Oriental Charm, aquamarine blue colours, will be out to become the sixth horse in history to win back to back Julys. (Candiese Lenferna Photography).
Crawford Racing will be out to achieve a treble in the Holywoodbets Durban July on Saturday.
Brett Crawford was officially the trainer for both their 2023 win with Winchester Mansion and 2024 win with Oriental Charm, but the teamwork was well documented, and now Brett’s son James gets an opportunity to become officially the youngest trainer at age 25 to win the big race since David Payne won it with In Full Flight at the age of 24 in 1972.
James is bullish about defending champion Oriental Charm and said, “He is doing very well, I could not be happier with him.”
He said about the Vercingetorix colt’s pole position draw, “He’s typically had to do a little bit more than the rest of the competition around him because of not having the best of draws. With his gatespeed and how he likes to dictate on his terms from the front of the field, I think the draw is absolutely perfect for him.”
He said about the defending champion’s form this season, “If you have to take him based on his last run (when a neck second in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge over 1600m) that run was a prep. It was a race that he was fit enough to win, but he was always going to be a better horse after the race. I expected him to run well, but the manner in which he ran surprised everyone, including myself. His prep couldn’t have gone any better. His work at home has been awesome. I can’t fault him.”
The most significant aspect of his form this season is he has improved from a handicapper into a genuine Gr 1 weight for age horse.
In last season’s Hollywoodbets Durban July he only had to carry 53kg and was 5kg better off with weight for age than the topweight See It Again, who would have got closer than a 1,80 length fifth had he not been hampered late.
However, this season Oriental Charm won the Gr 2 WSB Green Point Stakes over 1600m carrying a 2kg Gr 1 penalty, he finished a half-a-length second to Eight On Eighteen in the Gr 1 weight for age WSB Met, and he finished a neck second in the Gr 1 wfa Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge to Equus Horse Of The Year Dave The King. He beat See It Again in both of those weight for age starts.
Oriental Charm faces Met winner Eight On Eighteen on 1kg terms worse than weight for age on Saturday, so will have a tough task reversing form, but on the other hand the right-handed Hollywoodbets Greyville track suits him better than left-handed Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, because he tends to hang to the right.
He hung right in the Met and that took him all the way to the outside rail. On Saturday, he will have the advantage of the inside rail the whole way around from pole position, so should make a bold bid of becoming the first since Do It Again in 2019 to carry topweight of 60kg to victory.
He is one of two joint topweights still standing together with Gladatorian, as the other joint topweight, See It Again, has been scratched.
The Cheveley Stud-bred Oriental Charm won it for Greg Bortz, Gina Goldsmith and Leon Ellman last year, but this year, after being syndicated to stud already, he has a number of new owners who fall under the banner of The Oriental Charm Syndicate.
James said about the lightly raced six-year-old gelding Pomodoro’s Jet.
He said, “He’s doing very well, I really do like him. I don’t know if he’s quite good enough to beat Oriental Charm or Eight On Eighteen and I would have preferred him to have run in the Cup Trial going into this kind of race, but in saying that his work and his well-being at home has been really, really good.”
Pomodoro’s Jet’s white blood cell count was sligtly high before the Cup Trial, not terribly high but high enough for James to not take a chance and run him.
He said about Pomodoro’s Jet’s stamina capacity, “Personally I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. He ran fifth in the consolation race last year by 3,50 lengths and for me he is twice the horse this year than he was last year.”
Pomodoro’s Jet has drawn eight and James said, “There’s a lot of speed around this year and there’s a lot of horses carrying bottom weight, so I’m sure there’s going to be quite a bit of a tussle to get into a good position and I think draw eight coupled with his good gatepeed will keep him away from the argy-bargy.”
The Hemel ‘N Aarde Stud-bred Pomodoro’s Jet is owned by Lady Christine Laidlaw’s Khaya Stables.
James runs dual Gr 1 winner Fatal Flaw and Gr 2 WSB Fillies Guineas winner Mon Petit C in th Gr 1 Ridgemont Garden Province Stakes.
He said Fatal Flaw had not been herself when beaten 5,55 lengths in the Gr 1 Maine Chance Farms Majorca Stakes.
He added, “Her work was really good and everything else, but we’ve done a little bit of research and she wasn’t quite 100%, there was something amiss with her after her WSB Cape Fillies Guineas win. I think she’s a massive runner on Saturday. She had a more challenging prep into the Gr 1 Empress Club (which she won), because I had to re-acclimatise her and take a little bit of time with her after the Cape season. She did come right that final week going into the Empress Club, but she wasn’t by my standards, and what I know about her, at tip-top fitness. I think her class carried her through. This time around she has had an absolutely great prep, so I think she’s a real force to be reckoned with in the Garden Province.”
He said about her draw of ten, “Obviously, a better draw would have been nice, but she’s got a lot of gate speed and I think she’ll be leading on her terms quite comfortably.”
He said about Mon Petit Cherie, “She is also flying at home. I had her fit enough to win the WSB Filllies Guineas, but she was always going to be a better horse after the race and she’s comfortably improved five to six lengths from that last run.”
He also pointed to a recent line through Spumante Dolce which puts Mon Petit Cherie much closer to Fatal Flaw than she was in the Cape Fillies Guineas, where she was beaten 6,65 lengths.
James is bullish about Otto Luyken and Count Huhtikuu in the Gr 3 Splashout 2200.
He said Otto Luyken loved short run-ins and thinks if he could get within striking distance he will go close despite carrying topweight. He has always liked Count Huhtikuu and believes he is on the up and a big improver, so gives him a chance despite him officially being under sufferance.
