Andrew Harrison

VODACOM DURBAN JULY day marks the sharp end of the season where reputations can be made, confirmed or consigned to the dustbin of history. The preceding eleven months are a dress rehearsal for the last ones standing in the final month of the season and the annual Equus Awards on the line.

This year’s crop of three-year-old males is a vintage one but it has also been a year marked by a lack of quality among the older ranks, especially in the middle distance category.

Rainbow Bridge, Got The Greenlight and Do It Again stand out but they have had their moments. In Saturday’s showpiece at Hollywoodbets Greyville there were hard luck stories for both Do It Again and Got The Greenlight but Rainbow Bridge just didn’t fire.

Gavin Lerena showed all his skills on VDJ winner Kommetdieding and literally scupper the chances of Do It Again recording a record third win in the race. Lerena rode shotgun throughout and when it came to the business end, he had Do It Again stitched up in a pocket.

Whether Do It Again could have won is a moot point, but his chances were compromised by some smart race riding from Lerena.

Joey Soma is never one to bleat in the second, or as on Saturday, the third box, conceding that Got The Greenlight was beaten fair square in third place but he thought that many of the jockeys may have anticipated a stronger pace than they got.

“That led to a concertina effect and some horses suffered. But the ifs don’t matter. Nothing changes the result. We all went in with our eyes open, we knew it’s a tough race and agonising with post-mortems are not going to change the result,” he told Sporting Post.

Triple Crown winner Malmoos ducked the July battle after a tough season and it was left to the two best sophomores to fight it out. Linebacker had twice got the better of Kommetdieding in the WSB Guineas and the Daily News 2000 and although he won those races with authority, Kommetdieding did not enjoy the best of passages in either contest.

The roles were reversed on Saturday with Kommetdieding getting a dream passage and Linebacker having to thread his way through traffic. Arguably a little unlucky but that’s racing and the result is in the record book.

As for Rainbow Bridge, Luke Ferraris looked to have ridden the perfect race even though the big gelding was a little keen in the early stages, but he emptied out quickly in the straight, finishing five lengths back to the winner. On the evidence of Saturday’s race and his previous July showings it may be conclusive that he does not quite see out eleven furlongs.

Rainbow Bridge, Do It Again and Got The Greenlight may well have a deciding battle in the Gr1 Champion Stakes over 1800m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on the final Saturday of the current season, a race that could be further spiced if Kommetdieding, Linebacker and Rascallion accept the challenge.

The much-anticipated match-up between War Of Athena and Captains Ransom in the Gr1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes did not play out as expected. Captains Ransom did not come to the party and War Of Athena had to be content with third, although she galloped her heart out, beaten two short-heads by 75-1 outsider Zarina and Princess Calla, the result having to be decided by the judges.

Captains Ransom got first run on War Of Athena and looked to be going great guns, but she soon emptied out with War Of Athena battling up the inside with Princess Calla looming large. But just when it looked to be a two-horse affair, Zarina came roaring out of the pack making it a three-way duel to the line.

Zarina had previously won the Gr3 Prix du Cap but proved no match for Captains Ransom in their three other encounters or in deed her other meetings with second-placed Princess Calla.

War Of Athena was far from disgraced, beaten two short-heads, the spark that launches her usual gun for the line missing and instead she grinded it out on pure guts. Paul Matchett’s charge has entertained all season and deserves a lengthy break.

Most impressive winner on the day and one who shot her hand up for Equus honours like little Johnny at the back of the class was Desert Miracle. Money came in torrents for Mike de Kock’s filly who started deep in the red for the Gr2 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper and it was money on the mark as she left her opposition for dead streaking clear to win by the best part of eight lengths.

De Kock indicated that she is a filly lengths better around a turn and you won’t be getting rich if she takes her chances over a mile in the Gr1 Thekwini Stakes on Gold Cup day even if she draws in Marriott Road.

In contrast to the finish of the Golden Slipper, the Gr2 Durban Horseshoe was a cavalry charge for the line with Keagen De Melo blasting through on the inside to snatch victory aboard Waterberry Lane for Dean Kannemeyer and staunch owners Mike and Norma Rattray.

Kannemeyer has the smart Cosmic Highway in his yard and he may be eyeing the Gr1 Premier’s Champion Juvenile Stakes come the last Saturday in July.