Anton Marcus, booked for Do It Again in Sunday’s Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge, will be riding the horse  for the first time in a race since landing a record fifth Vodacom Durban July on him nearly two years ago.

But seemingly the sponsors are more influenced by the five-year-old’s disappointing form so far this season and make him only third favourite at 5-1. Rainbow Bridge heads the market at 5-2 with Vardy close up at 3.03-1.

However favourites in the Gold Challenge have a poor recent record. The last six have all been beaten and there has not been a winning one since odds-on Variety Club (Marcus) won the race for the second successive year in 2013. Furthermore Do It Again won last year’s race and Justin Snaith is bidding for his fourth Gold Challenge victory.

Do It Again remains a big price in the July market with most layers offering around 11-1. Predictably the big movers on Sunday were Snaith’s Saturday feature winners Belgarion and Myabi Gold. The former was cut from 8-1 to 6-1 joint second favourite (with Rainbow Bridge) while the mare was slashed from 66-1 to 22-1. Hawwaam remains favourite but has been eased from 4-1 to 5-1.

Do It Again has finished no closer than sixth in three outings this season but his trainer is hoping  for a much-improved effort on Saturday: “He is going well, we have had no hiccups, everything looks fine and on song.

“There are some good horses in the race, and it’s going to be tough, but I am quite confident Do It Again has no reason to run a bad race. We have found all his little issues.”

The last-named includes the ulcers which were believed to be at the root of the horse’s problems in the Cape season. “We did all the tests prior to putting him back into training and everything had cleared up. He is carrying condition which he wasn’t before. He looks a happy horse – he is bucking every morning – and it doesn’t look as if anything is bothering him.”

Snaith also mentioned Roi Querari, a horse he believes could develop into a top sprinter. The three-year-old will be ridden by Marcus in Sunday’s Durban Dash – “He is having his first run back and he is doing exceptionally well. He should have run in the Post Merchants and how he didn’t get in I don’t know. Let’s see if he proves them wrong on Sunday!”

The dual champion trainer was in treble form at a wet Kenilworth on Sunday but those punters who follow the stable blindly – and many do – had to contend with four beaten favourites including a particularly expensive start with 11-20 shot Stuck On You.

“She should have won by five,” said Snaith. “I don’t know what her issues are but there is something that’s not right.”

Stable companion La Quinta, in contrast, made up those five lengths in the final furlong for M.J. Byleveld to come home at 16-1. “I had her ready to run just before the lockdown but the meeting was scrapped. This time we put in our stable comments that she is very speedy and could easily run into the money.”

Vaughan Marshall’s hot favourite Freedom Park also proved costly, starting at 11-10 and managing only ninth  behind Robert Khathi’s mount Tarantino. The Milnerton trainer, though, promptly served up 66-1 compensation with the Ossie Noach-ridden newcomer Dubai Lights.

Noach completed an 870-1 double on the Glen Puller-trained 12-1 shot Miss D’Aray in the last but the most obvious post-lockdown lesson in the Western Cape is that Glen Kotzen’s stable is on fire. The Woodhill trainer followed up last Tuesday’s treble with two more winners – Mountain Ridge (Greg Cheyne) and the appropriately-named Winter’s Awakening (Morne Winnaar).

By Michael Clower