Years ending in seven have always produced significant happenings in Africa’s Greatest Horseracing Event, the Vodacom Durban July.

The first running of the great race was in 1897. The winner Campanajo became the first dual winner of the big race the following year.

In 1907 Corriecrian was the winner and became the second dual winner a year later.

In 1917 the biggest field the race has ever had, 33 runners, faced the starter and Fanous won at odds of 25/1, collecting a £1000 stake prize.

1927 was the last time the race was run under its original name of the Durban Turf Club Handicap, before it was renamed the Durban July Handicap. It was won by 4/1 favourite Hussein and winning jockey Granville Gorton went on to become a successful bookmaker and founder of Noreen Stud, home of the twice champion sire Drum Beat.

1937 saw one of the biggest upset result as 40/1 shot Ballyjamesduff beat home 50/1 chance Ygor.

In 1947 the 3/1 favourite Brookhill gave the legendary jockey Harold “Tiger” Wright his second July victory. Wright went on to win a record-breaking four Julys, but this record has been equaled by three current jockeys  Anton Marcus, Anthony Delpech and Piere Strydom.

1957 saw a rare win for a three-year-old filly, Migraine winning by a short-head.

The 1967 remains the most celebrated July in history as the immortal Sea Cottage just got up to dead-heat with the lightweight Jollify. Sea Cottage still had the bullet lodged in his leg from the shooting incident which occurred three weeks before the previous year’s July and it was also the first dead heat in the history of the race.

In 1977 Syd Laird, trainer of Sea Cottage, was expected to land his record breaking seventh July with Politician, but Lightning Shot from the small yard of Des Rich ran out the winner. Politician made amends the following year.

The 1987 race attracted a strong field and in a thriller the three-year-old Bush Telegraph, trained by Bert Abercrombie and ridden by Garth Puller, remained unbeaten in nine starts. Runner up Model Man ran one of the greatest July races in defeat.

In 1997 the legendary jockey and now trainer Michael “Muis” Roberts won his first and only July on the David Ferraris-trained Super Quality.

In 2007 the late great “Queen Mother” of South African racing, Bridget Oppenheimer, watched the famous Oppenheimer black and yellow silks win the July for the sixth time. It was Anton Marcus’s fourth July win and trainer Charles Laird joined his great grandfather Alec Laird, great uncle Syd Garrett, uncle Syd Laird and cousins Dennis Drier and Alec Laird as a winner of the great race.

2017 is already a record breaking year as the stake of R4,25 million is the biggest in the July’s history.

By David Thiselton