Justin Snaith said the twice L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate-winning hero Jet Dark’s (Trippi) participation in the Durban July had always been a “no” until it was announced Hollywoodbets were the sponsor and the stake had been increased to R5 million.

He added South African racing needed more carrots like that one.

He said, “You would need to win five Grade 1s to make the same amount as winning a R5 million race.”

The big question is whether he will stay the 2200m trip.

Snaith believes a horse who stays the 2000m of the WSB Met will stay the 2200m of the Hollywoodbets Durban July.

However, he said although Jet Dark had finished second in the Met there was still a debate about whether he had stayed or not.

He explained, “He won the Queen’s Plate in a canter and three weeks later could not beat the same horses and the only difference was the distance.”

Jet Dark’s participation or non-participation in the July is of significance to all other runners because he is the highest rated horse in the country and the weights will be set from his 130 rating downward.

Snaith said Jet Dark would go for the Grade 2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes and Grade 1 wfa Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge and a decision would then be made on his July participation.

He added, “He is very well. Last year he came to KZN on the back of an injury but I am happy with him this year.” 

Jet Dark arrived at Summerveld yesterday together with Snaith’s chief firepower for the SA Champions Season.

It was a later arrival date than usual and he explained, “There are certain rules in place for gallops in KZN and there is a lack of a suitable preparation race for some horses, so it made sense to get the horses 85% fit in Cape Town and then put the finishing touches on in KZN.”

He thus galloped a number of horses at Kenilworth last Wednesday including Jet Dark, Double Superlative (Twice Over), Pomp And Power (Vercingetorix), Hoedspruit (Legislate), Warrior (Futura) and Captain’s Ransom (Captain Al).

He galloped them in a clockwise direction to familiarise them with the right-hand tracks in KZN.

The gallops were shown with accompanying interviews in this video:

Snaith Big Guns Gallop At Kenilworth Last Wednesday. 

He galloped them in a clockwise direction to familiarise them with the right-hand tracks in KZN.

He has more feature-race horses galloping at Kenilworth this Wednesday and they will include former Durban July winner Belgarion (Dynasty), who will be working out with Pacaya (Trippi).

Belgarion injured his leg for the second successive year in the July and hasn’t been seen since.

He suffered a chipped fetlock and has recuperated well after an operation.

He will likely come to KZN with a later shipment of horses which might also include Pacaya.

Snaith said Equus Champion Sprinter Rio Querari (Querari) might travel later too, but added it was unlikely.

He said, “He was not moving as well as usual in the summer so we are giving him a break.”

Snaith is bullish about the chances of Hoedspruit in the July, whom he believed to be well weighted.

On his Met run it coulld be argued he ran to a 119 merit rating, but stayed on his 116 rating.

Jet Dark’s participation is thus of particular importance to him because with him in the race he will sneak into the handicap with the minimum weight for a male of 53kg as things stand.

The WSB 1900 would usually be the ideal July preparation race for a horse like Hoedspruit but the clause which protected horses’ merit ratings has been removed this year.

The clause stated the winner could not be raised more than six points and placed horses could not be raised at all.

It was a clause which helped Belgarion win the July as a four-year-old in 2020 because he would likely have received more than six points for his three-length obliteration of the opposition in the WSB 1900. 

Therefore, Snaith said he would carefully consider the potential consequences before running any of his July horses in the 1900 this year.

He said there was a good chance Hoedspruit would avoid the race.

He said Captain’s Ransom might be taken to Hollywoodbets Scottsville for a gallop to see whether she had the speed there to take in the Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint before running in the Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes.

He said about Do It Again (Twice Over), “He is unbelievable, a freak. He is thriving as usual and the only being who ages better than him is Dennis Drier.”

Snaith said Do It Again had been given a gallop to wake him up after his flat run in the Grade 2 Glorious Goodwood Premier Trophy and he had subsequently been the fastest finisher in the Met.

He added, “He was unlucky in the July last year. He will probably take his place in the Gold Challenge because this might be his last season so it would be unfair on him to try and protect his July weight.”

He said Double Superlative and Pomp And Power would both go the traditional WSB Guineas, Daily News 2000 route into the July.

He said Warrior was his dark horse for the season and elaborated, “He has run good races in Cape Town without looking well. If I can get him looking good here he could improve and is one for punters to watch out for.”

He said another under the radar horse to watch out for was the three-time winning three-year-old filly Silver Darling (Silvano), whose chief target will likely be the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000. 

Picture: Jet Dark (Wayne Marks).