Royal Victory was the first to gallop at the official Hollywoodbets Durban July gallops this morning and put in eyecatching work under big race rider Muzi Yeni (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
The Nathan Kotzen-trained Ambiance Stud-bred Pathfork gelding Royal Victory will be out to land an unprecedented treble on July 6.
No horse in history has done the Gr 1 Betway Summer Cup, Gr 1 World Pool Premier’s Champions Challenge and Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July treble.
The R90,000 purchase has brought joy to the Victor and Kotzen families and the original partnership of PJ Victor, BJ Wiese and Natasha Sturdy now has the two additions of BA Victor and the Itssa IT & Business Solutions (PTY) Ltd of prominent owners Sandy and Eugene Arundel.
Most of the connections were at the Hollywoodbets Durban July Final Field and Draw ceremony on Tuesday and let out a loud group cheer when Nathan pulled out draw one.
However, Nathan himself is a bit circumspect about the draw.
He said, “In a way it’s a bit of a difficult draw. You’ve got to actually jump him out and hold position for at least the first 200 metres, otherwise you’ll find yourself too far back. But Muzi is good out of the gates. He knows what to do. He can hold position for a while and then go from there.”
Yeni worked Royal Victory at Summerveld on Monday and was very pleased with him. That left himself and Nathan knowing exactly what they had to do with him at the official Hollywoodbets Durban July gallops this morning (Thursday).
Royal Victory’s last run before the Summer Cup was six weeks before the race and Nathan then only gave him one run in between that race and the Premier’s Champions Challenge. His last run before the latter race was seven weeks out.
He has followed the same strategy this time with the one run after the Premier’s, which was on April 6, being on 19 May, seven weeks before the July.
Nathan has always said this horse does not need a lot to bring him to his peak, but his Hollywoodbets Durban July gallop this morning was always going to be important.
He was given a lead from the 1400m mark and Yeni then gave him a hard work out all the way to the line.
He covered the last 800m in 48.80 seconds and the last 400m in 23.90 seconds.
Some observers were concerned about Royal Victory sweating in the parade ring before his gallop, but the decent work out he was given should put him spot on for the big race on Saturday week.
Royal Victory carries second top weight of 57kg, three kg less than See It Again.
He is currently a 10/1 shot.
