James Crawford’s assistant trainer Tim Woodruff draws pole position for the defending champion Oriental Charm to loud applause from onlookers. (Candiese Lenferna Photography).
Greg Bortz could make July history in a few ways on July 5 if he were to win the Hollywoodbets Durban July with either defending champion Oriental Charm or with progressive three-year-old Native Ruler.
Oriental Charm drew in pole position to loud cheers and although this is not a draw many like because it requires a horse to be used to some extent to hold position or otherwise be trapped too far back on the rail, Greg appeared to view it as a perfect draw for the James Crawford-trained four-year-old Vercingetorix colt.
He said, “So happy with the draw . Perfect for a horse that hangs right and has gate speed! Will be on the rail without using up energy to get there. Compare that to the Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge (where he was drawn nine and had to be ued up significantly to get to the rail in front).”
Greg’s Justin Snaith-trained three-year-old Vercingetorix gelding Native Ruler is drawn on the opposite side of the barriers in position 18 of 18.
Greg said, “Obviously the widest draw of all. Not sure it is the worst draw for him, though. He is not a front runner, so we would be giving him a chance anyway. Who knows – wide draws sometimes allow horses to stay out of the crazy scrums, especially if you are going to drop out. For most horses, 18 is the worst draw. For Native, who can be temperamental, it forces us to drop him out. Whether he is good enough to run on, we shall see. But I don’t mind the draw.”
If Native Ruler does win Greg and his partner Gina Goldsmith will become the fifth owners to win the July in successive years with two different horses following J Osler in 1900 and 1901 with part-owned Verdant Green and outright-owned Apollo, FW Murray in 1912 and 1913 with Lombard and Caged Bird, Sheik Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum in 2010 and 2011 with the part-owned Bold Silvano and the part-owned Igugu and Chris van Niekerk in 2012 and 2013 with Pomodoro and Heavy Metal.
Oriental Charm, on the other hand, will become the seventh horse to win two Julys if he does it and the sixth to defend his crown.
Oriental Charm’s jockey JP van der Merwe will be out to become only the fifth jockey in history to win the July in successive years, joining C MacDonald (1900, 1901), Syd Garrett (1919, 1920), Anthony Delpech (2010, 2011) and Richard Fourie (2019, 2020).
Oriental Charm’s trainer James Crawford will be out to win the July for a third year in succession for Crawford Racing, although Justin Snaith has also achieved this feat with Do It Again winning in successive years in 2018 and 2019 and Belgarion winning in 2020.
Fred Murrray holds the record of four successive Julys from 1910 to 1913.
If Native Ruler wins it will be Justin Snaith’s sixth July victory, one short of the all time record of seven held by Syd Laird, but equal with the great Cape trainer Terrance Millard, who dominated the race from 1983 to 1990.
Tristan Godden gets only his second July ride on Native Ruler, his first having been on the Andre Nel-trained Capoeira in the 2020 lockdown July.
Oriental Charm has been priced up with the sponsor at 6/1 second favourite and Native Ruler is a 33/1 chance.
