Former winner Do It Again tops the entries for Durban July

The name Do It Again tops the list of first entries for the 2023 Hollywoodbets Durban July – and why not?

If the former champion stands his ground and competes in the Grade 1 R5-million race over 2200m at Greyville on 1 July, he will make history as the first horse to have contested South Africa’s biggest horse race six times.

If he wins, he will be the first horse to do it three times – and he’ll become the first eight-year-old to win in the race’s venerable 127-year history.

Do It Again’s trainer Justin Snaith clearly believes the son of Twice Over has what it takes and often in recent years has commented that the old soldier still enjoys his work and racing.

The Cape champion conditioner runs a massive yard and room for sentiment is limited. He has no fewer than eight other July entries, so he wouldn’t be messing about with a no-hoper.

Perhaps the most important factor when considering Do It Again’s July nomination has been his remarkable record in the race: since his record-equalling back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2019, he has finished third, fourth and fourth – putting up fierce resistance to younger rivals and outgalloping most of them.

And he clearly loves Greyville racecourse.

Missing horses

When the first entry list for the Durban July was released on Wednesday, pundits were searching to see which horses were NOT among the 60 names – and a few people might have been disappointed.

The names Al Muthana and Charles Dickens – the highest-rated middle- distance horses in training – were missing. With merit ratings of 133 and 132, they would have heavily influenced the weights allocated

As it turned out, four horses on 124 topped the MR league: Do It Again, last year’s Daily News 2000 champion Safe Passage, and Cape Derby winners Pomp And Power and See It Again. If they stand their ground for the R5- million showdown, one or more of them will lug the 60kg topweight – instead of the 55.5kg they would have carried if Al Muthana was topweight.

See It Again, as a three year-old, gets a 2kg age allowance and might now carry 57kg, as opposed to 53.5kg if Al Muthana was in the fray.

Of course, connections said a while back that Charles Dickens would not tackle the July, so his non-appearance was no surprise, But L’Ormarins King’s Plate victor Al Muthana had attracted some bets in the ante-post betting as a “possible”.

Clearly his trainer Ricky Maingard believes the five-year-old Australian-bred gelding doesn’t quite stay the 2200m of the July and is probably targeting the 1600m Gold Challenge and the 1800m Champion’s Cup in the KwaZulu-Natal winter season.

Prominent trainers

Among Snaith’s nine July hopefuls are Pomp And Power and the promising three-year-olds Without Question and Rockpool.

Three trainers – Mike de Kock, Sean Tarry and Brett Crawford – have seven candidates.

Last year’s July third-placed Safe Passage heads the De Kock charge, with a powerful three-year-old squad backing him up: Union Square, East Coast, Dave The King and Shoemaker.

Other youngsters among the entries that catch the eye at first glance are the aforementioned See It Again, trained by Muis Roberts; Glen Kotzen’s Cousin Casey; Grant Maroun-trained Anfields Rocket; Weiho Marwing-trained Son Of Raj, and Lucky Houdalakis-trained None Other.

First entries, Durban July

Do It Again (8G) 124 Justin Snaith

Pomp And Power (4G) 124 Justin Snaith

Safe Passage (4G) 124 Mike de Kock

See It Again (3C) 124 Michael Roberts

Puerto Manzano (ARG) (5G) 123 JA Janse van Vuuren

Astrix (6G) 122 J A Janse van Vuuren

Cousin Casey (3C) 122 Glen Kotzen

Rascallion (5G) 122 Vaughan Marshall

Zapatillas (4C) 122 Brett Crawford

Anfields Rocket (3G) 120 Grant Maroun

Golden Ducat (6G) 120 Mike de Kock

Linebacker (5G) 120 Vaughan Marshall

Rain In Holland (4F) 120 Sean Tarry

Silver Darling (4F) 120 Justin Snaith

Without Question (3G) 119 Justin Snaith

Nebraas (6G) 117 Sean Tarry

Surjay (4G) 117 Brett Crawford

Aragosta (4G) 116 Mike de Kock

Jimmy Don (3C) 116 Erico Verdonese

Red Saxon (4G) 116 Joe Soma

Union Square (3C) 116 Mike de Kock

Son Of Raj (3G) 115 Weiho Marwing

At My Command (3C) 114 Brett Crawford

Billy Bowlegs (3C) 114 Alec Laird

Shoemaker (3G) 114 Mike de Kock

Litigation (4C) 113 Sean Tarry

Silver Host (6G) 113 Justin Snaith

East Coast (3C) 112 Mike de Kock

Hoedspruit (5G) 112 Justin Snaith

Royal Victory (3G) 112 Nathan Kotzen

Dave The King (3C) 111 Mike de Kock

Johnny Hero (6G) 111 Tyrone Zackey

Airways Law (5G) 110 Andre Nel