The table of draw statistics for the last 70 renewals of the Vodacom Durban July were kindly researched and provided by Jay August, with comments by David Thiselton.
The favourite Rainbow Bridge jumps from draw 2, which has produced three winners in the last 70 years.
However, August pointed out this draw has produced the joint lowest number of top four runners in that period.
Do It Again, seeking a record breaking third July, jumps from draw 18, which has also produced three winners.
Second favourite Belgarion’s draw of 17 is due a win as it has only produced one winner in the last 70 years.
The fancied Vardy is also drawn in a position, 9, which has only produced one winner in that period.
Supplementary entry Capoeira – jumps at 8 (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The most successful draws in this 70 year period are draws 8 and 11 with seven winners each. Capoeira and Tierra Del Fuego are drawn in those respective positions this year.
Since the track was narrowed, which led to a maximum of 16 runners in 2014 and 18 runners from then onward, the winning draws have been 11, 6, 18, 8, 15 and 8.
1st R937500, 2nd R300000, 3rd R150000, 4th R75000, 5th R37500
VODACOM DURBAN JULY (Grade 1)
Open to all Horses
WFA: 3yrs-2kgs
No Apprentice Allowance
| 1 | 1 | Golden Ducat | 53 | 115 | A | …………… | Eric Sands | |
| 2 | 2 | Rainbow Bridge | 60 | 134 | A | W Kennedy | Eric Sands | |
| 3 | 3 | Padre Pio | 53 | 115 | A | A Mgudlwa | Dennis Bosch | |
| 4 | 4 | Miyabi Gold | 52 | 115 | A | K de Melo | Justin Snaith | |
| 5 | 5 | Soqrat (AUS) | 59 | 132 | A | C Murray | Mike de Kock | |
| 6 | 6 | Twist Of Fate | 56.5 | 127 | BA | A Domeyer | Adam Marcus | |
| 7 | 7 | Shango | 53 | 116 | TBA | L Hewitson | Sean Tarry | |
| 8 | 8 | Capoeira | 53 | 115 | BA | T Godden | Andre Nel | |
| 9 | 9 | Vardy | 60 | 134 | A | C Zackey | Adam Marcus | |
| 10 | 10 | Divine Odyssey | 53 | 117 | A | S Randolph | J A Janse van Vuuren | |
| 11 | 11 | Tierra Del Fuego | 55 | 124 | A | G Lerena | Sean Tarry | |
| 12 | 12 | It’s My Turn | 53 | 118 | A | S Veale | Dean Kannemeyer | |
| 13 | 13 | Got The Greenlight | 53 | 118 | T A | M Yeni | Joe Soma | |
| 14 | 14 | Bunker Hunt | 55 | 124 | A | G van Niekerk | Justin Snaith | |
| 15 | 15 | Silvano’s Pride | 52 | 118 | A | S Moodley | Justin Snaith | |
| 16 | 16 | Camphoratus | 52 | 110 | A | G Wright | R A Hill/S R Hill | |
| 17 | 17 | Belgarion | 53 | 119 | A | R Fourie | Justin Snaith | |
| 18 | 18 | Do It Again | 59.5 | 133 | A | A Marcus | Justin Snaith | |
| 19 | 0 | Tristful | 53 | 109 | A | Reserve 1 | Tony Rivalland | |
| 20 | 0 | Hero’s Honour | 53 | 115 | A | Reserve 2 | Gary Alexander | |
| Same Trainer – Not Coupled on Tote | ||||||||
| (1,2) (4,14,15,17,18) (6,9) (7,11) | ||||||||
The connections of the Justin Snaith-trained pair Do It Again and Belgarion would likely have groaned when seeing them draw barrier positions 18 and 17 respectively, but these two draws in fact finished one-two in 2016 courtesy of The Conglomerate and Marinaresco.
However, all in all, the statistics tend to show that the barrier draw is of little significance in the Vodacom Durban July.
