highland Night Cup.

No Worries from the Van Zyl stable will again be one of his opponents along with Solar Star from the Kannemeyer stable that beat him half a length in the Highland Night, Storm Warning that was third in the Gold Bowl and the gutsy six-year-old Coltrane that has placed in his last three starts over marathon trips including the J&B Stayers and the Chairmans Cup in the Cape.

Smart Mart, fourth in the Gold Bowl and Kingston Mines that was third in the J&B Stayers, are two of the three runners from the Mike de Kock stable in the race.