Snaith happy with Greyville track ahead of July

The track conditions at Greyville have often been criticised in recent years but the fact that it was not used for more than two months due to the Covid-19 lockdown may have worked as an elixir for the course ahead of Saturday’s Vodacom Durban July over 2 200m.

Justin Snaith watched all five of his Durban July horses gallop on Wednesday morning and was visibly impressed by the quality of the surface, which has a luscious covering of green grass. He walked over to assistant track manager Kevin Searle and offered his congratulations, adding this was the best he had seen the track for the July gallops.

Track manager Kurt Grunewald said that during lockdown he, Searle and their team had continued to maintain the track and were particularly meticulous about going into winter on the back of a strong conditioning and fertilising programme.

He said in summer regrowth was rapid so the track could recover quickly from a pounding. However, he added, due to one of the first proper winters KwaZulu-Natal had experienced in a while, regrowth at present was virtually down to zero.

Going in with a strong foundation has thus proved vital and the results were there to be seen at the gallops.

Current betting

4-1 Rainbow Bridge, Belgarion; 13-2 Vardy; 7-1 Got The Greenlight; 8-1 Do It Again; 10-1 Bunker Hunt; 12-1 Soqrat; 16-1 Golden Ducat, Shango; 18-1 Twist Of Fate; 28-1 Padre Pio; 33-1 Miyabi Gold; 40-1 Capoeira, Tierra Del Fuego, It’s My Turn, Silvano’s Pride; 45-1 Divine Odyssey

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