Eight On Eighteen Not A Certain July Starter

The WSB Met and Splashout Cape Derby winner and ruling Hollywoodbets Durban July favourite Eight On Eighteen is an entry in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 and so is his conqueror in the WSB Guineas,  Sail The Seas, but the Justin Snaith yard said whether this pair particpates in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July or not would only be decided by their respective owners after the Daily News 2000.

Two notable absentees from the Daily News 2000 entries are the Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge winner Fire attack and the Gr 1 SA Derby winner Legend Of Arthur. Fire Attack is out with a bruised foot, while Legend Of Arthur’s abesnteeism might well signal his intention to target the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July. He is merit rated only 117 at present and running against the 127 rated pair Eight On Eighteen and Sail The Seas in the Daily News would threaten his chances of getting into the July with a low weight.

The well regarded Justin Snaith-trained trio Okavango, Native Ruler and Gran Canaria are among the Daily News entries.

Okavango and Native Ruler were at the head of the market for the Gr 3 WSB 1900 on Saturday, but little went their way in the running and they finished fourth and ninth respectively. Their connections are now in a quandary, because a close up run in the Daily News would possibly get them into the July but would carry the risk of copping a massive merit rating raise, whilst a run in the Cup Trial instead, a race the yard said they would also be nominated for, would likely mean them having to win that race to ensure inclusion in the July final field.

Gran Canaria is only merit rated 80, but he had some good maiden form, including finishing just a length behind Native Ruler over 1600m.

The next highest rated runner among the Daily News entries behind Eight On Eighteen is the Alec Laird-trained Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas winner Parisian Walkway on 121. However, he has been disappointing in three races beyond a mile, so has something to prove.

The Gr 1 SA Classic winner, the Fabian Habib-trained Confederate, merit rated 118, is an entry.

There is only one filly among the twelve entries, the Mike de Kock-trained Gr 2 Wilgerbosdrift Gauteng Fillies Guineas winner Spumante Dolce, who is merit rated 117. She is also entered in the Gr 1 Woolavington 2000.

As it stands Eight On Eighteen and Sail The Seas will have to carry 57kg in the July, although they will actually be the two best weighted runners in the race according to official merit ratings. The July weights will be set  with See It Again as the benchmark, because he is the highest net merit rated runner on 127. There is a clause that three-year-olds can carry a maximum of 57kg and that is 1kg less than Eight On Eighteen and Sail The Seas would carry in a true handicap as they would in the latter case only be getting the 2kg weight for age allowance that three-year-olds get in the month of July over the 2200m trip.

Therefore, Eight On Eighteen and Sail The Seas will officially be 1kg well in. However, 57kg would nevertheless still be the highest weight ever carried to victory by a three-year-old in the big race if one of them won.

Entries for the Daily News 2000 and Woolavington 2000 are shown below: