Turf Talk Newsletter – 08 June, 2026

Zeitz is one of two horses who have been supplemented for the Hollywoodbets Durban July. He won Saturday’s traditional July pointer. the Gr 3 Betgames Cup Trial over 1800m, under Serino Moodley (Picture: Race Coast)

The Andre Nel-trained Vercingetorix gelding Zeitz won the Gr 3 Betgames Cup Trial over 1800m on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Greyville under Serino Moodley and the athletic grey has been supplemented for the R10 million Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Everybody loves a grey and an omen that some would view as auspicious for Zeitz’s chances is that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the July win of one of SA’s most beloved greys, the Ralph Rixon-trained Jamaican Music.

Furthermore, Zeitz has the Silvano July stamp, being by his record-breaking stalwart son Vercingetorix, who is miles clear on his way to a second successive national Sires Championship.

Silvano has sired a record-breaking five July winners, Bold Silvano (2010), Heavy Metal (2013), Power King (2015), Marinaresco (2017) and Sparkling Water (2022), while Vercingetorix has already sired one July winner, Oriental Charm (2024). That is not to mention the July hattrick Silvano achieved in 2015 and other finishes in which he had the winner and a placed horse.

Zeitz has duly shortened with the sponsor since entering the Hollywoodbets Durban July betting at 25/1. He is now at 16/1.

The Maine Chance Farms-bred gelding ran off a 107 merit rating on Saturday  and carried 56,5kg to a cosy 0,70 length victory over two July entries, I Salute You and JP’s Palace.

Summerveld assistant to the Nel yard, Byron Forster said, “He is a horse you have to give a lot of TLC to, but I am very happy with the way he has pulled up.”

He said about his stamina capacity, considering the July is run over 2200m, “There are some questions marks but he is laid back and he has shown in his work that he settles beautifully. Obviously we will consider taking the blinkers off. In the second dam there is a lot of staying pedigree there and I think he will stay. The furthest he has run over was in last year’s Cape Derby over 2000m and he was well beaten (12.25 lengths behind Equus Horse Of The Year Eight On.Eighteen), but he pulled up sore after that run I believe, so I think a line can be drawn through that run. He is two from three over 1800m. He won last year’s Politician Stakes and he was running on strongly in last year’s Cup Trial, but had a wall of horses in front of him and had nowhere to go. He has now backed up the potential of that run with his win in the Cup Trial on Saturday.”

Byron believes he has the necessary class to be a contender in the July too.

A precedent was set for him by a Nel-trained horse last year, Selukwe, who finished third in the big race.

Selukwe, like Zeitz, had won a traditional July pointer, the Gr 3 WSB 1900, running off a 103 merit rating and carrying 54kg, and had followed up with a strong-finishing 2,65 length third in the July off a 111 merit rating. Under last year’s conditions Selukwe was actually 2kg under sufferance.

The interesting point is Zeitz is better in at the weights than Selukwe was with the new weight structures and yet Byron does not think there is much between them.

He said, “I don’t think there was much between them last season. He just gave us that hint that he could be on a par with a horse like Selukwe and we know what the latter went and did.  He has obviously got to prove it at Gr 1 level now, but he has got all the makings to be a nice horse. He has shown it in his form. If you go and look closely at his form he has run with some quality horses and he hasn’t been far off them or has been in front of them.”

The ideal merit rating for a four- year-old July runner to have as things stand is 108, which means coming in with bottom weight of 52kg and not being under sufferance. This is because the new incumbent topweight carrying 62kg, following the scratching of See It Again, is the 128-rated Legal Counsel.

Zeitz is rated 110, so will carry a nice galloping weight of 53kg, meaning Serino Moodley will only have to shed half-a-kilogram from his official riding weight of 53,5kg.

In thrilling, head-bobbing duel, Questioning beat Legal Counsel by a nostril (Picture: Race Coast)

Questioning has come a long way in his career. Always among the top echelons he earned a label of almost but not quite there. That has changed dramatically in the past four months as he has rattled off four consecutive victories, culminating in a tremendous but nail-biting finish to the Gr1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday where he showed guts and ability to get the better of Legal Counsel in a no quarters asked finish with little more than a nose separating the pair at the line.

Gladatorian produced his usual strong finish to take third ahead of The Real Prince who was also running at them late.

It was a masterful training feat by Vaughan Marshall, who is closing on the 40th Gr1 success of his career. When asked about the recent improvement in Questioning’s form, he put it down to the horse having finally matured.

Tristan Godden rode a canny race on the lowest profile runner of Justin Snaith’s trio, that also consisted of See It Again and Eight On Eighteen. From a good draw, he sent Legal Counsel to the lead tracked by two-time Challenge winner Dave The King and Tin Pan Alley.

Some would have expected the son of Legislate to quickly come under pressure in the chase for home.

However, he kept finding and Richard Fourie on Questioning was forced to show his hand a little earlier than he would have liked. Fourie sat for a long way before making his challenge but still admitted that he had gone too early. “I came into the straight and fired him up a little too soon. I know that he’s not an ideal miler and it was a great ride from Tristan who set nice, good fractions. At one stage I thought that he was going a bit fast. But he knew what he had underneath him and I drew past him at the 300 a good half a length and then it became hard work. I knew the line was coming and we both had our doubts. Tristan said did you get there or did I get there? Normally I’m good at splitting them but I just said I can’t tell you, it was that close.”

Marshall admitted post-race that he was not confident of Questioning seeing out the trip. “ I had my doubts over the 1600 I must be honest. He came so close in the King’s Plate. He confounded the critics there and he’s done it here. So yes I’m a little surprised but very, very elated.”

“He’s just matured and turned into a really good horse. He enjoys his work and just looks magnificent. He’s a pleasure to train.”

Given that Questioning takes this race well, his next mission will be the Gr1 Mercury Sprint and victory there could elevate him from ‘just a good horse’ into challenging for Equus Horse of the Year.

There were a number of Hollywoodbets Durban July hopefuls on display on Saturday and if anything they muddied the waters.

Best performance came from Legal Counsel and depending on which line-horse the handicappers use, he could find himself up there with See It Again on 62 kg.

See It Again ran a lacklustre race and showed little enthusiasm in the run for the line and stable companion Eight On Eighteen faded out with Justin Snaith scratching him from the July entry list on Sunday morning.

Gladatorian ran his usual game race and finished like a train for third. The Real Prince was also running on to the line and it remains to be seen whether Dean Kannemeyer and Khaya Stables and also Stuart Ferrie are tempted by the R10 million stake of the July or take the more conservative route to the Gr1 HKJC Champion Stakes WFA.

The Gr3 Cup Trial is traditionally the last chance saloon for borderline July entries and it will be back to the drawing boards for most. The grey Zeitz, not a July entry, ran on stoutly to beat July hopeful I Salute You who was giving the winner 2.5kg. Before Saturday’s race I Salute You was set to carry 53kg in the July. JP’s Palace kicked on nicely for third but was getting 7kg from I Salute You while Field Marshal may have blown his chances of a July berth.

Regulation was most disappointing although he did not get the run of the race, being caught three wide for much of the trip but lacked a finishing effort. Jockey J P v’d Merwe reported that Regulation choked up in the running. The Veterinarian was requested to examine and nothing obvious was detected

The Gr2 HKJC World Pool Stakes saw another bruising finish with favourite Quickstepgal and Mon Petit Cherie fighting out a head-and-head duel to the line. Mon Petit Cherie ran her heart out from her 13 draw and headed Quickstepgal, but Tienie Prinsloo’s filly was not to be denied and Keagan de Melo got Quickstepgal to rally and get her nose in front and also survive an objection.

Behind them was July hopeful Mocha Blend who missed the break but was running on stoutly (for a 4,55 length seventh) over a distance well short of her best in what was a smart piece of work on her July prep.

130-rated See It Again’s scratching from the Hollywoodbets Durban July means the topweight is now his 128-rated stablemate Legal Counsel (JC Photos) 

There were a spate of scratchings from the Hollywoodbets Durban July on Sunday and Monday and the most important of them was the 2023 runner up, the four-times Gr 1 winner See It Again, because he was the highest merit rated runner among the entries and was thus going to be the topweight carrying 62kg with all of the other weights using that as the benchmark.

The reigning July champion The Real Prince is also out and so is his runner up from last year Eight on Eighteen, whilst other significiant scratching were the Gr 1 SA Classic winner Grand Empire, last year’s Gr 1 Premier’s Champions Challenge winner Fire Attack and also former Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup winner Atticus Finch.

Other scratchings include Parisian Walkway, Aristotle,  JP’s Palace, Wild Intent, Buster Barnes and Otto Luyken.

There are 29 horses still standing with the Gr 1 winners among them being Wish List (X2), Gladatorian, Mocha Blend, Hazy Dazy and Star Major.

The new top weight is See It Again’s 128 merit-rated Justin Snaith-trained stablemate Legal Counsel.

Jonathan Snaith said about See It Again, “Running over a staying trip under 62kg would have made very little sense. He has given us a tremendous season so far, having travelled far and wide. We felt it would be unfair to ask any more of this wonderful horse, particularly under these demanding circumstances. As always, the horse comes first, and this decision has been made with his well-being held paramount. He will be aimed at the Gr1 Champions Cup.”

To underline the importance of See It Again’s scratching, the two supplemented runners, Zeitz and Aladdin’s Lamp, had both come into the race with the perfect merit rating for an older horse i.e. 110, because with See It Agains’ 130 rating as the benchmark that would have seen them carry 52kg without being under sufferance.

However, they will now have to carry 53kg as things stand with 128-rated Legal Counsel as topweight.

It will also arguably make it tougher for the three-year-olds because although their tasks on a relative scale will still be the same, it has been said before that a three-year-old would find it tougher giving an older horse 2kg when carrying a high weight than giving an older horse 2kg when carrying a low weight. The prominent three-year-olds will also be 1kg worse off in actual terms with the nett merit rated 109, 108 and lower horses than they were before.

Race favourite, three-year-old Star Major, will now have to carry 57kg and if he wins he will set a new weight-carrying record for a July-winning three-year-old.

However, that is only in actual terms because when Legislate carried 56kg to victory in 2014 the topweight was 60kg and when Eyeofthetiger carried 54kg to victory in 2006 the topweight was 58kg, meaning their tasks on a relative scale were tougher than the one Star Major faces.

Click here to read a full report on the Manhattan Stakes

Aladdin’s Lamp has been supplemented for the Hollywoodbets Durban July after winning one of the big race’s traditional pointers, the Gr 3 TAB Jubilee Stakes over 1800m and after being raised to a merit rating of 110 he will some in with a weight of 53kg as things stand (JC Photos)

Cape Breeders

Fresh off his daughter Alice B Toklas winning Saturday’s Listed Amusnet Devon Air Stakes at Hollywoodbets Greyville, Varsfontein Stud’s inform sire Master Of My Fate had a feature race double at Turffontein on Sunday.

Not only did Master Of My Fate gelding Aladdin’s Lamp win Sunday’s G3 TAB Jubilee Stakes (1800m) but another gelded son of the sire, Errol Flynn, won the same day’s TAB Egoli Mile (1600m).

Consistent five-year-old Aladdin’s Lamp picked up his biggest win to date when he won the Jubilee Stakes.

Under a great ride from Callan Murray, the Mike and Mathew De Kock trained Aladdin’s Lamp raced well off the pace early on before storming home down the inside of the track to get up and win by half a length.

Bred by Varsfontein Stud, and owned by Mr Murugasa, Aladdin’s Lamp has won seven of 24 outings, with his first graded win pushing his earnings to R927 426.

Out of the Judpot mare Little Genie, Aladdin’s Lamp had finished runner up in both the Listed WSB Aquanaut Handicap and Listed Wilgerbosdrift Caradoc Gold Cup earlier this season.

His inform sire Master Of My Fate is also the sire of exciting three-year-old Errol Flynn. The latter made it four wins from just six starts when he won the Egoli Mile on Sunday.

Rated highly by trainer Joe Soma, the gelding, under Keagan De Melo, claimed the first leg of the Highveld Winter Series when he waltzed home to score by more than two and a half lengths.

Bred by Sandra Michelle Ajax and Target Acquired, Errol Flynn races for the Wernars Family, Dayalan Chinsammy, and TKP Racing.

The exciting three-year-old is out of the What A Winter mare What A Player and is thus bred on the same Master Of My Fate/What A Winter cross as star filly Anotherdanceforme and the latter’s stakes winning sister Princess Izzy.

Please Be True (closest) has been tipped to win the Winter Mile (Picture: Wayne Marks) 

Alistair Cohen (Race Coast)

For an out of season raceday, on what is likely to be a soft track, Hollywoodbets Kenilworth hosts a hot card on Tuesday. With two minor features to headline the action, racing fans should be treated to some fun as the dust settles after the Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge and the TAB Jubilee Stakes over the weekend. Just a reminder, minor races that were carded for 1200m down the straight will be run over 1250m around the turn. This could literally produce anything.

Please Be True is rated 30 points lower than the highest mark of Sugar Mountain off 122. He should carry 15kg less than the well-proven Sugar Mountain according to strict handicapping. He carries 10,5kg less but his runs since a break have been revealing that he must be close to breaking into the winners’ box. Plus, Sugar Mountain has not been at the peak of his powers of late. Please Be True could be the horse to side with in race 7, the Winter Mile.

Please Be True returned from a three-month rest in late April. He was run in a sprint and gave a pleasing reintroduction over a trip short of his best. He stayed on beautifully behind Give It Laldy beaten by only two lengths. His next start was the adequate step forward when he finished second behind Chasingtherainbow over 1400m at this course. He is 2kg better off with Chasingtherainbow who was so ready. That should give Please Be True enough hope to potentially turn the deficit. Muzi Yeni takes the ride. There are few riders worldwide as effective as him at 51kg.

Major Master is undoubtably on the up. He beat the super-consistent Boogiefied last time when the runner-up had close to the perfect setup on a soft track and fit. Major Master has always hinted that there was something in the locker and eventual progress to come. He may have arrived slower than ideal but he is not out of place at feature race level especially here. He comes from the in-form yard of Candice Bass. Aldo Domeyer takes the ride.

Chasingtherainbow wrote his trainer and owner one of the stories of the year when he won last time. He recently transferred to the yard of Rob Barrett who took out his license a few months ago. He was Barrett’s first runner and he won with ease, possibly delivering his career best in the process. He is owned by Barrett’s grandfather. There was not a dry eye in the house. Richard Fourie retains the ride. Life is a little harder at the weights but there is no reason to suggest that he cannot win.

The Us Of A could be in the right place at the right time in the supporting feature, the Winter Sprint over 1200m. Being a feature, this will be down the straight. He has a blistering turn of foot. He has showed his effectiveness at this level and Richard Fourie gets the most out of him. His main rivals have their claims but valid reasons why they might be vulnerable for now.

His last run was a superb effort finishing second behind Café Culture over this course and distance in the Listed Champagne Stakes. Café Culture was narrowly beaten in the Grade 2 Golden Horse Sprint at Hollywoodbets Scottsville last month. That level is hard to run away from.

Dance Variety is wildly inconsistent. He was safely behind The Us Of A last time and his slight swing at the weights might not be enough to turn the form around. He is not the easiest to judge due to his issues. No result would be a surprise with him.

All The Rage could ultimately end up being the best horse in the field. The three-year-old had little chance at the weights in the Khaya Stables Diadem Stakes last time but he was not disgraced finishing sixth behind Questioning who has had an unreal 2026. He is back from a break and not being seen in nearly four months suggests he will step forward with the run. This is not his “cup final” and his bigger picture could be revealing.

Jewel Mule ran a fair debut that gives hope for progression. She finished third, five lengths behind Sparkling Star over 1000m at this course. She is back over the same course and distance in race 1 which she should win. Fourie is up for Vaughan Marshall. There are some potentially nice debutantes who could be worth monitoring.

Saratoga Sunrise might be a run from figuring it all out but he made enough of an impression on debut behind Bachata to expect good improvement and suggest a winning chance. He was nowhere at the start but he did well to run past most of the field to fill fifth place behind a horse deemed good enough to run at feature level this Saturday past. He runs in race 2 over 1250m under Champion Jockey elect, Craig Zackey.

Mente Et Manu and Handsome Prince look set to fight out race 3 over 1400m. Mente Et Manu could have a slight edge due to a favourable draw. His last run was a little flat but he had travelled between Cape Town and Gqeberha. They can run flat after a travel up the Garden Route. Keep an eye out for Miami Summer who is back from a break. He is reported to have a lot of class but returning from over six months off, he strikes as a better proposition next time.

Race 4 over 1400m will not supply something to Grade 1 level. Something will win. Miss Attitude for pure consistency could end up as the right one. Trainer Adam Marcus has had an excellent year thus far. Draw No 7 is not ideal but her biggest asset is versatility.

Black Cheetah has not run with the class he finds himself against in race 5 over 1250m. Who knows how draw No 9 is going to work with the ideal of the outside of the course possibly being exploited. Mickaelle Michel rides. This horse started his career with a bang. He went into the population of winners with a high rating which has taken a while to fall. His recent form suggests that he must be at a place of opportunity. Kelp Forest must be considered as his main danger from gate No 1. He likes a soft track.

Super Viking looks like he is ready to break out of this low level and salute in race 8 over 1600m. He was penalized for being a narrow loser in his last run when going down a nose to Trip To Camelot. He looks less exposed than his opposition and he could confirm his recent upward trajectory.

Apricity has been hinting at a win lately. She loves a soft track too. After winning about a year ago, she did not feature on a hard course but as winter struck, life has been found. She went down by half a length in her last run behind Raffish Trend over 1500m at this course. She runs over 100m further in race 9 and she stands out as the horse to beat under Keagan de Melo.

Christmas Day beats home Maltese Cross, James J Braddock and Bay Of Brilliance in Saturday’s Gr 1 Epsom Derby. All four horses were purchased at the iconic Tattersals October Yearling Sale (Picture: Tattersalls) 

The Aidan O’Brien trained CHRISTMAS DAY became the ninth Tattersalls yearling sale graduate to win the Derby this millennium when running out in impressive 2 ¾ length winner of the world’s most famous Classic at Epsom. The son of CAMELOT was purchased at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for 450,000 guineas by Jamie McCalmont Bloodstock on behalf of his owners Magnier, Tabor, Smith, Westerberg, Brant from the draft of The Castlebridge Consignment who offered him on behalf of breeder Stephen & Becky Hillen’s Framont Ltd. CHRISTMAS DAY’s victory emulated that of his Derby winner father who was also purchased at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

The race provided a remarkable result for the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale with the first four home all purchased at the sale in 2024. Second home was the William Haggas trained MALTESE CROSS who was purchased for 350,000 guineas by Sam Haggas’ Hurworth Bloodstock at October Book 1 for owner George Waud. In third position was the Joseph O’Brien trained JAMES J BRADDOCK, purchased for 40,000 guineas at October Book 2 whilst the Valmont owned BAY OF BRILLIANCE, a 140,000 guineas October Book 2 purchase, finished fourth for trainer Ralph Beckett.

The Tattersalls October Yearling Sale also recorded top level success at Saratoga on Friday when the Chad Brown trained PORTFOLIO DURATION won the Grade 1 New York Stakes for Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables. The four-year-old daughter of NIGHT OF THUNDER was another Book 1 purchase to score at the highest level, having been purchased by agent Mike Ryan for 150,000 guineas from Michael Fitzpatrick’s Kilminfoyle House Stud, who purchased the filly at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale from breeder Michael Wates’ Langton Stud.