JP van der Merwe will be out to become only the fifth jockey in history to win the July in successive years. (Candiese Lenferna Photography).
The jockey booking are always of interest in the Hollywoodbets Durban July and of particular interest this year is that only six current jockeys plying their trade in South Africa have won the big race before, Piere Strydom, who has four wins, Richard Fourie, who has three wins, S’Manga Khumalo, who has two wins, Gavin Lerena, who has one win, Kabelo Matsunyane, who has one win and JP van der Merwe, who has one win.
Piere Strydom needs just one more win to join Anton Marcus on a record five July victories, but it would seem he couldn’t get a ride this year due to the weights.
He is limited to rides of 58kg and more and having lost the ride on topweight See It Again to Raymond Danielson all of the rest of the rides of 57kg and above look to be taken, unless there is an unforeseen circumstance.
Richard Fourie will be out to join Strydom, Harold “Tiger” Wright and Anthony Delpech on four July wins, although he has not yet been declared on any runner.
Fourie’s first July win came after the Justin Snaith-trained Legislate successfully objected against Wylie Hall in the 2014 renewal and he then had successive July wins on Do It Again in 2019 and on Belgarion in the lockdown July of 2020. Fourie joined the elite group of C MacDonald (1900 and 1901), Syd Garrett (1919 and 1920) and Anthony Delpech (2010 an 2011) to win successive Julys. In 2021 he could have been part of numerous July records in one go as his mount Do It Again was attempting to become the first horse to win the July three times, Fourie was attempting to become the first jockey to ever win three Julys in a row, Justin Snaith was attempting to join the legendary Fred Murray as the first trainer to win four successive Julys, while Do It Again’s joint owners Bernard Kantor and Nick Jonsson were attempting to become the first to be winning owners for three years in succession. Alas, Do It Again was continually hampered down the straight and finished a desperately unlucky 1,90 length fourth.
S’Manga Khumalo will be out to land a third July win and his mount On My Honour looks to be the best value in the field at long odds of 33/1 as he looks to have some class. His trainer Glen Kotzen won the big race with Big City Life in 2009. Khumalo won with the Sean Tarry-trained Heavy Metal in 2013 and the Mike de Kock-trained Sparking Water in 2022.
JP van der Merwe’s first July ride was as recent as 2022 on the Paul Peter-trained Astrix. He will join the elite group of jockeys who have won two Julys in succession if Oriental Charm repeats his win of last year. The gallant horse is the second favourite at present.
Gavin Lerena will be out to land a second July victory on the Frank Robinson-trained Gr 3 Hollywoodbets Dolphins Cup Trial winner Madison Valley, who was about a 40/1 shot in the ante-post betting. Lerena’s first win was aboard the Harold Crawford and Michelle Rix-trained Kommetdieding in 2021. Robinson has been associated with many July runners either as assistant to Herman Brown Snr or Jnr or as a trainer himself and he has experienced victory when working as a schoolboy for Johnny Nicholson when Beau Art won in 1980 and he was working for Gael Thompson when the latter won with Jamaican Rhumba in 1982. In his time with the Browns they finished second with Versailles in 1984, second with Sleek Machine in 1996, second with Sushisan in 2006 and third with Orbison in 2010.
Kabelo Matsunyane had his first July ride in 2021 aboard the Tyrone Zackey-trained Johnny Hero and was victorious in his third July ride on the Brett Crawford-trained Winchester Mansion in 2023. He rides the Robyn Klaasen-trained Purple Pitcher, who was 50/1 in the ante-post betting, in his fifth July this year.
See It Again’s rider Raymond Danielson had his first July ride on the Dylan Cunha-trained Strategic News in 2008 and his best finish is third on the Herman Brown Jnr-trained Orbison in 2010. He also finished fourth on The Apache in 2011.
Royal Victory will be out to give Muzi Yeni an elusive July win. Yeni finished second with Got The Greenlight in the 2020 July, third with the same horse in 2021, third with Safe Passage in 2022 and third with Royal Victory last year and he has also had a fourth and a couple of fifths.
Chase Maujean has a third July ride on the Alan Greeff-trained My Best Shot, who is the big race’s dark horse as he has swept all before him in the East Cape and is unexposed against top class opposition, although he was defeated by six lengths on the poly by On My Honour in the RA Stakes over 1600m. Maujean’s first July ride was in 2017 on the Geoff Woodruff-trained Pagoda and in 2023 he finished fifth on the Robyn Klaasen-trained Second Base.
Calvin Habib is on the Betway Summer Cup winner Atticus Finch, who will be out to give trainer Alec Laird a second July win having won the centenary July in 1996 with London News. Habib had his first July ride in 2019 and this will be his fifth July ride, but he is yet to get a place.
Twice South Arican champion jockey and reigning New Zealand champion jockey Warren Kennedy will be riding the Fabian Habib-trained Confederate.
Kennedy has never won the July before, but regards his third place finish on the notoriously difficult Mike de Kock-trained 100/1 shot Forest Path in the 2009 July as one of his career best rides. His first ride in the July was in 2004 on the unplaced 100/1 shot Cousin John and his best finish other than his third place in 2009 was fourth on the Glen Kotzen-trained Eyes Wide Open in 2019.
Those were some of the riders declared by Monday morning.
The final field and their riders will all be revealed at the Hollywoodbets Durban July Final Field and Draw ceremony, which starts at 10 O’Clock on Tuesday morning with the live broadcast starting at 11 O’Clock.
