‘Flawless ride’ by JP won Durban July for Oriental Charm

The biggest plaudits after Oriental Charm’s dramatic victory in Saturday’s R5-million Hollywoodbets Durban July went to jockey Juan-Paul van der Merwe and his brave front-running tactics.

“First and foremost, I must congratulate JP on a great ride,” said trainer Brett Crawford, who led in his second July winner in succession. “Unbelievable! It was a flawless ride.”

It was Van der Merwe’s first win in South Africa’s most famous horse race, which was watched by a colourful, capacity crowd of 50 000. He got the three-year-old colt home by a bare 0.30-lengths from a flying Cousin Casey, ridden by S’Manga Khumalo.

A length further back was Royal Victory and rider Muzi Yeni, just ahead of Flag Man and Serino Moodley. Last year’s runner-up See It Again finished fifth after suffering bad luck in the running.

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Oriental Charm, who carried the minimum weight of 53kg for his age, is owned by the partnership of Greg Bortz, Gina Goldsmith and Leon Ellman. Bortz is the billionaire banker who spearheaded the major rejuvenation of Western Cape racing over the past few years and the racing world was united in saying this July triumph was just reward for his contribution to the game.

Bortz, garlanded in victory flowers, said: “I am speechless. This is unquestionably the highlight of my racing life. We have quite a few horses, but we haven’t been the most successful owners; so, fluking a July, I’ll take.”

Van der Merwe, jumping Oriental Charm away from gate No 11 at the start of the 2200m trip, kept his horse on a straight course up the middle of the back straight, gradually tracking across to the inside rail after a furlong.

This got the three-year-old to the head of the action with a minimum of fuss and he then proceeded to pull his rivals along under a brisk gallop.

On Oriental Charm’s flanks were fellow three-year-olds Flag Man and Purple Pitcher, with Royal Victory, Meridius and defending champion Winchester Mansion also prominent.

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In the straight, the pacemaker kept rolling as challenges came from all sides.

Flag Man drew level, then went marginally ahead. Royal Victory was charging up the middle of the track, Cousin Casey and See It Again up the inside rail.

Just when it seemed Oriental Charm had had enough, Van der Merwe’s frantic urgings got him to put in one final surge to grab the glory.

Oriental Charm had been hanging around the top five in the ante-post July betting for months but drifted slightly to 10-1 on the big day as his stablemate and defending champion Winchester Mansion attracted a flood of money, shortening from 18-1 to 8-1 second favouritism – behind 9-2 shot Green With Envy.

Crawford’s charge was prepared at his Highveld satellite stable by his son James – as Winchester Mansion was a year earlier and this time. The Cape-based conditioner favoured Oriental Charm over Winchester Mansion in the lead-up to the race, while James inclined towards the latter.

Crawford said Oriental Charm had been prepared “to a T” by his son under his guidance – and Van der Merwe had applied the finishing touches.

With praise showered on him, the wide-eyed jockey commented: “It wasn’t that easy! He’s a bit aggressive, still a colt and a boytjie. I knew he was a big runner, but I had to get him to relax. But he never left me alone. It was about 800m before he dropped the bit. Then I knew I had a big chance. And he fought all the way to the line.”

Rachel Venniker, the first female jockey to ride in South Africa’s premier horse race in its 128-year history, finished unplaced aboard 40-1 outsider Hluhluwe after suffering major interference in the running.

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Long-time favourite for the July Green With Envy, another three-year-old colt, was customarily slowly away from the start and never looked like regaining his ground with a fast pace being set.

He ran on in the final stretch to get seventh place.

Last year’s runner-up See It Again, who had been prominent in the betting, drifted to start at 12-1. He couldn’t match strides with the pacers in the early dash and had to travel in midfield. He and veteran jockey Piere Strydom put in their customary strong finishing run but were squeezed out by the dueling Oriental Charm and Cousin Casey.

Other locally trained favourites, Royal Victory and Flag Man, ran a most meritorious third and fourth – with the former not having luck in running.

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