Mike de Kock has a strong hand with Hawwaam, Barahin

Last year, trainer Justin Snaith saddled four of the first five runners across the line in the Vodacom Durban July and went on to be crowned champion trainer for the season.

Today, it will not come as a surprise if Mike de Kock makes it a one-two in Africa’s greatest race.

Three-year-old Hawwaam has won six of his seven starts and is ranked 13th in the world on the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for three-year-olds and upwards.

Should Hawwaam add the Vodacom Durban July to his list of victories, he is sure to jump up the rankings when they are updated on Thursday.

With Anton Marcus in the saddle, he is the bookmakers’ favourite.

Stablemate Barahin is no stranger to winning on July Day, having crossed the line first last year in the Golden Horseshoe, beating none other than Soqrat by a nose.

Should De Kock take the July one-two, it will go a long way to catching leading trainer Sean Tarry, who has a lead of R5.4 million in stakes won this season over De Kock. The combined stakes for first and second place in the July are R3.3 million.

The champion trainer is determined by the stakes won in a season, starting on August 1 and ending July 31.

Tarry fields 17 runners today compared with De Kock’s five.

With Snaith R2 million behind De Kock as the log stands, he seems unlikely to retain the title, but then again, his one-two-three in last year’s July seemed unlikely.

The jockey championship is going down to the wire this year.

Defending champion Lyle Hewitson is on 193 wins with Muzi Yeni on 190 and Anton Marcus on 182. Both riders are hungry to win the title and Hewitson will do whatever it takes, as he is off to ride in Hong Kong next season.

Yeni has taken 1,645 rides this season so far in pursuit of the title, 255 more than Hewitson.

– Phumelela Publishing

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