Hollywoodbets Durban July – The First Entries

With a star-studded first entry announced on Wednesday, Mzansi is on track to welcome the crowds back to Hollywoodbets Greyville in Durban as the countdown has begun on the yellow brick road to horseracing fame and fortune in the R5 million Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Appropriately billed as Africa’s Greatest Horseracing event, the 126th renewal of the 2200m championship will be held at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday 2 July, and will be run for the richest stake in the famous race’s proud history.

As regulations currently stand, the 2022 renewal will welcome crowds back to the premier horseracing and social spectacular for the first time since 2019!

The 2021 July hero Kommetdieding – back to defend his title (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)

Announcing the 68 first entries – an increase of 28% on the 2021 subscription – Gold Circle’s Graeme Hawkins described the list of equine stars who will bid for a place in the final field of eighteen as the who’s who of South African thoroughbred horseracing.

First-up entries for Africa’s richest graded stakes race, sponsored this year for the first time by South Africa’s international sportsbook operator, Hollywoodbets, include representatives from all three major racing centres nationally.

“The announcement of the first entries today for the Hollywoodbets Durban July is a milestone in the build-up to Africa’s premier raceday. The enthusiastic response from owners and trainers via the 68 entries has shown that the prestige of the race, combined with the bolstered incentive of the R5 million stakes pot, is a major drawcard. It’s a great honour and privilege to have the Hollywoodbets brand associated with an iconic horseracing event that is recognised across the globe. We have already seen major interest in the ante-post betting market, and there will be some value to be found amongst the first entries. The real fun commences in a matter of weeks as Champions Season gets underway,” enthused Hollywoodbets Brand & Communications Manager, Devin Heffer.

Event-1 R5 000 000 2200m (Turf)
Hollywoodbets DURBAN JULY (Grade 1)

Gold Circle’s Racing Executive Raf Sheik has expressed his delight with the quality of entries received for the R5-million Hollywoodbets Durban July, “The response from owners and trainers across the country has been phenomenal. The 68 entries received include 13 individual Grade 1 winners as well as 3 former winners of this great race. The depth of talent amongst the early entries is most pleasing and it will be exciting to follow their progress over the next two months.”

Snaith’s Belgarion wins in 2020 (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)

As stated, the glittering galaxy of stars hosts a trio of past winners in Do It Again (2018/2019), Belgarion (2020) and popular defending champion, and current SA Horse Of The Year elect, Kommetdieding.

The latter, widely hailed as the ‘People’s Horse’, is currently campaigning in Gauteng, where he is due to compete in the Gr1 Premiers Champions Challenge at the end of this month.

Reigning SA Champion trainer Justin Snaith, who bids this year to join the legendary Terrance Millard with six winners and just one behind horseracing folk hero Syd Laird – who holds the July record of a scintillating seven winners – has shown he means business with a powerful entry of twelve.

Snaith, who said earlier that Hollywoodbets’ injection of cash into the stakes pot had been a ‘game changer’, could well find his national title defence aspirations hinging on the outcome of the 2 July extravaganza.

His Turffontein counterpart Paul Peter, who saddled the Jackpot at the Vaal on Tuesday afternoon, has nine representatives, including his Tuesday Vaal winner Flying Bull, who is priced up at 100-1 in the Hollywoodbets Durban July ante-post market.

Paul Peter’s Flying Bull – priced up at 100 to 1 (Pic – JC Photos)

Also in the Peter class of 2022 is the never-say-die MK’s Pride, who recently won the Gr1 Wilgerbosdrift HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes for passionate first-time owner, MK ‘Koos’ Nkale. The Pretoria resident is a lifetime Kaizer Chiefs fan, and a victory for the warrior in the black and gold silks would reverberate across the nation.

The presence of 24 three year olds is an encouraging sign, and while the sophomore generation are on a double after Kommetdieding’s thrilling victory in 2021, we have to go back to Do It Again (2018), Pomodoro (2012), Bold Silvano (2010) and Big City Life in 2009, for the other stars of that age group to grab top honours this century.

Watch the announcement, courtesy of GallopTv here:

Past Durban July winning trainers with a possible runner in 2022 include Mike de Kock (5 entries), Sean Tarry (8 entries), Dean Kannemeyer (4 entries), Glen Kotzen ( 4 entries ), Candice Bass-Robinson (2 entries), and Michelle Rix (1 entry).

The lady trainers have rewritten the turf history books in recent times, with Marinaresco (2017) giving Candice Bass-Robinson the honour of being the first female to saddle a July winner in over a century.

Michelle Rix – has enjoyed an extraordinary run

Michelle Rix, who trains out of Milnerton in partnership with her former jockey Dad Harold Crawford, repeated the feat just four years later with Kommetdieding, before she went on to saddle the Cape star to script her own piece of history and win the Gr1 Cape Town Met presented by World Sports Betting.

Randjesfontein-based Hollywoodbets sponsored trainer Candice Dawson (Perfect Witness) and leading Vaal lady conditioner Ashley Fortune (Sovereign Spirit) make up a powerful quartet.

The last time a filly won the Durban July was in 2011, when the superstar Igugu produced the magic for Mike de Kock and Anthony Delpech. The fairer sex entry this year numbers eight, and Mike de Kock will be looking to add to a quartet of July winning trophies in his sizeable trophy cabinet with another filly in recent Colorado King Stakes placer Sparkling Water, a daughter of multiple SA champion sire Silvano, who races in the instantly recognisable silks of Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift.

Another top-notch fairer sex candidate is Drakenstein’s 2022 SA Triple Tiara princess Rain In Holland, who will bid to give former multiple SA Champion trainer Sean Tarry his third victory in the race.

Robbie Hill – a rare double?

Summerveld-based Robbie Hill (Passage Of Power) enjoys the unique distinction of being the only trainer in the 2022 entry list to have ridden a Durban July winner. Hill was aboard the tough as teak dual winner El Picha, when the Argentinian-bred gelding scored his first July victory in 1999.

Besides the four-legged champions, Africa’s Greatest Horseracing event is synonymous with trackside glamour and fashion, and Durban’s social event of the year attracts the A to Z of the continent’s professional and once-a-year fashionistas.

There is already a ‘buzz’ – pardon the pun – around the 2022 theme, Show Me The Honey, and the broader fashion community and student designers have responded with enthusiasm to the new incentives put in place for the Hollywoodbets Durban July Young Designer Award presented by Durban Fashion Fair competition that kick-starts the raceday fashion programme.

The Hollywood Foundation has stepped in to offer an extra R100 000 in incentives to the students that emerge in the top three places of the competition.

The structure of the build-up to the big race over the next ten exciting weeks will see racing fans making use of the regular big race logs published by the racing operator and handicappers as a handy reference tool when considering their Hollywoodbets Durban July ante-post betting options.

Looking ahead, first declarations for the big race close at 11h00 on Monday 9 May, with owners and trainers being given another opportunity to realise a dream as first supplementary entries close at 11h00 on Tuesday 10 May.

• Second declarations by 11h00 on Monday 30 May.
• Final supplementary entries close at 11h00 on Tuesday 14 June.
• The big race weights will be published on Tuesday 14 June.
• Final declarations close at 11h00 on Monday, 20 June.
• The announcement of the Final Field and Barrier Draws will take place on Tuesday, 21 June.
• The Hollywoodbets Durban July public gallops will be held at the host venue on the morning of Thursday 23 June.

Watch the media for news of ticket sales and get ready to Show Me The Honey on 2 July!

Keep pace with the R5 million Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July on www.hollywoodbetsdurbanjuly.co.za.