The most excited person in Durban right now could well be Steven Chetty, owner and breeder of Hollywoodbets Durban July runner Son Of Raj.

 

Steven and his family experienced a surreal moment when the three-year-old Weiho Marwing-trained Duke Of Marmalade gelding won the Gr 1 WSB SA Derby and he then had to pinch himself a little while later when he saw his charge’s name among the July entries.

 

Son Of Raj got an automatic ticket into the big race through his SA Derby win and Steven, asked whether he was happy with his horse’s draw, replied, “I am very happy with the draw. Nine is near the middle, so we have options to  do whatever we want to do.” 

 

Asked whether he envisaged Son Of Raj going to the front, he replied, “I will have to speak to Weiho and Muzi but judging from his previous races he’s obviously won from the front or placed second or third or fourth. In a big race like this, you don’t want to be too far back.” 

 

Son Of Raj was a touch disappointing in his last start when a 6,55 length eighth in the Gr 1 Daily News 2000, where he was ridden by Muzi Yeni for the first time. 

 

Steven said, “He had obviously come down from Jo’Burg and it was his first run after that long break up in Jo’Burg. It was his first time on the grass here at Hollywoodbets Greyville as well (his first two career runs were on the Hollywoodbets Greyville poly). We will just put it into the past as experience. Obviously Muzi got to know him better. He wasn’t 100% ready and our main mission is obviously the July.”

 

Steven said about the match which produced Son Of Raj, “I chose Duke Of Marmalade for Freudiana (his only mare) through some intensive studying. Duke Of Marmalade won a lot of races from two-years old onwards. He’s a distance horse and I wanted a distance classic horse in  terms of my breeding methods. That was one of the main reasons I chose Duke Of Marmalade. I also consulted with Frank Robinson, he is a very good friend of mine and he advised me accordingly.”

 

Eugene Freeman of Boland Stud where Freudiana stands also gave Steven plenty of good breeding advice. 

 

Steven was asked how high the excitement levels had reached shortly after the HDJ final field announcement and draw ceremony at the Hollywoodbets offices in Umhlanga. 

 

“They are ‘Out Of This World’!!”, he replied, playing with the words of this year’s July theme.

 

“I am glad to be here, to experience all of these moments. We have owned horses before, but we  were never privileged to be in a position to experience all this excitement and all of these functions. We have watched it on TV over the years, but its good to actually be here and to experience it personally.

 

Steven will have a big entourage with him on July day and they will all be family members.

 

He said, “What is racing and all of this excitement if we don’t have the people that we love and our family around us to experience it and to witness all of these magical moments.”

 

Steven has been a fan of racing from a punting point of year from about the year 2000 and he has been in ownership for about ten years.