Vodacom Durban July Final Field

Winning Form's Vodacom Durban July Souvenir Issue is now on Sale! Get it at your local news agent now!

Saksy Wrote:

---

> The only way I can see Jackson getting beat is if
> he cant get over from the draw, is shuffled to the
> back of the pack and theres no pace. Crawford
> might have an ace up his sleeve though, maybe
> Polar Bound to bounce out of his good draw to set
> the pace?


This is exactly how i see it, with Pierre Jordaan, English Garden and Pomodoro and Chesalon flying at Jackson at the finish

This is how i see it... Vettel being difficult to pass , Beach Beauty , Chesalon, Pomodoro... No Jackson...

The Vodacom Durban July favourite Jackson put up some good pace work on the bottom sand track at Summerveld on Tuesday and will work on his own again at the Gallops at Greyville tomorrow.



His trainer Brett Crawford was not concerned about the reservations some have had about his stable jockey Karis Teetan’s lack of July experience.



“Karis has ridden in the July three times and his BMT (big match temperament) has always been his biggest asset,” said Crawford. ”It is amazing the change that occurs in jockeys in the parade ring from riding in a normal race to a Group 1. Nerves can take over, but to Karis it’s just another race. I don’t think people appreciate how good his ride on Thunder Dance in the TBA Paddock Stakes was. It was planned beforehand and I think it was jockeyship that won her the race. But when instructions don’t work out a jockey has to have the foresight to decide where to go and I believe he’s got that too.”



It has become noticeable how good Mauritian jockeys are tactically, which is almost certainly due to the tight, undulating circuit of the island nation’s only track, and Teetan had already drawn up a plan for Jackson by sunset last Thursday, just a few hours after watching him draw wide at 18.



He has ridden over 100 winners this season and this includes three Grade 1 victories, two of them aboard Jackson.



Teetan was almost sent over the rail when riding Castlethorpe in last year’s July after some severe interference up front caused a knock on effect.



The horse did well to finish only 5,15 lengths back in twelfth.



He finished eleventh on the Gavin van Zyl-trained Cape Town in his first July ride in 2009 and 13th on the Paul Lafferty-trained Goat in 2010.



Crawford went within a hair’s breadth of winning the race in 2002, when his Northern Guest gelding Angus finished second by a head to the great three-year-old filly Ipi Tombe.



“We didn’t see Ipi Tombe until the last couple of strides,” he recalled. “Up until then we thought we had it.”



Angus, who subsequently won the J&B Met, enjoyed a very good preparation that year, finishing sixth and first in two minor events respectively before finishing a 0,75 length second to the top class Flight Alert in the Cup Trial.



However, Crawford reckoned Jackson’s preparation had been just as good, although he does have that wide draw to contend with compared to Angus’ draw of three.



Crawford also has the four-year-old Western Winter gelding Polar Bound in the big race.



He said at the July draw ceremony last week, “If you look at his last two runs properly they weren’t bad at all. He had 15 lengths to make up in the straight in the Betting World 1900 and finished only seven back. In the Cup Trial Buy And Sell was way ahead and Polar Bound led the rest of the pack with 60kg on his back. He was also hampered a bit late so it wasn’t a bad run (3,8 length sixth and he is now 2,5kg better off with the winner Gold Onyx). With 57kg he will have a helluva job, but he has a good draw (three) and we will have him spot on for the day. He is not far off English Garden, who is many people’s July fancy, on his Cup Trial run and he could be a big outsider to consider for the Quartet.”

This is how I see it - Jackson, Jackson, Jackson, Jackson........

Mac Wrote:

---

> This is how I see it - Jackson, Jackson, Jackson,
> Jackson........


Pleased you only have the 4 because Micheal died.

Mad,i don`t think Vettel is fast enough to lead the JULY

By David Thiselton


Smanjemanje, Johannesburg’s giant killer, put up pleasing work in his official televised Vodacom Durban July gallop on the Turffontein sand on Tuesday and trainer Tyrone Zackey said he was very pleased with his overall preparation.



Zackey’s charge is at the bottom of the bookmaker’s boards at 50-1, but that is the right sort of price for him as he won the Grade 2 Victory Moon Stakes over 1800m in November last year at odds of 33-1 and finished a close third in the Grade 1 President’s Champions Challenge over 2000m in April at odds of 45-1.



In between that he won the Grade 3 London News Stakes over 1800m in January at odds of 16-1, having run a 2,75 length fifth in the Grade 1 Summer Cup at the end of November.



These performances have earned him the nickname “The Giant Killer” on the Highveld.



Zackey gave Smanjemanje a break after the Champions Challenge, so was very happy with his staying on three lengths third in the Grade 3 Jubilee over 1800m last time out.



“He still needed it and he had to carry 60kg,” he said. “You don’t want to overcook a July horse. The July has been his mission and he will come on from that run.”



Zackey added, “There has been no pressure on him to win any races to get into the July, thank goodness.”



Smanjemanje will be 5kg better off with the Jubilee winner Eton Lad.



Zackey has prepared him especially for the tight Greyville track.



He has shortened his work, wary that he will need an instant turn of foot at the top of the short 450m straight.



Karl Zechner substituted Smanjemanje’s big race jockey Grant van Niekerk for Tuesday’s gallop.



“It was a very nice gallop,” said Zackey. “We didn’t push him too hard as he is super fit.”



Regarding his draw of 11, Zackey said, “He will be out of the trouble. The jockeys are all trying to find the fence, but you need a lot of gate speed to do that from his draw and he hasn’t got that.”



Zackey described how rough a race the July often was, but this didn’t decrease his confidence in the inexperienced Van Niekerk, who will be having his first July ride.



“The horse and rider go very well together,” he said. “I have confidence in the rider especially on that horse.”



Smanjemanje finished a good fourth in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes over 1600m at Clairwood as a two-year-old.



However, he choked up in one of his subsequent races and was found to have a soft palate.



A Cornel Collar was fitted, while he was also gelded, and Zackey said these measures brought tremendous improvement.



Smanjemanje ran disappointingly in the J&B Met with van Niekerk aboard in January, but Zackey reckoned that race could be ignored.



“It’s a helluva journey to get to the Met. Then he pecked coming out of the pens and took a big bump before he could recover. Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong, so he wasn’t disgraced finishing eight lengths behind a champion filly like Igugu.”



Co-owner George Barker represented Smanjemanje at the draw function last Thursday.



He has only been in racehorse ownership for three years and said, “Winning the July is what we all dream of. You can buy a Ferrari, but it will never give you this.”



Zackey summed up the Kahal five-year-old gelding’s chance, “I think he will do quite well and will hold his own provided he gets luck in running.”



He concluded, “Maybe we will be thrown a mielie from the corn.”

Can this win??

Probably better on the sand AL ?

Beach Beauty???


Are there pictures of the horses for this year's July. I'm going mad on www.vodacomdurbanjuly.co.za website