Billy Bowlegs Out To Defy 89 Years Of History

The Alec Laird-trained three-year-old The United States colt Billy Bowlegs will have to defy 89 years of Durban July history to win the big R5 million Hollywoodbets-sponsored event on Saturday.

Not since Sun Tor came back from a 161 day (23 week) layoff to win the July in 1934 has a horse won the country’s premier horse race coming off as long a layoff as Billy Bowlegs’ 63 day (nine week) layoff.

Alec explained the reason for the layoff, “He came out of the SA Derby well and so we made a decision to have a crack at the Premier’s Champions Challenge because we thought we had a chance of winning it. It’s a R2 million race and with the Daily News we knew we were going to be taking on See It Again and if we ran a good race there you are going to get a penalty. The other thing is with the July in mind I wouldn’t have been able to keep him at a peak for the full seven months. He did pick up a penalty for running fourth in the Champions Challenge but not as big a penalty as he probably would have got in the Daily News. And on the other hand if he had run in the Daily News and had a poor run it would have created a case to leave him out of the July. He ran a very creditable fourth in the Champions Challenge after having to ease a number of times and not getting into a rhythm.”

Laird continued, “After the Champions Challenge he had an easy time for four weeks just to give him a chance to let down a little and give his legs a rest.”

The yard then brought him back into full training.

The program has worked as the the heart rate monitors show him to be in tip top shape.

Laird revealed, “The other reason I thought it was worth trying to do it this way with the nine week gap is he is not a heavy horse and doesn’t need a hard race to be ready. He’s very clear winded and is a naturally fit horse.”

He said about the draw of five, “Five is a good draw but there is a lot of luck in running in the July, there is always a hard luck story. We will just try and stay out of the hard luck and try and get lucky.”

Sean Veale has been up to Randjesfontein three times to ride Billy Bowlegs and in one of those gallops he jumped out of the pens.

Alec said, “Sean has got no experience on the horse. He only rode him a year ago as a two-year-old. I can’t tell a jockey how a horse comes out the gates. He has to experience it himself. So we decided to give him that experience so he knows what to expect and how much he needs to ask him out of the gates to hold his position.”

Alec added, “Billy Bowlegs normally jumps well, but he is quite keen in the first bit. In his last run in the Challenge he was right there, he could have just about led, but he has never led in the past so we didn’t want to do that then.”

Billy Bowlegs got into the July through a win in the Gr 3 Sea Cottage Stakes over 1800m, a third place finish in the Gr 1 WSB SA Classic over 1800m, a second in the Gr 1 WSB SA Derby over 2450m and a fourth in the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge over 2000m.

Alec called the like of Champions Challenge third-placed Rain In Holland “a serious Group 1 horse” and pointed to Billy Bowlegs now being considerably better off with her at the weights.

If the July was a weight for age race like the Champions Challenge, Rain In Holland would carry 57,5kg and Billy Bowlegs 58kg.

Therefore, as he is getting 3kg from her, he is effectively 3,5kg better off with her for a long-head beating in the Champions Challenge.

Yet, Rain In Holland is 16/1 and Billy Bowlegs 33/1.

Furthermore, Laird believes Billy Bowlegs would have won the Gr 1 WSB SA Derby with a better draw.

As a hold up horse it was decided he had to be settled from the off, so there was no other option but to drop him to the back.

The plan worked because he settled immediately under Gavin Lerena.

Laird said, “But the way the race panned out, he just had way too much to do from the back of the field. He made up so much ground and was coming through, but he’s not Sea Cottage!”

With a better draw Laird believes he would have settled in a more handy position and he strongly believes he would have won the race.

He added that if Son Of Raj is rated with a good chance, as his 14/1 odds suggest, then Billy Bowlegs must also.

He felt the public had forgotten about Billy Bowlegs simply because it was so long since he had run.

It is 27 years since Alec won the July with London News in 1996.

However, he does take notice of number omens and recalls that he was 36 at the time of his July win and is now 63.

There is also the 63 days of Billy Bowleg’s layoff.

Alec hails from the July’s greatest racing family and will be out to score a 17th win for this dynasty.

His legendary hall of fame father Syd holds the July record of training seven winners, his grandfather Alec won the July as a jockey, His great Uncle Syd Garrett won two July’s as a jockey and three as a trainer, his cousins Dennis Drier and Charles Laird have each won one July and Alec has won one himself.

Billy Bowlegs travels down to KZN on Friday.

Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Wednesday June 28 Preview

Graeme Hawkins

Trainers Justin Snaith and Brett Crawford saddled four winners each at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday and that trend can very much continue this afternoon. The first of nine races goes off at 11:25 and the going is again likely to be very much on the heavy side.

In the opening race Snaith saddles the beautifully-bred Three Coins who is out of the champion race mare Bela-Bela. Snaith comments that she has shown pace at home and it would be no surprise to see her make a winning debut. Another debutante is the equally well-bred Cabaret who is out of the very fast multiple winner Val De Ra. There is very little form to go around in the opener and the betting market will be the best guide.

Snaith will fancy winning races two and three. In the first leg of the Bipot he sends out Snow Pilot who has been placed in all four starts to date. Richard Fourie teams up with the son of Lancaster Bomber and he should get the job done in this Maiden Juvenile Plate over 1200m. In the third race Fourie and Snaith team up with the promising son of Danon Platina, Harajuku. He has been placed in both starts to date and will appreciate the step up to 1600m this afternoon. Harajuku’s main dangers will be his stable companion Gravity and the fast improving Ozark but Harajuku appeals as a Place Accumulator banker.

The opening leg of the Pick 6 is a Juvenile Plate over 1400m and here there are many with winning chances. Brett Crawford saddles the Fire Away colt, Zil Moris, and I expect him to progress further and overturn past defeats at the hands of Spring Palace and Monumental. He is easy to back in the ante-post market and he certainly won’t have matters all his own way. Spring Palace, Monumental, Hluhluwe and My Golly Molly have all done enough to warrant serious respect and must be considered for Pick 6 permutations.

Race 5 looks a straight shoot-out between the Snaith and Crawford stables. Inside Story represents the latter for the Hollywood Syndicate and the son of Dynasty could be good enough to thwart the three-pronged attack from the Snaith yard. Pick of the Snaith team could be Liketheclappers but interestingly Fourie has chosen to partner Kimball O’Hara. Both are more than 300 days without a win but this is not a deep field and either could get their nose in front this afternoon. If there is to be a surprise it could come from the Vaughan Marshall-trained Paper Trail.

The sixth race on the card over 1000m looks wide open and any kind of result can be expected. If possible, include the field in Jackpot and Pick 6 perms and perhaps take a chance with Metar as a banker in the following event.

This is a Class 4 Handicap for Fillies and Mares over 1600m and Metar could be rewarded for her good consistent form. Crawford has elected to take the cheek pieces off and race the daughter of Soft Falling Rain with blinkers instead. Her biggest danger could be the Bass-Robinson trained Philosophise whose last win came over today’s distance. Island Treasure, Cloud Chaser and Perilla all have claims, but I fancy that Metar may have their measure this afternoon.

The Snaith and Crawford teams dominate the eighth race, saddling seven of the nine runners between them. Doubling Up will be partnered by Fourie and gets a narrow vote to score at the expense of Crawford’s Legal Chitchat who will be ridden by first-choice jockey, Louis Mxothwa. Legal Chitchat took some time to win his maiden but his first run in handicap company, when finishing third behind Future Turn in a competitive race, was a pleasing effort. Tothemoonandback has been costly to follow but he enjoys the benefit of pole position and with Grant Van Niekerk in the irons, it would come as no shock to see the son of Twice Over bounce back to winning ways. Donder Storm will be ridden by champion jockey elect Keagan de Melo and is not without a winning chance in a competitive low-grade event. The inconsistent Mothership is well handicapped but seldom runs two races alike.

The ninth and final race looks to be at the mercy of the Snaith stable and he could easily saddle the first three home. But in which order? Fourie has elected to ride Mucho Dinero who has his second run since being gelded and the son of Twice Over has been priced up favourite in the ante-post market. However, stable companions Royal Watch and Night Ruler come into the race with good consistent form and it could not have been an easy choice for Fourie to make.

Van Niekerk rides Night Ruler while JP Van der Merwe, who enjoys a very good winning strike rate for Snaith, is aboard Royal Watch. All three need to be included in exotic bet permutations but if there is to be a gatecrasher to Snaith’s party it could come in the form of either Sudden Song from the Crawford stable or Coronation Time from the stable of Greg Ennion.

Former Greyville Chief Handler Will Give Dave The King Wings

A former Greyville chief handler, Dave Goudie, will have his ashes spread over the hallowed Hollywoodbets Greyville turf shortly before the start of the Hollywoodbets Durban July and it is thus fitting that a runner in the big race is called Dave The King.

“The Pedigree Obsessor” sent in this tribute to his good friend Dave Goudie.

It adds yet another angle to a historical horse race which in every renewal never fails to attract a myriad of fascinating stories.

The Pedigree Obsessor   

Odds Of DAVE THE KING May Be Shortening With A Spiritual Advantage ….

This industry, like life itself, offers many anecdotes, memories and stories that cumulatively enrich and reflect on the human endeavour. Often these experiences bring a value that cannot be quantified in material terms.   

This is one of those real life experiences that just might translate somewhat into a quantifiable value for one of the 1st timers in the 2023 Hollywoodbets Durban July.   

Many readers will not know the central character here nor be overly interested in the facts around him, but that is irrelevant and are only shared to give brief context. What matters is the message it carries and that this character was one of us who loves/loved horseracing and the horse.  

He was very close friends with the late trainer Des Rich who took the beautifully bred LIGHTNING SHOT (Clouds by Photogenic) to victory in the 1977 Durban July. So close were they that Des gifted our chief character and his wife with a nicely bred but unable to race pitch black colt half-brother of LIGHTNING SHOT named CHARACTER. They treasured him like a “son” until he died on their smallholding in the western suburb hills of Durban. 

DAVID ROBERT GOUDIE was a simple, unpretentious, salt-of-the-earth man born and raised as tough as they come. He could and would stand his ground against any other regardless of their assumed societal rank if he believed he was justified in doing so and they were wrong. He “skrikked for niks” and he wore his heart on his sleeve. He tolerated no B-S that confronted him and many a hapless offender would know exactly where they stood with him in no uncertain terms. If DRG liked you and there was a mutual respect, he would defend you with all his worth. But if you crossed him you best “pasop” and stay the hell away. As tough as DRG was, he was a real man. A genuine man. A dependable man. A man the world needs and will sorely miss. He passed away late 2022 unexpectedly and his last wishes were for his ashes to be scattered in 4 locations, which his beloved surviving wife Wendy has dutifully carried out. 

1. At Loftus Versfeld the home of his much- adored Blue Bulls that he supported undyingly, despite being a born and lived Natalian. So loyal a man was he that he considered it his duty to don his finest Blue Bulls attire and head off to the local KZN Pub/Club to support his team against the opposition even though he may have been the only one in blue in the room. A part of him is with his beloved Bulls now.  
2. In Durban Harbour where he worked for most of his life for Transnet and probably because he felt that he owed that place much. His spirit floats in those waters now too. 
3. At Parkhill Bowling Club in Durban North, where he and Wendy were blessed with many special years joyously socialising and of course he winding up the locals with his blue attire in the pub in the homeland of the black & white.
4. At Greyville Racecourse where he served many memorable years as the Chief Handler in the 1970’s and into the 1980’s responsible for the loading of horses into the Starting Stalls including many Durban July Fields.  This final part of his wish is about to unfold. 

When approached with the request a few weeks ago to enact the final leg of DRG’s wish, Kurt Grunewald, Gold Circle’s Senior Racetrack Manager, had no hesitation in generously obliging.  

In fact he went a step further in offering to personally scatter the remaining ashes of DRG on course before the start of this years Durban July, which is an incredible posthumous honour for the late simple man of men. It has also touched the very heart of his wife Wendy, herself a daughter of the soil and unshakable principle. The last task she can do for her dear DRG is nearing completion in a manner that should also touch the heart of any other warm blooded, breathing human. On July Day Wendy will be watching from home and, in all understandable likelihood, be overcome with emotion knowing that her DRG will be tickled pink, although he was the kind of man to never admit it.  

In the big race starting stalls that day will be the very appropriately named DAVE THE KING, the first son of an ordinary but rock-solid sire in Global View. DTK is making his first bid, for his sire too, to compete in Africa’s Biggest Horseracing event and from all reports put in a magnificently eye-opening gallop this past week and quietly fancied by many.  

When DTK pings those gates on Saturday he will surely have the advantage of being carried by  the spiritual wings of his late namesake that is David Robert Goudie, a King of a Bloke, who will be shouting DTK home from the clouds with the very same gusto he did his Blue Bulls.   

Win or lose DAVE THE KING is affording a good man a final farewell that neither he nor Wendy could ever have dreamed possible.  

If DAVE THE KING wins the 2023 Durban July another legendary story will be written into the annals this incredible industry. One that carries so much meaning for the human spirit thanks to the horse. 

Run well DAVE THE KING, DRG will be right there every stride of the 2200m and, whatever the outcome, will beam with pride and an over-filled heart. 

Rest well David Robert Goudie.