Star Major looks to be a progressive sort with a lot of class and scope for further improvement, so he will be worth following in the Champions Season, although his Hollywoodbets Durban July ante-post price does not look to be great value at present (Picture: Wayne Marks)
First entries for the 2026 Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July close at 11:00 on Monday, 20 April and will be released on Wednesday, 22 April.
Looking at Hollywoodbets ante-post betting there are two horses who could be fair value, Viva’s Liberte at 40/1 (no place price at present) and On My Honour at 75/1 (12/1 for the first four).
Star Major makes appeal too, but 25/1 (4/1 for the first four) seems a bit skinny at this stage.
Viva’s Liberte had an interrupted preparation into the Gr 1 Lucky Fish Cape Derby, so did well to finish a three length third, especially considering he might have gone a bit too fast in the early stages.
Star Major caught the eye with a late rattle in the Cape Derby. The eye-catching aspect of his sectionals is that his final 200m was his fastest sectional and was recorded as 92% by Raceform (i.e. the time of 11.66 seconds was 92 % of the average). It is unusual for a horse to speeding up at the end of a race, they are usually slowing down and those who appear to be speeding up are usually just slowing down at a lesser rate than the others.
On My Honour was progressive last season and was all set to show his true colours in the Hollywoodbets Durban July, but the race just did not pan out well for him This season it has not gone well for him either as he was brought down in the Betway Summer Cup. The feeling is this good looking horse has never yet been seen at his best and if all goes well into the July and he gets a good draw he could finally show everybody what he is made of.
