The infield at the Hollywoodbets Durban July has become a place to be seen and is always a hive of activity on the day and into the night (Picture: Great Events)
Maddy Playle of The Racing Post was a visiting overseas journalist at the Hollywoodbets Durban July and wrote the following piece on the great race:
The 130th Durban July provided the ultimate celebration of South African talent as Richard Fourie and Justin Snaith combined for a rousing victory with Note To Self.
The jockey and trainer are at the peak of their professions and became the most successful combination in the race’s storied history as the sun began to set on a glorious Durban crowd.
Some 50,000 spectators belted out Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika as the 18 runners circled by the start, and they erupted once again when the well-fancied winner began a staggering move from the rear of the field on Greyville’s sweeping turn.
The course’s narrow home straight is famed for hard-luck stories, but Note To Self maintained his thundering near-side run to collar stablemate Wish List in the final strides and anoint himself as the finest horse anywhere on the continent.
“I blacked out in the home straight so I can’t tell you anything,” said Fourie, who received among the loudest cheers as the jockeys were introduced walk-on style in the parade ring beforehand. “I can’t explain the sound when everybody is shouting at you. It’s like you’re in a canyon – it’s insanely impressive.”
Both Fourie and Snaith need just one more victory in the race to become the joint-most successful individuals, and there was evidence of their dominance when Ahead Of The Facts landed the Gold Vase earlier on the card.
Note To Self was Snaith’s fourth winner of the day and galloped to the perfect coming-of-age victory having shown ample promise when defeated in the Cape Derby and Daily News 2000 this season.
“All of a sudden this week he just took off – he was a different horse – and then I knew everyone was in trouble,” Snaith said.
“When he walks around here he’s just a leopard; an unassuming, stunning individual, and I knew if he came right he was the horse to beat in this field.”
Snaith’s second win came when teaming up with the Australian-based rider Zac Lloyd in the third race with Magic Verse. The jockey was having just his second ride at the track but, just as he did in his recent short British stint, he made an immediate impression.
The 22-year-old outlined his plan to become one of the best jockeys in the world earlier this week and made inroads on that masterplan with victory in the Grade 3 Magical Zulu Kingdom, tilting his head and flashing a smile for the slow-motion cameras crossing the line.
“It was very good to get the eye in early. I was trying to find my dad, but I can’t find him so he must be stuck in the crowd,” said the South African-born Lloyd as the attendance swelled to capacity under the winning podium.
Lloyd’s father Jeff was a six-time champion jockey in South Africa but famously winless in the afternoon’s great race. His son could not improve the family’s dismal record when beating two horses home on Regulation, but was nevertheless a fitting winner on the card.
Homegrown talent was there for all to see as designers and models paraded round the course in theatrical creations encapsulating this year’s ‘Country Allure’ theme. While racing fans engulfed the grandstand, the scorched infield played host to a festival of the senses.
“Fashion is expression, we show who we are through the clothes we wear and confidence is just the cherry on top,” said one racegoer in a towering leopard-print hat. “I love it here, my adrenaline is always up because there’s a lot of attractions,” offered another.
There may have been a VIP area called Ascots but that is where the similarities between British and South African racing end, with the stuffiness and composure of the royal meeting notably absent on a raceday dripping with flair.
The Durban July stands loudly and proudly alone.
