Do It Again shows signs of greatness
IT was on last Wednesday’s strike-ridden morning at Summerveld that Justin Snaith realised that Do It Again could be the pick of his five runners in the Vodacom Durban July. “I rode 12 horses that day but he was the only one of the July five that I actually rode work on. When you ride them yourself you really get a feel and I just knew,” he related.
“I thought he was really impressive and I immediately rang my brother Jonathan to tell him. Do It Again is not an easy horse to get right but we were able to do so on the right day this time.
“It was our race to lose on Saturday and the slow early pace didn’t matter to Do It Again.
“He is on the up and he has been showing signs of becoming a top horse.
“As regards the future, we will talk to the owners and then decide.”
The 9-1 chance was Snaith’s third July winner – Dancer’s Daughter dead-heated with Pocket Power ten years ago and in 2014 Legislate got the race in the boardroom – but this time he also sent out the second, third and fifth.
Marcus
It was a record-breaking fifth July win for Anton Marcus who made light of his considerable achievement, preferring to give credit to the Northfields-bred son of Twice Over, saying: “Records are pictures on walls but this horse has got a very bright future ahead of him.”
There is a brass plaque in the pagoda in the Greyville parade ring inscribed in the memory of ‘Benjamin Jonsson, 24 July 1929- 15 February 2018 – a life dedicated to horseracing.’ This polite, distinguished-looking man would have been proud of the horse who is owned by his son Nick in partnership with Jack Mitchell and Bernard Kantor. The last-named was understandably thrilled, declaring: “Winning this race means everything. Forget about the Derby, this is home turf and there is only one July.”
For Grant van Niekerk, though, the race turned into a living nightmare. African Night Sky, for so long the obvious winner, hated being restrained and fought for his head. “I was hoping the pace would hot up but they just went slower and slower,” the favourite’s rider reported. “I thought that if I went on he would settle but he is a horse who comes from behind.”
Many of those who tore up their betting slips went home convinced that those rumours last week that the horse had suffered a setback must have been true after all. Indeed they were staggered to see the favourite’s Tote odds rise to a scarcely credible 6-1 just five minutes before the off. But Snaith, the one man in a position to know, dismissed all such suggestions, saying: “He was 100%. If there had been anything wrong with him he wouldn’t have run fifth. It was just that he over-raced.”
Abashiri
Others were more worried about Abashiri. The Triple Crown winner was pulled up before the line and was loaded into a horsebox, very obviously lame on his left fore. I saw some racegoers turn away in tears, clearly expecting to hear the fatal crack of the humane killer.
But, thankfully, Adam Azzie was able to report a couple of hours later: “He did a suspensory but he is going to be alright and in a couple of months we will decide whether he races again or is retired.”
The race itself, or rather the start, made a little bit of history because it was the first July in more than 30 years for which the stalls were opened manually.
Repeated attempts to find the cause of the electrical failure in certain sections resulted in a 13-minute delay and saw the starter pulling a lever to open the gates rather than pressing a button.