Tarry assembles army of 16 for Durban July assault
In a bid for a third Vodacom Durban July triumph, champion trainer Sean Tarry has entered an army of 16 horses for SA’s most famous race on July 1.
Gold Circle have released a list of 58 entries for the 2,200m race with several of Tarry’s bestknown performers such as French Navy, Safe Harbour and three-year-olds Al Sahem and Smiling Blue Eyes pencilled in for the Greyville showpiece.
Tarry’s two July victories have come from Pomodoro in 2012 and Heavy Metal in 2013.
If the weights were decided at this stage, Captain America would have 60kg ahead of Marinaresco (59.5kg,) French Navy (58.5kg) and Sansui Summer Cup victor Master Sabina with 57kg.
However, it is possible that of this quartet, only French Navy looks a likely contender. Captain America may be aimed at other grade 1 races, Marinaresco is under a cloud after a poor Sun Met run and Master Sabina, a beaten favourite at Turffontein last Saturday, reserves his best form for the Highveld.
Two other interesting Tarry runners are Furiosa, a creditable third behind Heavenly Blue in the SA Classic, and Trophy Wife, who controversially never received an invite from the Gold Circle panel for the 2016 race.
This brought the comment from Tarry in an exclusive interview with Business Day that: “Gold Circle should be renamed Gold Circus.”
Trophy Wife is among this year’s 58 entries and — if finding her best form in the coming weeks — could well provide Joburg businessman Chris van Niekerk with his third July win.
Former champion trainer Mike de Kock, who has announced the closure of his KwaZulu-Natal operation, has entered his talented three-yearold, Heavenly Blue, who ran out an impressive winner of the recent 1,800m SA Classic.
Although out of a mare who only won over 1,600m, that performance suggested the grey son of boom sire Snitzel would stay the July distance.
Cape trainer Justin Snaith, who is some R6m adrift of Tarry in stake earnings this season, has entered nine horses for the July including Bela-Bela, Black Arthur and Copper Force.
Candice Bass-Robinson is in her first season as a licensed trainer so will be happy with her current fourth place in the trainers log, with her runners having earned more than R10m in stakes. Still, her star performer Marinaresco, runner-up in the 2016 July, has plenty to prove after a plan to send the fouryear-old to the US was shelved.