Following the second declaration stage yesterday morning, 34 of the original 71 entries stood their ground and the Geoff Woodruff trained Yorker retains his top spot on the Vodacom Durban July log ahead of the Daily News winner Legislate.
Following his close second to Legislate, Rake’s Chestnut has launched himself up the ladder from complete obscurity to position number 6 on the log. His stable companion, Louis The King, holds third spot followed by Capetown Noir and the Woolavington winner, In The Fast Lane.
A maximum field of 16 runners will face the starter for the 2014 Vodacom Durban July and today’s log reflects the composition of the field as if the race were to be run at this point in time.
However, with Clairwood playing host to the Rising Sun Gold Challenge (Gr 1) and the Cup Trial (Gr 3) on Saturday, there is still an opportunity for others to stake their claim for inclusion in the final field. The following weekend sees the running of the Jubilee Handicap (Gr 3) in Johannesburg and the Betting World Stakes and Betting World Oaks as last gasp opportunities for consideration.
Weights for the Vodacom Durban July will be published on Tuesday 10 June and the final declarations fall due on Monday 23 June.
LOG AS AT TUESDAY 3 JUNE 2014
| TOP 20 | |||
| No. | NAME | Trainer | MR |
| 1 | YORKER | Geoff Woodruff | 118 |
| 2 | LEGISLATE | Justin Snaith | 110 |
| 3 | LOUIS THE KING | Geoff Woodruff | 109 |
| 4 | CAPETOWN NOIR | Dean Kannemeyer | 112 |
| 5 | IN THE FAST LANE | Justin Snaith | 106 |
| 6 | RAKE’S CHESTNUT | Geoff Woodruff | 109 |
| 7 | BEACH BEAUTY | Dennis Drier | 112 |
| 8 | TELLINA | Geoff Woodruff | 110 |
| 9 | CHERRY ON THE TOP | Ormond Ferraris | 107 |
| 10 | ESPUMANTI | Mike de Kock | 108 |
| 11 | ALONG CAME POLLY | Gavin van Zyl | 105 |
| 12 | WYLIE HALL | Weiho Marwing | 109 |
| 13 | PUNTA ARENAS | Stan Elley | 108 |
| 14 | JET EXPLORER | Justin Snaith | 109 |
| 15 | CAPTAIN AMERICA | Brett Crawford | 106 |
| 16 | WHITELINE FEVER | Sean Tarry | 110 |
| 17 | HALVE THE DEFICIT | Sean Tarry | 104 |
| 18 | POMODORO | Sean Tarry | 107 |
| 19 | JET BELLE | Glen Kotzen | 103 |
| 20 | MASTER SABINA | Geoff Woodruff | 100 |
| NEXT 5 IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER | |||
| ASTRO NEWS | Charles Laird | 109 | |
| FUTURA | Brett Crawford | 101 | |
| ICE MACHINE | Dean Kannemeyer | 108 | |
| RIO CARNIVAL | Charles Laird | 112 | |
| RUN FOR IT | Justin Snaith | 108 | |
