Turf Talk Newsletter -9 June, 2026

Star Major’s win in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 has seen him go top of the log (Picture: Race Coast) 

The Gr 1 Daily News 2000 winner Star Major is top of the second Hollywoodbets Durban July Log and must have trainer James Crawford dreaming of more July glory.

The final field panel of experts, who decide the log are:
Chairman: Raf Sheik – Race Coast
Aveen Sewpersad – Race Coast
Kurt Felix – Race Coast
Lennon Maharaj – NHA Chief Handicapper
Gabriel Soma – 4Racing
Luciano Passerini – 4Racing

James Crawford was assistant to his father Brett when the latter won two Julys in succession with Winchester Mansion and Oriental Charm in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

He played a big part in those victories as he looked after the Randjesfontein yard from where their July preparations were done and he now has the opportunity to win the big race in his own name with Star Major.

The Querari three-year-old is still an entire, but is nevertheless still improving continuously.

As a Gr 1 winner he has a higher profile than Oriental Charm had. The latter was nevertheless a progressive three-year-old as well.

Also in dreamland will be French jockey Mickaelle Michel, who could never have believed she would be associated with a July favourite just six months after venturing out here with the very purpose of winning Gr 1 races abroad.

She became only the second woman in SA history to win a Gr 1 when Star Major ran on strongly to land the Daily News 2000.

The next three positions in the log are occupied by fillies, the dual Gr 1-winning Cape three-year-old Wish List, the Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup winner Mocha Blend, who is a local hope, and the Highveld’s Gr 1-winning heroine Hazy Dazy.

Legal Counsel and Gladatorian ran second and third in Saturday’s Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge and are the next two in line.

The two supplementary entries Zeitz and Aladdin’s Lamp have entered the log in positions 13 and 19 respectively off their 110 merit ratings.

The make up of the log is sure to attract discussion, although the methodology used by the panelists can be read towards the bottom of this article after some of the speculating.

How Hazy Dazy went from 14th on the log to 4th is going to be a tad confusing to many as she was well beaten in her only run since the first log came out in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000.

However, the two newest members of the final field panel of experts, Gabriel Soma and Luciano Passerini, both from 4Racing, were not present when the first log was constructed.

Mocha Blend, who won Johannesburg’s traditional greatest race, has risen 12 places despite having only having had one unplaced run since the first log came out.

However, it is splitting hairs to question such rises, because both fillies have done enough to be virtual certainties for the final field.

The contentious positions are always the ones at the foot of the log and those who are in the group on the outside looking in.

The relatively highly rated pair Shoot The Rapids and Holding Thumbs are both in the outside-looking-in group and it is probably based on their best performances being over further than the July trip of 2200m.

However, the 119-rated Holding Thumbs was only a shorthead behind My Best Shot in the Algoa Cup over 200m when receiving just half-a-kilogram and the latter made the July field last year.

The 117-rated Shoot The Rapids was a 1,60 second in the Listed Sledgehammer over 1750m, before running second in the Gr 3 Gold Bowl over 3200m, and he gave I Salute You 2.5kg and a 2,15 length beating in the Sledgehammer.

Yet the 113-rated I Salute You is in a comfortable 15th place on the log. However, he deserves to be because he finished second in the Gr 3 Anthonij Rupert Premier Trophy over 1800m, beaten just two lengths at level weights by Okavango, and he also finished second in Saturday’s Gr 3 Betgames Cup Trial over 1800m,

Regulation is only merit rated 106 and is in 20th place on the log, but he did run above that rating when third in the Premier Trophy. Bad luck is probably not considered when structuring the log, but it has to be said Regulation is clearly a better horse than his merit rating and form suggests as his last three runs have just not panned out well and yet he was still third and second respectively in the first two of them (the Premier Trophy and the WSB 1900). He beat the like of log incumbents Zeitz and Native Ruler at level weights in the Premier Trophy.

Shoot The Rapids and Holding Thumbs both get a chance to prove a point in the Gr 3 Lucky Fish Winter Stakes over 2400m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

The above is all just speculating, because in the spirit of transparency the methodology used by the panelists has been shared:

It should be borne in mind that there are a number of key considerations for determining rankings, including official merit ratings, and in the spirit of transparency, the following should be noted:

• Where an entry has been selected by all panel members, that individual is on the log. In this instance, there were 16 entries which received 5/5 votes.
• Entries with a 4/5 vote are next.
• Where there are multiple 4/5 entries, but still in the top 18, then they are included.
• In this instance, there were 3 entries with 4/5 votes vying for the next 2 places in the 18 horse field.
• The next weighting is a Grade 1 win. Hazy Dazy qualifies and she receives the 17^th slot. (Editor – in the official log she appears to be 4th?)
• Then we have Grade 1 placed. Minogue filled the 18^th slot.
• The next benchmark would be a Grade 2 win and Grade 2 placed.
• Then follows a Grade 3 victory – this brings Aladdin’s Lamp into 19 on the log.
• We then have entries that received 3/5 votes and, where necessary, the ranking is based on the individual’s best Graded performance.
• In this application of the criteria, where we had two entries with 3/5 votes, Regulation was placed in a Grade 2, which trumps Holding Thumbs victory in a Grade 3.

The log is an important part of the Hollywoodbets Durban July and adds to the drama and the tension as the announcement of the final field approaches.

The 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July timeline:

•         Final supplementary entries: 11h00 Monday 15 June

•         Weights: Monday 15 June

•         Final declarations: 11h00 Monday 22 June

•         Final field & draws: Tuesday 23 June

•         Public gallops: Thursday 25 June

General admission entrance tickets are on sale via Ticketpro (www.ticketpro.co.za).

All the event and racing information is available on www.hollywoodbetsdurbanjuly.co.za.

Kikkuli (right) was denied by a headbob in the Gr 3 Jersey Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting in 2024 (Picture: Supplied)

Paardeberg Stud is one of South Africa’s newest studs, but they have managed to import one of the best bred stallions to ever set foot in this country and the pedigree was given another major boost last week.

Kikkuli would likely never have been considered for Sale had he won the Gr 3 Jersey Stakes over seven furlongs at the Royal Ascot meeting instead of losing it literally by the bob of a head.

He is by the Cartier Horse Of The Year Kingman (Invincible Spirit), who was Timeform-rated 134, and he is a half-brother to the one and only Frankel.

The latest boost to Kikkuli’s pedigree came in Friday’s Epsom Oaks.

The Oaks was won in stunning fashion by the Joseph O’Brien-trained Frankel filly Thundering On and in second place was the Dubawi filly Legacy Link, who is out of the full-sister to Frankel, Chiasma.

Derby-winning trainer Roger Charlton was the trainer of Frankel’s dam Kind and in recognition of that Juddmonte sent Kikkuli to him to train. Roger’s son Harry took over the yard when Roger retired at the end of 2023.

Kikkuli’s Jersey Stakes defeat in 2024 was just his fourth career start, having finished second on debut as a juvenile, before winning his first race as a three-year-old and then finshing second in a Listed race.

He had put on some nice condition over the winter and would have been cherry ripe for the Jersey Stakes.

However, after the promise of that run he was thrown into the deep end and in retrospect might not have been quite ready for it.

He ran in a Gr 1 in France just two weeks after the Royal Ascot meeting and then six weeks later finished just half-a-length back in fourth in the Gr 2 Hungerford Stakes over seven furlongs at Newbury.

Less than two months later he was racing in America, taking in the Gr 1 Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes at Keeneland. He could well have gone close there under Frankie Dettori had he not been badly hampered late after displaying a fine turn of foot. The race was won by Carl Spackler, who ended his career as a three-time Gr 1 winner, and Kikkuli was only beaten two lengths despite the bad interference he suffered.

However, the experience might have affected him as his last two starts in a Listed  and a Gr 3 respectively, both over seven furlongs at Haydock in May last year, saw him running a touch disappointingly.

Kikkuli was sold under the agreement that he would never race again, which was somewhat of a pity as he could have made an impact out here. In fact before finding out about the agreement Paardeberg had planned to try and win a Gr 1 in America with him and had been confident he would achieve it given the time to find himself.

However, his blood is a valuable asset to South Africa and this magnificent looking stallion should attract a flood of bookings from breeders.

Quickstepgal (far side) just pips Mon Petite Cherie after a ding-dong tussle in the Gr 2 HKJC World Pool Tibouchina Stakes (Picture: Race Coast)  

Trainer Tienie Prinsloo believes the best trip for his crack filly Quickstepgal is the 1400m trip of the Gr 2 HKJC World Pool Tibouchina Stakes,  which she won on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Greyville under Keagan de Melo, albeit by a whisker and she had to survive an objection too.

He said, “We will go into the Ridgemont Garden Province now and we will see what happens there. It is 1600m, it is a little bit further, I generally prefer the 1400m, but 1600m is also her game and Keagan is at the top of his game, so I think it will all go well. It’s a month away but we will have her ready for the race.”

Quickstepgal was given a fine front-running ride by Gavin Lerena when winning the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas, but the jockeys will be wary of alowing her to dictate again.

Tienie said, “She is a frontrunner, she likes to be handy, and the weight for age conditions will suit us bettter than the conditions of the Tibouchina.”

He had gone into the Tibouchina with high expectations and the Greenacres Trust-bred Veringetorix filly, who is owned by Laurence Wernars and Harry Willson, didn’t disappoint.

Tienie said, “The filly had been working well and we went in confident. They had a ding-dong battle down the straight (her and Mon Petite Cherie to whom she gave 2kg) and they objected against us, but at the end of the day it went our way. That is how the game works and we got it, so I was very happy with that.”

Opinion has been divided on the objection outcome as the horses fought it out alongside each other at close quarters, with some saying Quickstepgal had ducked  to her right late and hampered Mon Petite Cherie, but Quickstepgal’s supporters have counteracted by saying Quickstepgal was knocked sideways, due to Mon Petite Cherie bumping her hindquarters, which created the impression she had ducked out.

One of the difficulties of judging objections from the television footage at Hollywoodbets Greyville is that the front on footage is provided by cameras that appear to be in line with the inside portion of the track. Therefore, the horses on the outside appear to be hanging out even if they are in fact running straight. One can only judge how straight they are running by comparing them to the shadow of the outside rail.

However, the clearest footage is supplied to the stipendiary stewards and their professional opinion has the final say.

Tienie elaborated, “From the 400m mark they were close together and there was a little bit of bumping here and there, but not serious enough to take the race away from her. At the end of the day the stipes made the decision and they made tthe right one.”

Quickstepgal has had 12 starts for six wins, including a Gr 1, a Gr 2, a Gr 3 and she has earned R1,751,562, a good return on the original R450,000 she was purchased for at the KZN Yearling Sale, although Wernars and Willson bought her later in training for an undiclosed sum.

The Real Prince (closest) just pips Eight On Eighteen in the 2025 Hollywoodbets Durban July. Both have been scratched from this year’s July and are both targeting the Gr 1 Champions Cup (Candiese Lenferna Photography) 

Dean Kannemeyer spoke on Monday morning at Summerveld about the scratching of the reigning champion The Real Prince from the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

He was one of a number of big scratchings from the big race on either Sunday or Monday, although the two horses who won the traditional July pointer races, the Gr 3 Betgames Cup Trial and the Gr 3 TAB Jubilee Stakes, Zeitz and Aladdin’s Lamp respectively, were both supplemented, leaving the number of entries still standing at 29.

Kannemeyer said about The Real Prince’s 2,95 length fourth in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge on Saturday, “The jockey said it was a slow run race, but he was sitting behind Questioning and then they made a bit of a sprint up the straight. Well I’m making excuses, but he had to wait, wait, and then move out, move out, but then 300m out I thought he is now going to come and get them with his turn of foot. He did quicken up and he was running up to them, but I just thought that in that last 75m he may have just flattened out.”

When asked whether the run would put him spot on for the Hollywoodbets Durban July, he replied, “Well there’s a great possibility he won’t run in the July and may go straight into the Champions Cup. He won it last year because of the right weight and the right draw and everything and this year having won the July and the King’s Plate and coming third in the Met he has a big weight and I have a big doubt he will run in the July, but he’s doing well and is definitely going for the Champion’s Cup.”|

The Real Prince was duly scratched from the July later in the morning.

King Pelles winning the Gold Cup last season (Picture: Candiese Lenferna Photography)

King Pelles is an under the radar horse for the Hollywoodbets Durban July who might just be fair value in the ante-post market at 20/1 with the sponsor.

He put up a good gallop at Hollywoobets Greyville on Saturday before the races and will be back there for the Hollywoodbets Durban July Gallops.

Trainer Gareth van Zyl said, “The gallop went well and he is doing very well.”

He is not having another race before the July as there is nothing suitable for him, so he will go into the race running off a merit rating of 122.

That means he will carry 59kg in the big race as things stand with Legal Counsel as the topweight on 62kg off a 128 merit rating.

Gareth said about King Pelles’ suitability to 2200m, “I don’t think it is going to be a problem, I think he will be alright over the trip.”

The Drakenstein Stud-bred five-year-old Duke Of Marmalade gelding is stoutly bred being out of a Galileo mare.

He is the reigning Gold Cup (3200m) Champion and the reigning Equus Champion Stayer.

However, he is derfinitely not a dour staying stype and when landing four Gr 3s last season over trips between 2400m and 3200m he showed an exceptional turn of foot.

He has also been shown this season to be effective over shorter trips with good performances over distances of 1200m to 1950m.

He was strongly fancied for the Betway Summer Cup over 2000m and disappointed, running a 16,25 length 12th.

However, a number of horses ran below par in that race on a day in which the humidity was high.

King Pelles bounced back after the Summer Cup to win the Umthombothi Stakes over 1950m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville. He showed a good turn of foot to win it by 1,30 lengths, despite carrying topweight of 62.5kg. Among the horses he beat was July entry Isivivane, who went on to win the Gr 3 WSB 1900. In the July he will be 1,5kg worse off with Isivivane for a 1,80 length beating, which puts King Pelles marginally ahead of him. King Pelles will also relish the step up to 22000m, a trip which will be new territory for Isivivane.

Followng the Umthombothi Stakes King Pelles ran in the Listed Kings Cup over 1600m and finished a fine 0,60 length seoond to Okavango recieving just 1kg. The lattter went on to run second in the Gr 1 wfa Premier’s Champions Challege before winning a Conditions Plate over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville in which he beat the like of Equus Horse Of The Year Eight On Eighteen and the crack three-year-old Note To Self, who is one of the favourites for the July.

King Pelles’ Hollywoodbets Durban July Gallop will be keenly observed by his supporters and he will provide his passionate owner Ravi Padayachee with a dream come true, a runner in the country’s biggest race in his hometown of Durban. The horse is not without a chance of winning it either.

Ravi owns King Pelles in partnership with Dave MacLean, Gary Player and N V Parmanand.

*In breaking news today it was announced Chad Schofield would be flying in to ride King Pelles in the Hollywoodbets Durban July

Powerandtheglory has been tipped to win the 6th Race (Picture: Wayne Marks)

Race Coast

RACE 1 

6 MEEKSHA has shown up well in both starts and did well on the poly last time out. 7 TIGER KODY made marked improvement in first-time blinkers and can go one better. 2 THUNDER STAR found some market support last run and the switch to the poly could see further improvement. 3 RACHEL’S BOY was not far back on debut and the experience should could.

(Andrew Harrison: 6-7-2-3)

RACE 2 

3 GIMME THE POWER showed up well first run over course and distance. She has been competitive of late, but a win has been elusive. 2 GREEK HEIRESS has run well on the poly and improved with the blinkers removed last run. She has drawn well. 6 QUEEN’S BOUNTY steps up to a trip that should suit and she caught the eye last time out. 1 INDIGNATION steps up in trip and showed some improvement last run on her poly debut.

(Andrew Harrison: 3-2-6-1)

RACE 3

Wide open. 2 LILTING SONG takes on males and did well from a wide draw last time out. She goes well on the poly and has a light weight. 4 HUNGA TONGA has her first start on the poly but won well on her local debut and can follow up. 10 PIED PIPER has a wide draw to contend with but loves the poly and with a claiming apprentice up will be a contender. 3 PRINCE OF TROY is lightly raced but shed his maiden on the poly and can do better than his last run.

(Andrew Harrison: 2-4-10-3)

RACE 4

Competitive handicap. 6 SEND ME is struggling for his second win, but has shown recent improvement in blinkers and started favourite last time out. 11 RAGNAR THE KING has a wide draw but was much improved last run. 12 GARDENER’S PRIDE has the widest draw but is back on his preferred surface. 10 DOUBLEOLYMPIC was close-up behind his stable companion MOHANDAS last time out and a repeat can see him make the frame.

(Andrew Harrison: 6-11-12-10)

RACE 5

Wide open. 5 TAKE YOUR PLACE has dropped in the handicap and gets first time blinkers 4 TRAFALGAR SQUARE goes well over course and distance and is never far back. 7 VICTOR RAIL has put in two smart recent efforts to stronger but does go up in the weights. 2 LITTLE CRACKER made all to win last time out and only got three pounds for his effort.

(Andrew Harrison: 5-4-7-2)

RACE 6

9 POWERANDTHEGLORY has the widest draw to contend with but has some solid form in good company in the Cape and with first time blinkers, he should be right there if taking to the poly. 8 HAH LAH LAH is unbeaten in two and beat a useful sort in JP’S PALACE on the poly last time out. He could find it tough at these weights but he does look to be progressive. 5 VAPOUR TRAIL is another that gets first time blinkers. His last two starts are not inspiring but he can make big improvement. 2 GOOD FOR YOU is smart on his day and much better than his last two. He can surprise.

(Andrew Harrison: 9-8-5-2)

RACE 7

5 SIBERIAN WINTER is long overdue but does go well over course and distance and should win soon. 1 PRINCESS GOLDIE was running on well under a big weight last run. She does take on stronger but has a handy weight from the best of the draw. 3 LANDONNE has won her last two but goes on the poly for the first time. She got a five-point increase for her last win. 9 LAST CAR TO PASS has her first outing for a new stable but has steady Highveld form. She does have a big weight and a wide draw on her poly debut.

(Andrew Harrison: 5-1-3-9)

RACE 8

9 NAVAJO DANCER needed his last run and has run well on the poly. He has a wide draw but a light weight. 5 MEERKAT MOON has improved in blinkers and has run on the poly. The form has held up. 2 DAPPER is the perennial under-achiever. He had every chance behind ULTRA QUICK last start but just didn’t go on with it. He is 4kg better off with ULTRA QUICK. 4 ULTRA QUICK held on gamely to win last time out. He only got two-pounds for that win and Keagan de Melo replaces the apprentice.

(Andrew Harrison: 9-5-2-4)

Storming Dragon has been tipped to win the last race (HKJC) 

At The Races tipster Tim Carroll hit four winners including the Nap on Sunday and his three best bets for Wednesday’s Happy Valley card are online now.

This Wednesday sees a competitive nine-race card from Happy Valley getting underway at 12H40 SA Time with the feature of the meeting being race 7, the Class 3 Victoria Handicap, over 9 furlongs, offering prize money of more than £200,000.

Now onto this week’s selections:

Click here for a comprehensive guide to the Happy Valley Wednesday meeting