Gavin Van Zyl stable jockey Warren Kennedy faces a difficult choice of ride for the forthcoming Gr 1 Daily News 2000, an always vital Vodacom Durban July pointer which is to be run at Greyville on May 28.

Meanwhile, Anton Marcus was impressed by Rabada’s run in the Gr 2 Canon Guineas on Friday night and Geoff Woodruff revealed the respective routes his Vodacom Durban July entries Deo Juvente and Master Sabina would be taking.

Kennedy always knew the Van Zyl-trained Rocketball would stay the 2450m trip of the Gr 1 SA Derby and also knew the field would come back to him due to the furious pace up front. However, he was surprised by how easily the horse had made up the ground under a tight hold. Abashiri then went tearing past and opened up a two length lead at which point Kennedy thought he would be running for second.

However, in the end he nearly caught the Triple Crown hero. With both of their heads down all the way to the line neither jockey knew who had won and Kennedy answered Karl Zechner’s question in the pull up by saying, “I think I might have got it.” Zechner had been under enormous pressure throughout the day and his relief moments later was palpable.

However, Kennedy did question the strength of the Derby field beyond the first three finishers.

The Van Zyl-trained Celtic Captain, on the other hand, faced a strong field on Friday night in the Gr 2 Canon Guineas and finished a decent 2,3 length sixth.

Kennedy said, “He moved through beautifully and struck the front comfortably, but just as he did so he lifted his head and wanted to move outward. I think he might have seen the big TV screen.”

Stablemate Redcarpet Captain bounced back to form and stayed on well for a 2,65 length eighth. Jockey Keagan de Melo believes he will stay the 2000m trip of the Daily News. However, Kennedy felt it would not be wise to opt for Redcarpet Captain for the Daily News as a horse with a stamina question mark.

He concluded by saying he would likely be asked to ride Rocketball again, although he could not separate him from Celtic Captain, whose dam won over 2400m and who should still be improving after recent gelding.

Marcus was impressed Rabada had stayed on for second on Friday night, despite having to be used early to overcome his draw and find a handy position. He pointed out the two horses ahead of him in the running of the fast paced race had finished close to last. However, he felt Black Arthur would be tough to beat in the Daily News.

Woodruff said Deo Juvente’s only preparation race into the July would be the Gr 3 Jubilee at Turffontein on June 12, which significantly takes place after the publication of the July weights. Sansui Summer Cup winner Master Sabina will race in a Pinnacle Stakes event as his July preparation.

David Thiselton

Picture: Warren Kennedy (Nkosi Hlophe)

Jockey Bernard Fayd’herbe said WSB Cape Guineas winner Silver Mountain “didn’t raise a gallop” in the Gr 2 Daisy Guineas on Friday night.

His brother Robert, who is taking care of Mike Bass’s SA Champions Season string at Summerveld, has also been left mystified as the star filly has pulled up 100% fine.

The diminutive Silvano filly lacked her normal zip and might not have enjoyed the going on the night, which appeared to be soft.

She finished a 5,5 length fifth having turned for home perfectly placed to pounce from a midfield position on the rail.

The stablemate from the Mike Bass yard Nightingale ran a cracker to finish second and will relish the extra trip of the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000.

Bernard was also aboard a fancied disappointment in the Gr 2 Canon Guineas, the Justin Snaith-trained Baritone, who was moving up well before running out of steam.

However, he reported to the stipendiary stewards the colt had “choked up in the latter stages.”

Meanwhile, some anomalies have already surfaced out of the new handicapping guidelines, which the handicappers had forced upon them despite being strongly opposed to some of the new restrictive measures.

For example, Nightingale could only be raised to a 92 merit rating due to the rule a Gr 2 runner up can only be raised a maximum of five points.

This means she would receive 3kg from Daisy Guineas fourth-placed Flying Ice in a handicap, despite having beaten her on Friday night by 3,5 lengths.

Another example is the Joey Soma-trained Fortissima, who is currently merit rated 82, despite having finished second in the Gr 2 R1 million SA Oaks.

By David Thiselton

Trainer and jockey comments for Scottsville today

Dennis Drier is expecting a good run from Rock On Baby (4th race), a talented sprinter who was found to be coughing after her disappointing last start in the Gr 2 WSB Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m at Kenilworth five months ago.

Drier has won five of the last six runnings of the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion and the public are still waiting for his contender for this year’s renewal, so all eyes will be on Seventh Rock colt Rocky Valley in the first over 1000m. Drier said, “He should run a nice race.” He is out of the fair sprinter by Mogok, Valley Of Rubies, who finished runner up in the Gr 3 Sycamore Sprint. He is owned by Markus Jooste, whose retained rider Anton Marcus will however be aboard the Charles Laird-trained Buffalo Soldier, who is by Warm White Night out of a USA-bred dam who hasn’t produced much to date. However, Laird has a fine record with first-timers so the betting should be watched closely.

Drier said the first-timer Anime in the second race would probably need the run. However, she is well bred being by Count Dubois out of Gr 2 KZN Guineas winner Rei Rei, so can’t be discounted.

Drier said it is about time Lighting The Fire, who runs in the fifth race over 1400m, “lit his fire” and he at least seems to be back down to a competitive merit rating and is over a suitable trip so can’t be ignored.

Warren Kennedy spoke on behalf of the Gavin Van Zyl yard and said, “Qatar Springs (7th over 2400m) is doing very well and has beaten all of these horses before. He stays well and should win.

Bagger Vance (5th) is one of my better rides on the day, he has the weight turnaround with Never Settle and should be there.

Northern Storm ran a cracker on debut. There was a lot of talk about Rebel Rose on debut (the Wendy Whitehead-trained filly duly finished second to an odds on shot) and she could be the one to beat, but if you go on times Northern Storm is ahead of her. It’s a difficult race and there are a lot of first-timers too but Northern Storm should be in the first three.

Cronological (3rd race) made a decent comeback but what you see is what you get, she is a struggler. Hello Mah also runs here but the 1000m is too short for her.

Lil Red a Rooster (1st race) has to improve.

Captain At Sea (8th) is a smart colt, but is drawn high on debut. It’s a weak field though and he has a quartet chance.”

Dennis Bosch was bullish about Lavender Bank and gave all his other runners chances too.

He said, “Lavender Bank will run a good race (3rd race – Anton Marcus retains the ride after she was backed to 9/20 on debut but ran green around the turn on the poly, although she still ran an eyecatching race to finish a staying on 1,3 length fourth).”

Bosch continued, “Regardstobroadway (4th) has always been talented but wasn’t being ridden correctly and is now being ridden the right way.”

He said Your Worship (7th) was also not given a good ride last time. However, the blinkers are back on and Delpech is aboard so he expected a decent run.

Bosch also expected a decent run from the sprinter Shezaleader (4th) too and this filly certainly loves the Scottsville straight.

By David Thiselton

The current incumbent Vodacom Durban July “trophy-holding” jockey Start Randolph is still not sure who his ride for this year’s big race will be, but he knows he will need to find a good one to beat Friday night’s Gr 2 Canon Guineas winner Black Arthur.

Randolph also spoke of what it meant to win the July and how the race had changed from a tactical point of view due to the new much narrower track.

Randolph was happy his mount in Friday night’s Guineas, the Dean Kannemeyer-trained Mambo Mime, settled after being dropped out from a wide draw and even more happy to find himself on the rail behind the favourite Black Arthur, even if it meant he was in last place.

However, Black Arthur soon appeared to be battling, as he was being pushed along continuously by jockey Anthony Delpech.

“I thought he was going nowhere so I pulled my horse out and went alongside him.”

Mambo Mime went to the outside in the straight and ran on strongly to finish a 1,5 length third.

However, out of the corner of his eye Randolph could see Black Arthur powering home towards the inside.

He said, “He looked like a Ferrari, horses just don’t do that.”

The bookmakers agreed and have made Black Arthur the new big race favourite.

Kannemeyer arrived in KZN last year without believing he had a serious July horse and ended up winning it with Power King.

He is in similar territory this year and his four current entries are Mambo Mime, Cape Speed, Solid Speed, Balance Sheet and It Is Written.

Kannemeyer will likely never again have as good a horse as his first July winner Dynasty.

His second July winner Eyeofthetiger arrived in KZN proven in both class and stamina capacity, having finished a narrow third in the Cape Derby.

Cape Speed looks to have the stamina capacity, but still has to prove his class.

Mambo Mime, who was coming of a win in the Gr 3 Byerley Turk on Friday night, is now proven in class, but not stamina capacity.

Balance Sheet could be a dark horse as one who has won over 1600m and finished second in last year’s Gold Cup over 3200m. He is a four-year-old gelding by Silvano, like Power King was last year. Another common point is his arrival in the province with a merit rating of 100. However, Power King cantered to victory in his pipe opener over 1400m at Scottsville last year, before booking his place with a runner up spot in the Betting World 1900, while Balance Sheet has already had two runs and has been unplaced in both.

Five-year-old Solid Speed, who is by the great Dynasty, has an even more similar profile to Power King. He arrived in the province rated 100, won his pipe opener at Scottsville, albeit over 1600m, and he also has proven class over 2400m.

It Is Written is also a five-year-old gelding by Dynasty and has won eight races from 1400-1800m. He has started his Champions Season in fine style, which has seen his merit rating rise from 99 to 102.

Randolph is looking towards Kannemeyer for his July horse again and will have some difficult choices to make in the next few weeks.

The first question most South African jockeys are asked when introduced to a stranger is, “Have you won the July?”

Randolph is now among the privileged few who can answer “yes”.

He said sometimes this fact seemed surreal and he often asked himself, “Did I really do it?”

Last year the field almost resembled a rolling maul in the straight, for despite the track being narrower the jockeys all made a bee line for the outside.

Randolph said jockeys knew what to expect on July day in terms of crowd noise, but horses obviously did not.

In his opinion tiring horses in the July tend to roll away from the grandstand noise.

The best traffic avoiding run for those coming from off the pace can therefore usually be found on the outside of horses.

In the past switching outward off the false rail would have put one near the middle of the track.

However, on the narrower track, and with last year’s false at four or five metres, this instinctive tactic led to congestion on the outside.

Hopefully, the decision already made to limit the false rail to a maximum of one metre this year will hopefully solve the problem.

However, one certainty is jockeys these days need to do extra homework studying the final carded July field.

By David Thiselton

Rocketball, who came within a nostril of spoiling the Triple Crown party for Abashiri last month, was yesterday among three supplementary entries for this year’s Vodacom Durban July.

Gavin van Zyl’s runner was joined by Brooklyn Brawler from the Justin Snaith yard and Dean Kannemeyer added It Is Written to his entry.

Brooklyn Brawler has come to hand of late, winning three of his last four starts including a Progress Plate over 1600m at Scottsville last month in his South African Champion’s Season warm-up. He is a likely contender for the Gr1 Daily News 2000.

It Is Written won the Gr3 Christmas Handicap and more recently finished runner-up to Way Of Light in The Sledghammer at Scottsville.

He was less than four lengths behind Dynastic Power in the Gr 2 Betting World 1900 last year and he is likely to be in the line-up again later this month.

First supplementary entries close this morning. First acceptances were yesterday and the entry was reduced to 52 from the original 65.

Sc# Horse               Mass   MR        Draw  B  A  T  Trainer

0  LEGAL EAGLE          0.0  120 (120)    0      A  T  Sean Tarry

0  ABASHIRI             0.0  117 (113)    0      A     Mike Azzie

0  FRENCH NAVY          0.0  115 (115)    0      A     Sean Tarry

0  BRAZUCA              0.0  111 (107)    0      A  T  Johan J van Vuuren

0  INARA                0.0  111 (111)    0      A     Mike Bass

0  PATERFAMILIAS        0.0  110 (110)    0   B  A     Mike Bass

0  SILVER MOUNTAIN      0.0  110 (106)    0      A     Mike Bass

0  RABADA               0.0  109 (105)    0      A     Mike Azzie

0  MASTER SABINA        0.0  108 (108)    0      A  T  Geoff Woodruff

0  SAMURAI BLADE        0.0  108 (104)    0      A  T  Sean Tarry

0  STONEHENGE           0.0  108 (108)    0      A  T  Sean Tarry

0  GOLD ONYX            0.0  107 (107)    0      A  T  Sean Tarry

0  MAC DE LAGO          0.0  107 (107)    0      A  T  Weiho Marwing

0  NEW PREDATOR         0.0  107 (103)    0      A     Johan van Vuuren

0  OLMA                 0.0  107 (107)    0      A  T  Frank Robinson

0  PROSPECT STRIKE      0.0  107 (103)    0      A  T  Sean Tarry

0  PUNTA ARENAS         0.0  107 (107)    0   C  A     Dennis Drier

0  BELA-BELA            0.0  106 (102)    0      A     Justin Snaith

0  DEO JUVENTE          0.0  106 (106)    0      A     Geoff Woodruff

0  MASTER’S EYE         0.0  103 (103)    0      A     Justin Snaith

0  SOLID SPEED          0.0  103 (103)    0   B  A     Dean Kannemeyer

0  HALVE THE DEFICIT    0.0  102 (102)    0      A     Sean Tarry

0  NEGROAMARO           0.0  102 ( 98)    0      A     Johan J van Vuuren

0  ROMANY PRINCE        0.0  102 ( 98)    0      A     Ormond Ferraris

0  DISCO AL             0.0  101 (101)    0      A     Joey Ramsden

0  DYNASTIC POWER       0.0  101 (101)    0      A     Vaughan Marshall

0  IT’S MY TURN         0.0  101 ( 97)    0      A     Justin Snaith

0  TEN GUN SALUTE       0.0  101 ( 97)    0      A  T  Duncan Howells

0  THE CONGLOMERATE     0.0  101 (101)    0      A     Joey Ramsden

0  TROPHY WIFE          0.0  101 (101)    0      A     Sean Tarry

0  ST TROPEZ            0.0   99 ( 99)    0      A     Joey Ramsden

0  BALANCE SHEET        0.0   98 ( 98)    0      A     Dean Kannemeyer

0  DYNAMIC              0.0   98 ( 98)    0      A     Justin Snaith

0  MASTER SWITCH        0.0   98 ( 98)    0      A  T  Geoff Woodruff

0  SYLVESTER THE CAT    0.0   98 ( 94)    0      A     Duncan Howells

0  DIESEL JET           0.0   97 ( 97)    0      A     Erico Verdonese

0  MAMBO MIME           0.0   97 ( 93)    0      A     Dean Kannemeyer

0  MARINARESCO          0.0   97 ( 93)    0   B  A     Mike Bass

0  BLACK ARTHUR         0.0   96 ( 92)    0      A     Justin Snaith

0  CAPE SPEED           0.0   96 ( 92)    0      A     Dean Kannemeyer

0  CELTIC CAPTAIN       0.0   96 ( 92)    0   B  A     Gavin van Zyl

0  TRADING PROFIT       0.0   96 ( 92)    0      A     Mike Azzie

0  DEPUTY JUD           0.0   95 ( 95)    0      A     Mike Azzie

0  SARATOGA DANCER      0.0   95 ( 95)    0      A     Duncan Howells

0  DEPUTY RYDER         0.0   94 ( 94)    0   X  A     Neil Bruss

0  JUBILEE LINE         0.0   92 ( 88)    0      A     Mike de Kock

0  BANKABLE TEDDY       0.0   89 ( 85)    0   B  A     Brian Wiid

0  OLE GUNNAR           0.0   88 ( 84)    0      A  T  Paul Lafferty

0  NIGHTINGALE          0.0   87 ( 83)    0      A     Mike Bass

0  RAINY DAY BLUES      0.0   87 ( 87)    0      A  T  Joe Soma

0  ELUSIVE SILVA        0.0   86 ( 82)    0      A     Justin Snaith

0  MILLA’S WORLD        0.0   85 ( 81)    0      A     Sean Tarry

(52)

***Supplementary Entries Received as at 14:15 – 9 May 2016***

0   0   ***ROCKETBALL          0.0  105 (101)    A  T  Gavin van Zyl

0   0   ***BROOKLYN BRAWLER    0.0   92 ( 88)    A     Justin Snaith

0   0   ***IT IS WRITTEN       0.0  102 (102)    A     Dean Kannemeyer

Important Vodacom Durban July dates to diarise:

• First Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Tuesday, 10 May 2016
• Second Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 30 May 2016
• Final Supp. Entries: Close 11:00 Monday, 6 June 2016
• Weights Published: Tuesday, 7 June 2016
• Final Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 20 June 2016
• Final Field and Draw: Announcement of the Final Field and Barrier Draws will take place on Tuesday, 21 June 2016

Public Gallops:  7am at Greyville Racecourse, Thursday, 23 June 2016