The Vodacom Durban July has become South Africa’s premier crowd gathering event due to the perfect blend of sport and glamour.

Winning trainer Dean Kannemeyer’s views in the aftermath contrasted strongly with those of celebrity Pearl Thusi, the well known and outspoken TV and radio presenter, actress and modelling agency owner.

Kannemeyer compared his victory on Saturday with his previous two July wins: “The first time I won it with Dynasty (2003) I was over the moon. When I won it with Eyeofthetiger (2006) it was just as exciting and today was even more exciting. Owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys, everybody wants to win the July. When you win the July you walk off the grandstand and it is like putting on your Springbok jersey and saying you have arrived. Gary Player says it’s like winning The Masters.”

A particularly satisfying aspect to this year’s win was that he had done it for one of his most loyal, big spending owners Lady Christine Laidlaw. He said, “It was the first time Lady Christine had come to Durban. It was fantastic for her, she’s flown in for the week to see her horses run and the other one Solid Speed ran a very good race (third in the Gr 2 SABC Gold Vase). She was absolutely thrilled and I’m thrilled for my whole team.”

Jehan Malherbe from Form Bloodstock found and bought Power King and added another honour to his glittering career as a bloodstock agent. He also found and bought Eyeofthetiger as a yearling, while he clinched the deals with two July winners that Mike de Kock bought in training, Bold Silvano and Igugu. Lady Laidlaw’s first horse with Kannemeyer was Noordhoek Flyer, a dual Guineas winner and now sire who was also found and bought by Malherbe.

Her first July runner, also bought by Malherbe, was Capetown Noir, a champion miler and now sire, who was always suspect over the 2200m trip and ran unplaced in the big race twice.

Kannemeyer spoke of the continual improvement Power King had shown since being gelded last November and said he had also enjoyed an excellent preparation. He had viewed him as well handicapped on his Betting World 1900 run, in which he made up some twelve lengths in the straight to finish second, and on the weight turnarounds with a few horses he met during the Cape Summer Of Champions Season.

Furthermore, he was well drawn and receiving weight from some of the three-year-olds and was one of the of the stand outs at Summerveld in the week of the July.

Kannemeyer said, “On all of that we just needed a bit of luck and I thought we’d come into play. In the race I was very happy with where he was sitting, I was actually surprised, I thought he would be further back. So Stuey (Stuart Randolph) got him into a nice position, he came into the straight and had a look for room and then he quickened up well.”

Regarding the objection he said, “You’re always going to worry but the way I read the race was that the second horse was causing interference and my horse was staying in a straight line. But the decision was the right decision by the board so I was pleased about that.”

However, it didn’t stop Randolph being punished with a two week suspension by stipendary stewards as Power King has earlier hung to his left, which caused mayhem and was costly to a number of horses.

Kannemeyer continued, “Well done to Maine Chance Farms and Silvano. We bought a few Silvanos this year, we are always a great supporter of Silvano, he is a top stallion. They take a bit of time, but it all worked out. I have a great team behind me.”

Kannemeyer was also pleased to have buried a false perception by winning the July with a four-year-old as opposed to his two previous wins with three-year-olds and quipped, “Some people say Kannemeyer can only train three-year-olds … aah haa … I did also win the Gold Cup with In Writing as a seven-year-old. And I won the Gold Cup with a filly (Colonial Girl 2000), they said I could only train colts!”

A July-winning conditioner will usually only bask in glory for an evening, knowing that in this fickle sport you are only as good as your last win.

He will soon have to return to the grindstone, pouring through catalogues and pounding the sales grounds looking for the next champion, early mornings preparing horses and identifying those that will go far. These special individuals must take the baby step of their first race, a nerve-wracking moment for any trainer, and they must then be nurtured along until they are ready to face the cream of their generation. They can’t be underdone if they are to produce their best and it is even worse if they are “over the top”.

Illness and injury are always close at hand with a breed that is notoriously fragile. If ever there are people that are slaves to their profession it is the racehorse trainer, but they usually become very fond of their horses and critical remarks about their horses are not taken kindly. The pressure is great and trainers with July runners often become more and more edgy as the race approaches. Taking all this into account, it is not surprising that the joyous moment of July victory can be likened to the release of a steam valve and is usually accompanied by much emotion.

However, to Pearl Thusi the July is a whole different ball game. Later in the evening when asked who she had fancied for the big race she replied, “Legal Eagle … did he win?!”

She continued, “You must remember that historically women are here to look good and men are here to bet and I’m quite okay with that history continuing because I’m not a gambler.”

She hosted an event at the July this year. She invariably chooses a young up and coming designer for her outfit in order to showcase his skills and was looking stunning in a cream and white number. She named the July as her favourite horsey social occasion and praised the professional approach of the organisers.

By David Thiselton

Last year’s Vodacom Durban July hero Legislate will gallop this morning and how he goes will have a big bearing on whether he drops back to 1 200m for the Mercury Sprint at Greyville on Saturday July 18.

Justin Snaith said yesterday: “We are not desperate to run – we have the whole summer ahead of us – but if we think he is in a good place, that everything is spot on and that he would have a chance of running into the money then he will run.

“We are also waiting on the nominations for the Champions Cup with him. At this stage it looks like Futura will run in that race.”

The nominations for the Champions Cup (July 25) were due to close last Friday but will not now be known until 11.00am today.

Legislate returned to his best to make all the running in last month’s Rising Sun Gold Challenge after a virus caused him to disappoint in the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and miss the J & B Met. He then had to be scratched from the Drill Hall after hurting himself in the pens.

By Michael Clower

Picture: Legislate (Liesl King)

Dean Kannemeyer is to wait until Power King recovers from his exertions in Saturday’s Vodacom Durban July before making any plans about the four-year-old’s future. He said: “Power King was a little wobbly and exhausted straight after the race so we will let him get over this and then decide where we go.”

Kannemeyer, winning the great race for the third time, explained that the horse had not been straightforward to train:  “He had a few soundness problems as a young three-year-old. Then he was haemoconcentrating and so I said to Lady Christine Laidlaw that there was only one way to deal with that and we gelded him.

“But the July is the ultimate race for a trainer in South Africa and I am over the moon to win it again.”

Lady Laidlaw raised the interest levels of the foreign media contingent by reacting positively to overseas campaign suggestions but the horse seems far more likely to stay in this country.

Stuart Randolph had to shed almost four kilos in three weeks to do 53k – “It wasn’t a strict diet but I watched it and the weight slowly came off”- and he is now facing a fortnight’s suspension.

Nothing to do with the Punta Arenas bumping match but everything to do with the way he came across Legal Eagle, Gold Onyx and Halve The Deficit as he began his run. “He cleaned up half the field,” commented a brassed-off Sean Tarry who trains all three.

This was the second successive year that the historic race has been decided in the boardroom but, even more remarkably, the first three are all by Silvano and were all bred by Maine Chance.

Duncan Howells has already mapped out Same Jurisdiction’s future and, after the way she justified 17-10 favouritism under Anton Marcus in the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province, he was talking about her in the same breath as Via Africa. He said: “You cannot believe the improvement she has made in the last two months and not even Via Africa galloped the way she did last Tuesday. She won’t run again this season and next term we will go to Cape Town for the Paddock Stakes and the Klawervlei Majorca.”

Marcus has amazing talent at both ends of a race but even he excelled himself when getting up in the last stride on 12-10 favourite Seventh Plain in the Durban Golden Horseshoe. The superlatives flowed like champagne at a wedding but owner Markus Jooste remarked tongue-in-cheek: “With what Anton costs one expects that sort of ride!”

The former champion added: “This win was a testament to the horse’s courage. He had every opportunity to spit the dummy but instead he dug down deep.”

Trainer Dennis Drier, who initiated a notable Grade 1 double with 16-1 shot Chestnuts N Pearls in the Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper, said: “You dream about Grade 1 winners but to have two in one day is unbelievable and I am blessed to have jockeys like Anton and Sean Cormack.”

Seventh Plain is to be put away for Cape Town and the Cape Guineas but the Thekwini on July 25 is a possibility for the filly. But it’s worth noting that Brazuca, beaten a short head in the Horseshoe, would almost certainly have won had he not been baulked 300m out and been switched to get a clear run.

Also with an eye to next time when the first three in the SABC Gold Vase meet again in the Gold Cup: Solid Speed, who started favourite and was beaten less than a length into third behind the Gavin van Zyl-trained Heart Of A Lion (Muzi Yeni), lost a front shoe.

Dynamic proved the July selection committee’s point when weakening close home in the TabGold 2200 won in all-the-way fashion by S’Manga Khumalo on stable companion Ultimate Dollar but Justin Snaith is still very much concerned about the pens. He said: “This trip was a little bit too far for Dynamic but we have always rated Ultimate Dollar highly. We were going to use the same tactics on him in the Daily News but he got injured at the start.

“These stalls come from Australia and there is too much of a gap between the back gates. We have complained but I feel that the guys are not taking us seriously.”

The stipes certainly took Warren Kennedy seriously when he used a few choice words to the starter – his mount Sun On Africa was injured in the pens and had to be withdrawn from this race. He was fined R1 000 for “abusive language.”

By Michael Clower

Picture: Same Jurisdiction (Nkosi Hlophe)

How I won the July and survived the objection – Stuart Randolph

“I broke the gates well and so I was able to keep in contention, and I had the favourite in front of me. Everything worked out beautifully and I hit the front going through the 300m.

“The horse on my outside (Punta Arenas) then ran on to mine. The first bump wasn’t much but the second time he gave me a nudge in the hindquarters and my horse became a bit unbalanced. I had to gather him up and he fought to the line. I was never in any doubt about the outcome of the objection.”

And how Ian Sturgeon saw it

“I got to the 200m, went for my run on the outside rail but it got tight. I went towards Power King but, if you look at the slow motion, you will see that I didn’t touch him. However my horse lost his momentum and it took him about 100m to regain it.

“Then, at around the 100m, Power King bumped me and got unbalanced. I thought it was a gallant effort on my horse’s part. He gave his all.”

Sturgeon objected to the winner “on the grounds of interference in the latter stages.” The stipes deliberated for 15 minutes before over-ruling the objection and confirming the original result.

The film shown to the media demonstrated how Punta Arenas moved in on Power King, bumping the latter’s quarters. Power King’s off-hind foot slipped with the impact and he swerved in sharply on Punta Arenas.

What other jockeys said:

Sean Cormack (fourth on 9-2 top weight Futura): “I would like to have had him closer early on but he was slow to get going. But it was a phenomenal run under 60k.”

Anton Marcus (fifth on 7-2 favourite Legal Eagle): “I was slightly impeded in the straight and I felt I didn’t have enough horse under me to avoid it. But it was a good run and I have no complaints.”

Anthony Delpech (ninth on 11-2 chance Majmu): “She didn’t run any kind of race.”

Bernard Fayd’Herbe (16^th on 11-2 chance Wylie Hall): “I had a beautiful run until going through the 700m when he faltered. From then on he was a different horse and I expect something will show up.”

Chad Schofield (eighth on 33-1 shot The Conglomerate): “I was unlucky. I got interfered with quite badly just after we straightened.”

By Michael Clower

Picture: Nkosi Hlophe

The Quartet was the star on a day turnovers went through the roof.

Overall turnovers at Greyville’s Vodacom Durban July meeting on Saturday were up 10.62% but as far as the Durban July itself was concerned, the increase from last year was an outstanding 27.68%.

While the Pick 6 was marginally down and did not exceed the expected R12 million it appears the reason for that was the overwhelming support for the Quartet, which was the big winner on Durban July day. There was a R1-million added to kick start the pool but even taking that amount off, the pool was up almost 35% from last year’s figure of R10,655,842 to some 16.2 million.

The Quartet of Power King, Punta Arenas, Tellina and Futura paid R82,066 to 197.40 winners.

Also receiving a major boost was the Place pool, which increased by almost 34%. However, that was more expected as Vee Moodley, Executive Director: Sports betting for TAB points out. “This year we were back to 18 horses in the July whereas last year we had only 16. We also paid out six places this time against the five places last time.

“The Quartet was way higher than we predicted and in fact, is the highest Exotic pool ever offered by TAB,” said Moodley.

“This year was quite an eye opener and I have some exciting new ideas for next year’s race.”

The Win pool also showed a decent increase of 22.8% but again that can be put down to the increased number of runners.