SplashOut Cape Derby winner Green With Envy defied the mile and a gusting tailwind to stamp himself a leading Hollywoodbets Durban July contender with a rousing performance under a superb Craig Zackey ride to win the R500 000 World Sports Betting Gr2 Guineas at the Theatre Of Dreams on Wednesday.
Dean Kannemeyer and his leading owner Lady Christine Laidlaw last won the Hollywoodbets Greyville contest back in 2010 with Noordhoek Flyer, and they will now be looking ahead to the Gr1 Daily News 2000 and then straight into Africa’s greatest horseracing event on 6 July, with a measure of confidence.
Craig Zackey has Green With Envy in charge as Sandringham Summit (Gavin Lerena) has no answers (Pic – Candiese Lenferna
Returning off a ten week break since his emphatic SplashOut Cape Derby victory down at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth, Green With Envy was lagging ten lengths behind his field for much of the trip.
With pacesetter Snow Pilot leading the charge, then lugging in dramatically to the inside rail halfway down the home straight, Gavin Lerena looked to have timed his run to perfection on the champion Sandringham Summit (7-10).
But Craig Zackey,made it a glorious Guineas double, and had other ideas as Green With Envy (4-1) sprouted wings to score an unlikely victory by 0,30 lengths, with the Highveld star just nabbed late in a time of 96,66 secs.
Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas winner Snow Pilot (7-1) did the donkey work, and was only beaten further 0,30 into third.
It was a big result for Varsfontein’s champion Gimmethegreenlight,whose sons ran 1-2.
Bred and owned by Khaya Stables, Green With Envy has now won 5 of 9 starts with 3 places, the colt having earned R1 718 899 in prize money.
This was a third straight graded win for Green With Envy.
Bred and raced by Khaya Stables, he is out of the Galileo mare Miss Coco, and is one of 63 stakes winners for Gimmethegreenlight, South Africa’s Champion Sire in both 2020-2021 and 2022-2023.
