Gavin van Zyl has a string of seven and one reserve for Vodacom Durban July day on Saturday, including the Gr 1 contender Redcarpet Captain.

Captain Al colt Redcarpet Captain was still below his best when finishing a 2,5 length second to Seventh Plain in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over 1200m at Scottsville last time and now jumps from a tough draw of 17 under regular rider S’Manga Khumalo in the Gr 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m. Van Zyl said, “He had a setback before his run in the SA Nursery and didn’t have a lot of time to recover from that, so in the Gold Medallion he wasn’t in the space that he is now. We expect him to be better on Saturday than he has been in any of his runs so far. He has a bad draw, so we need a bit of luck in running, but as far as his physical well-being goes we couldn’t ask for better, we are really upbeat about him.”

Redcarpet Captain (Nkosi Hlophe)

The yard runs the talented Jet Master gelding MLJet in the Listed Canon centre Handicap over 1600m from draw eight under Warren Kennedy. He was looking a picture at Summerveld yesterday and Van Zyl said, “In the Daily News he moved right up into contention, but didn’t go through with it. It was a good run in the blinkers and the 1600m will be right down his alley. He’s got a decent draw and on his best form he will be one of the horses to beat. We’re very happy with his preparation.”

Heart Of A Lion runs in the Gr 2 SABC Gold Vase over 3000m and Van Zyl said, “He’s run third in his last three stakes races and they were good thirds particularly in his last run in the Lonsdale (2400m) where he flew up from last and was not beaten far. He’s got eleven draw to overcome but Muzi (Yeni) does know him quite well and we expect him to be in the hunt. He is very well in himself and he stays all day.”

MLJet (Nkosi Hlophe)

Sun On Africa runs in the Gr 3 tabGold 2200 from draw four under Kennedy and Van Zyl said, “He beat St. Tropez last time and on that form, and on his second to Bezanova, he has the ability. When he picks up his game he can run with the best. He only ran seven lengths back in the Lonsdale (2400m) but went far too fast and Warren Kennedy learnt a lot about him that day. He beat St Tropez next time based on a better pace. If he rides him well he definitely has a chance with a good draw and a light weight.”

In race one over 1400m on the poly the yard run the progressive Fort Wood gelding Down Under as well as Just Ask Me. Van Zyl said, “Down Under is very consistent and has been working very well. He went to Greyville and galloped next to Redcarpet Captain and did very, very nicely. On his best form from draw one he comes into the race with a very good chance. He’s getting better and better. Just Ask me is always thereabouts, we also targeted this race. He had had a break before his last start at Scottsville and seemed to tire. He is better on the poly at Greyville and on his best form he certainly has a quartet chance.”

Se Agabor runs in the second over 1400m on the poly and has also landed a pole position draw. Van Zyl said, “She has been running n some tough company in Johannesburg and has run in two Listed races, one in PE and one on the sand. Then against the colts last time she didn’t appreciate the going, it’s getting a bit firm for her. So it’s a tough field but she’s won on the poly and back on the poly we can expect an improved run.”

By David Thiselton

VDJ betting now open: Jackpot ONE Leg 1 starts in race 5 – estimated pool R2,1million.

Paul Peter’s comments are always worth listening carefully to as he is one of the most transparent trainers in the country and of his team of five runners on Vodacom Durban July day he regards Miracle Rising as his best.

Judpot filly Miracle Rising ran in a few features while still a maiden, including the Gr 1 Alan Robertson over 1200m, and when stepped up to the 1400m last time at Scottsville she beat a well regarded sort in the Mike de Kock-trained Gain Ground. The latter then franked the form. She is now drawn five in the Gr 1 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper over 1400m. Ian Sturgeon rides. Peter said, “She’s come on so much in work. She had a small niggle when she ran in the Allan Robertson, but she’s improved a lot since she won her maiden and I think at that price she’s definitely worth including in all exotics.”

Mogok Master (Nkosi Hlophe)

Peter’s Mogok colt Mogok Master was most unlucky in the Listed Gatecrasher Stakes over 1400m last time out when his running was taken up when travelling well at the top of the straight, so he is better than his six length fifth suggests. He runs in the Gr 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m from draw 18 with Sturgeon up and Peter said, “He’s a very nice horse. He is looking for a bit further. He’s come on a lot from that last run and is working exceptionally well, but with that bad draw he can end up in the back end of quartets.”

He runs Mod Barley in the tenth, a Compendium Insurance Brokers MR 104 Handicap over 1000m on the polytrack, and said, “He loves the poly even at work. He’s up in class but he’s a nice horse, he’s quite honest and I think he will run in the placings. Keagan de Melo knows him, he’s worked him, and he’s confident he will be right there.” He is drawn well and Peter confirmed that not only does he have plenty of early speed, but he should stay all the way to the line too as the Vaal 1200m course record holder.

He runs the talented three-year-old Dupont gelding Forest Fox in the Non-Black Type eThekwini Sprint over 1200m on the poly from a nice draw and said, “I just feel he doesn’t stay,  he just doesn’t finish his races, over a mile he moves up like a winner and then starts plodding. If he can produce his homework that field will never beat him, but he comes to the races and is a bit of a thief, he tries to get out of it. He was squeezed on the fence last time, but being Forest Fox he looks for any excuse and that was one of them.”

He runs the Just As Well gelding Just Africa in the KZN Yearling Sale Million over 1300m from draw eight and said, “He’s been working exceptionally well since we gelded him, he needed gelding, so put a line through his last run. If he gets the 1300m he will be a big runner, but it’s a 50/50 call whether he will. If it was a 1000m you could have your maximum on him, but I’m worried about 1300. He eats well and we have been able to put the work into him after his gelding. He’s fit.”

By David Thiselton

Lead Picture: Miracle Rising (Nkosi Hlophe)

VDJ betting now open: Jackpot ONE Leg 1 starts in race 5 – estimated pool R2,1million.

Glen Kotzen has a team of seven for Vodacom Durban July day, including three Gr 1 contenders, and he regards the yard’s Captain Al filly Princess Royal as their best runner.

Princess Royal, who is a half-sister to the Kotzen-trained four-time Gr 1-winning Equus Champion Princess Victoria, finished an unlucky one length second last time out in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson over 1200m at Scottsville when having to come around the field for a run. She is drawn six under stable jockey Greg Cheyne in Saturday’s Gr 1 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper over 1400m and Kotzen said, “She was unlucky in the Allan Robertson, she had to check twice. But she is definitely better over further. She’s drawn six and with luck in running I think they are going to battle to beat her.”

Kotzen’s classy and versatile five-year-old Jet Master mare Jet Belle was badly hampered when finishing a 2,6 length sixth in the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint but she has a chance to make amends from draw 6 in the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m, which has attracted a star studded field. Kotzen said, “If it wasn’t for bad luck she would have had no luck at all in that last race and we had thought the race was there for the taking. But she’s doing well, she’s drawn well and she can turn it on. She is beautiful over a mile and I think the horse we have to beat is Carry On Alice.”

The yard run the Trippi colt Hip Hop Dancer in the Gr 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe over 1400m, and he is coming off a one length third to Star Chestnut over 1400m at Scottsville, where he over raced early. Kotzen said, “The jockey reported he was making a respiratory noise, so we scoped him, he had muck in his trachea and we put him onto a course of anti-biotics and backed off him. He’s definitely up to the task but it’s going to be tough because he’s had an interruption to his program and is drawn wide.”

They run Gone Baby Gone in the Gr 2 SABC Gold Vase over 3000m and Kotzen said, “He was touched off over 3200m in the Chairman’s at Kenlworth, but they went a crawl and sprinted for home. We’re not quite sure if he actually stays in this class off a decent pace. We are having another crack at it, he’s exceptionally well and we might change tactics and hold him back a bit to give him more chance.”

Kotzen runs “the dream filly” Royal Pleasure in the Non-Black Type KZN Yearling Sale Million over 1300m, where she is drawn 13, and he said, “She saw the course on Friday over 1300m, working with a Gr 1 horse, we thought he put up a tremendous gallop and saw out the distance.  We changed tactics in the Allan Robertson and held her up and they proved to be the wrong tactics, but she wasn’t disgraced in running fifth. She’s handicapped to win the race, she won’t have a problem with the draw because she’s quick out the gates and we think she will see out the trip.”

They run the progressive three-year-old Royal Air Force filly Cathy Specific in the second race, a MR 84 Handicap for fillies and mares over 1400m on the polytrack, and Kotzen said, “It’s a big weight for a three-year-old but she’s very classy, she’s a lovely filly, she’s working incredibly well.”

The yard’s talented three-year-old Jet Master colt Light The Lights runs in the Gr 3 tabGold 2200 from draw six under Piere Strydom. Kotzen has always believed he is looking for this trip and said, “His biggest problem is that he’s a colt, he would be a better horse if we gelded him, but with blinkers on his work has been spot on and maybe he is now concentrating instead of trying to get out of it. We are going to hopefully see a different horse at the track.”

By David Thiselton

Picture: Glen Kotzen

VDJ betting now open: Pick 6 starts in Race 4 – estimated pool R12million.

After spending 40 years in the Judges Box at the three KwaZulu-Natal race courses, Warren Eisele and Colin Buckham have been pushed into retirement by the labour laws.

The two have been the longest serving judges in the history of South African racing and July 31 will be their last day in the office.

Eisele is third generation in the judge’s box. My grandfather was the judge at Auckland Park in Johannesburg at the Pony and Galloway Club in 1896. Five years later he moved to Durban and started with the Durban Turf Club.”

Twenty one years later he handed over to his son Jack, who was his then assistant, and Jack later handed over to Warren. “My first July as an assistant to my father was in 1964, the year Numeral won for George Azzie and Raymond Rhodes.”

Eleven years later, Buckham joined Eisele in the judge’s box, 1975 to be exact. Colin was then an assistant handicapper at the Durban Turf Club and having to watch every race as a judge was of great benefit when it came to handicapping as in those days there was no Tellytrack or YouTube to watch replays.

Buckham also comes with a strong racing pedigree. “Both my father and grandfather were trainers. My father Jimmy started out as a jockey and was ignominiously dumped at the start of his one and only ride in the July when he got caught up in the starting tapes,” he chuckles.

“I’ve been racing since 1954. When I was 10-years-old I used to sit in my father’s car next to the track and watch the races. Children were not allowed on course in those days.”

Eisele and Buckham have seen major changes to the photo finish over the years, starting with the “wet” photos that were developed in a chemical bath and then dropped down a drain pipe from the photo finish situated above the judge’s box. There were times when the rubber band used to keep the photo rolled up slipped and the photo unravelled resulting in the photo getting stuck in the pipe which caused major consternation. “Harvey Topham was the chief judge in those days and his wife Joan operated the photo finish camera. When the photo got stuck, Harvey used some choice language up the pipe.”

Today with modern technology the photo finish picture is almost instantly displayed on a television monitor in the judge’s box but old habits die hard and both men can be seen in the paddock before each race marking down in their race card any discerning features that may come in handy when judging a tight finish.

Warren and Colin are characters in their own right and July 31 will be a sad day in the annals of South African racing.

By Andrew Harrison

Picture: Warren Eisele and Colin Buckham

VDJ betting now open: Pick 6 starts in Race 4 – estimated pool R12million.

KZN Champion trainer Duncan Howells believes his star filly, Same Jurisdiction, only has the draw to beat in the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m on Vodacom Durban July day. He has other fair chances on the day too, despite having generally enjoyed no luck with barrier positions.

Same Jurisdiction ran on strongly in the Gr 2 Tibouchina Stakes over 1400m at Greyville last time out, also from a wide draw, to be beaten 0,5 lengths by Garden Province contender Hammie’s Hooker. However, she was carrying a 2kg Gr 1 penalty compared to Hammie’s 1kg Gr 2 penalty, so she will effectively be 1kg better off on Saturday in this weight for age race. Furthermore, Howells said she had needed that run and had “improved tenfold” since.

He said, “Her workouts have been exceptional and if she overcomes the draw she will win.”

Anton Marcus retains the ride and they jump from draw 14 in a classy field of 15.

Howells’ other Gr 1 contender on the day is the Elusive Fort filly Lauderdale who runs in the Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper over 1400m. Last time out over the course and distance she ran one wide in a handy position and found another gear halfway down the straight to fly home and be beaten just 0,35 lengths in the Listed Devon Air Stakes. However, the form of that race is not looking too good at present.

Howells said, “We fancied her to just about win last time (despite 12/1 odds). She is above average and is well in herself but has the draw to overcome.”

Howells has three runners in the Gr 2 SABC Gold Vase over 3000m. Crime Victim comes off a facile win over 1950m in a Winter Challenge final at Scottsville. However, he is 0,5kg worse off with Solid Speed from a Greyville 2400m race in which the latter beat him by 2,25 lengths. He was slightly baulked in that race, before staying on strongly so should stay the trip despite his pedigree, suggesting he is not a certainty too. He has the advantage of a pole position draw and S’Manga Khumalo aboard so this resolute galloper could be a big runner.

Howells said, “All three of the runners will see out the trip. Crime Victim is exceptionally well and has improved a lot since his last outing. Beewithmee (drawn 6 Donovan Dillon rides) was a bit disappointing last time but stays well so we are taking our chances and he has improved in his workouts in the last couple of weeks. Roc N’ Rose (draw 13 Warren Kennedy rides) has a nice galloping weight and I think her last couple of races can be ignored due to the very slow pace in both. I think she is crying for this extra distance.”

Howells runs Right Approach three-year-old gelding Easy Lover from draw 11 out of 16 in the Listed Canon Business centre Handicap over 1600m and confirmed that as a horse who likes to find cover he is not the type that is suited to wide draws. He added, “He is well in himself and consistent, so as he is quite well weighted we are taking a chance. He is capable of running in the first four, but the draw could be his undoing. I think he is looking for a bit further now, but he is coming off a break and running fresh so should enjoy the 1600m.”

The yard run the Lateral filly Trini’s Colateral in the Non-Black Type KZN Yearling Sale Million over 1300m and Howells said, “She’s a nice filly but it’s difficult from the draw. It’s a once off race so we have to take our chances. She will enjoy the extra 100m and if she overcomes the draw she is set to run in the first four.”

By David Thiselton

Picture: Same Jurisdiction (Nkosi Hlophe)

VDJ betting now open: Pick 6 starts in Race 4 – estimated pool R12million.