While Justin Snaith is building a 2018 Vodacom Durban July empire, multiple champion and rival conditioner Mike de Kock is looking to hopefully strengthen his big race claims when Irish import Cascapedia runs in a Pinnacle Stakes over a mile on Turffontein’s inside track on Sunday.
Justin Snaith leads in 2008 Gr1 Vodacom Durban July dead-heater Dancer’s Daughter
Snaith, who has won the July twice, can’t seem to do anything wrong at the moment. After a super Saturday, the revised July log will make for interesting reading when the racing gods deliver it on Wednesday.
His senior colleague Mike de Kock has double the amount of July wins to his credit but must be itching to get another on the board, having gone seven years since the brilliant Igugu won the race in 2011.
Igugu – won the July in 2011
De Kock has a quartet of July hopefuls this year, with Snaith doubling that with eight – and even a possible ninth, depending on how Made To Conquer goes in the Lonsdale.
But let’s not write off the old man or the exciting Cascapedia, who is a winner of five of her seven starts.
Cascapedia – on track for July
Sunday is the second run in her preparation for the Vodacom Durban July in which she is De Kock’s only qualifier (of his four entries) on the Top 20 log so far.
Mathew de Kock said on www.mikedekockracing.com: “Cascapedia just needed her last run, she came back in the Gr1 Empress Club Stakes and ran well after a rest, beaten just seven lengths. She’s come on from that, she is well in at the weights and we expect her to be competitive on Sunday.”
Cascapedia was beaten into fourth in her only start at this track last October, but as Mike de Kock likes to point out, the imported runners get better with maturity and it will be interesting to see how Cascapedia goes.
While her stablemates Fareeq and Secret Captain cannot be discounted, her chances of winning have been enhanced through the scratching of Warrior’s Rest and Brazuca, which has reduced the field to just eight runners.
The word is that the withdrawn Brazuca, a son of Teofilo, one of Galileo’s top performing sire sons, has been gelded.
Brazuca – has been gelded
A smashing chestnut, the 2017 Gr2 Colorado King Stakes winner once looked a long-shot sire prospect, but a Gr1 score has looked out of reach lately and his form has tapered negatively.
He was reported not striding out when 28 lengths behind Coral Fever in the Premier’s Champions Challenge. The unkindest cut has come late for the R2 million plus stakes earner!
The feature on the afternoon is the R150 000 Listed Syringa Handicap.
The Pick 6 carryover of R300 000 is expected to get the pool up to R2 million. The popular exotic commences in race 3 at 14h00.
