And then there were 36 … No major surprises as July field is trimmed

It was nip and tuck for the sponsor of the Hollywoodbets Durban July after second declarations for Africa’s biggest horse race – with no major surprises among the entries withdrawn.

Ruling favourite Green With Envy tightened half a point in the ante-post betting – despite all his principal rivals standing their ground and despite trainer Dean Kannemeyer losing an appeal against the colt’s four-point penalty for winning the recent Daily News 2000.

An appeal panel unanimously agreed that the official handicappers got their assessment of the Daily News spot on and dismissed the plea with costs.

Notable casualty

The rating hike pushed Green With Envy to 127, the third highest among the remaining 36 July hopefuls.

The most notable casualty at the second declaration stage was Pure Predator, a 20-1 shot trained on the Highveld by Fanie Bronkhorst.

The three-year-old’s scratching followed a disappointing effort in the Daily News 2000, in which he started as second favourite but finished well beaten in fourth, more than five lengths behind impressive winner Green With Envy.

Other well-rated entries opting out of the July on Monday included Mid Winter Wind, My Soul Mate and Mondial. Trainer Mike de Kock had earlier indicated wonder filly Gimme A Nother would not run in Durban on 6 July as she was being exported to the US. He also alerted punters that Safe Passage wouldn’t be accepting.

Frances Ethel

Interestingly, Brett Crawford-trained three-year-old filly Frances Ethel is among the acceptors, with a R7,190 non-refundable fee paid, despite her owners Team Valor saying last week she would not race in South Africa again ahead of relocation to the US.

Frances Ethel was the sole female on the First July Log recently published.

A fresh Log is overdue with form updates rolling in as the KwaZulu-Natal winter season rushes ahead – not to mention a surprise supplementary entry in the shape of Cape Town Met winner Double Superlative, who everyone had thought was already enjoying life on a stud farm.

The latter slotted into the Hollywoodbets boards at 14-1 – eighth on the list.

Snaith’s entries

His trainer Justin Snaith might not have a candidate among the highest echelons of the betting, but his seven remaining entries are all among the top 20 names, with the likes of Without Question, Mucho Dinero and Hluhluwe drawing steady punter support.

Reigning champion trainer Snaith took out three of his original entries – the same number of withdrawals as former champ Sean Tarry, who also retains seven.

The most intriguing of the Tarry coterie is Lucky Lad, sensational winner of the 1200m Golden Horse Sprint at Scottsville. The way he streaked past rivals on Saturday marked this guy out as special, but he has yet to race beyond a mile and the July’s 2200m is wholly unchartered territory.

Just as curiously, Lucky Lad is asked to do a quick turnaround and line up in the 1600m Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge at Greyville this coming weekend, against a dozen of the country’s best milers.

Virtuoso Tarry knows what he is doing and punters and bookmakers are taking no chances, whittling Lucky Lad’s odds down to 25-2 joint fourth favourite for the July – from an opening call out in the bundu.

JULY BETTING

5/2 Green With Envy
6-1 See It Again
10-1 Flag Man
25-2 Lucky Lad, Royal Victory, Winchester Mansion, Future Swing
14-1 Double Superlative
16-1 Oriental Charm, Mucho Dinero
20-1 Without Question
25-1 Purple Pitcher, Hluhluwe, Snow Pilot
33-1 Main Defender, Royal Aussie, Cousin Casey, Frances Ethel, Silver Sanctuary, Barbaresco
40-1 to 250-1 the other 17