The inaugural running of the R750,000 Grand Heritage, which will take place at the Vaal on October 1, will have a field of 28 runners maximum and the panel will be sitting down today (Tuesday) to decide which horses will be lining up.
There are currently 86 horses still standing their ground.
The field will be divided into weight tiers: Tier 1 will be 57kg and above, tier 2 will be 53kg to 56,5kg and tier 3 will be 50kg to 52,5kg. The idea of this weight structure was to allow owners of lower merit rated horses, who look to be competitively handicapped, the chance of winning some valuable prize money. First prize for the big race is R406,250. Second prize is worth 130,000, third prize R65,000, fourth R32,500, fifth R16,250 and R10,000 will be awarded to all of the horses placed from 6th to 15th inclusive.
The weights have been updated daily in the public section of www.sahorseracing.co.za and the long handicap at present stretches from Captain Aldo on 67,5kg down to the 36,5kg of Over It. However, the panellists will be choosing the 28 most in form horses, so there will not necessarily be an even split among the tiers.
The final field will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday).
The middle rail between the Inside and Outside Vaal racecourses will be removed for the big day and the horses will thus utilize the width of the two tracks combined.
There will be three other races on the day with a maximum of 28 runners and they, together with the Grand Heritage, will form the Jackpot.
The 28 runners will not be the biggest field South Africa has ever seen. In the days of tape starts the Durban July had fields of 33 in 1917, 29 in 1934, and 28 in 1937.
The old Auckland Park racecourse, where races were staged by the maverick Auckland Park Sporting Club outside the aegis of Jockey Club in the early 1900s, used to regularly have 30 to 40 horses charging down its four furlong straight.
These days big field handicaps are still a regular sight in England and valuable such races as the £280,000 Ebor Handicap, the £250,000 Cesarewitch Handicap and the £250,000 Stewards Cup attract huge fields and massive betting markets. They are popular with punters due to the attractive dividends a big field race engenders. The last respective renewals of the three aforementioned British races attracted fields of 20, 34 and 27.
Looking at the Grand Heritage entry list, Thrust looks to be a fair early suggestion to win. This lightly raced five-year-old Paul Matchett-trained Toreador gelding prefers running down the straight, packs an impressive finishing burst and in his last start, when finishing fifth in the Gr 3 Spring Spree Stakes over 1200m on the Turffontein Inside course, he looked to be crying out for further.
David Thiselton
