Hawwaam now joint ante-post favourite
HAWWAAM has been cut from 17-2 to 11-2 joint favourite for the Vodacom Durban July following his breathtaking near six-length win in last Saturday’s SA Classic.
World Sports Betting has also clipped stable companion Buffalo Bill Cody from 13-2 to 11-2 in its pre-nomination book and pushed out Rainbow Bridge (previously outright favourite at 5-1) by half a point to make it three on 11-2.
Do It Again
Last year’s winner Do It Again stays on 15-2 but stable companion Doublemint (sixth in the Sun Met) has been cut from 14-1 to 11-1.
Mike de Kock, an 8-1 chance for much of the season, has been cut quite sharply to 9-2 to record a ninth trainers’ championship. Justin Snaith is 12-10 favourite with Sean Tarry a close second on 14-10.
Tarry leads the log with stakes of R8.7 million and Snaith has just over R8 million but De Kock is fast closing the gap and is now on R7.9 million.
Muzi Yeni went into yesterday’s Fairview meeting on 123 wins, seven behind Anton Marcus, but he is now as short as 16-10 favourite to win the title for the first time.
Marcus is on 28-10, the same price as the 2014/15 champion Gavin Lerena who has ridden 94 winners this term.
Hewitson
Current champion Lyle Hewitson (107 wins) is a 9-2 chance.
Concerns that two of the races at Durbanville on Saturday would be scrapped for lack of support have proved groundless.
All six nominated for the opening Streamline Agencies Maiden Juvenile Fillies stood their ground at yesterday’s declaration stage as did eight of the nine nominated for the Crawford Racing Maiden.
Race sponsor Klawervlei is also backing a seven-a-side soccer tournament before racing with teams coming from several studs as well as from the Snaith Racing and Eric Sands’ yards.
Boomps A Daisy
The big target for most punters, though, will be Boomps A Daisy in race three, the 1 250m Crawford Racing Maiden.
This Australian-bred started second favourite for her debut in a 16-runner field at Kenilworth last month and simply flew home to make up five lengths inside the final furlong and go under to Fluttering by a fast-disappearing head.
Greg Cheyne takes over from Anton Marcus on the Brett-Crawford trained Ridgemont filly.
Crawford, incidentally, reports that Cape Fillies Guineas winner Front And Centre goes to Durban and has the KRA Fillies Guineas at Greyville (May 4) on her shopping list.