Look no further than Mac for a long shot
WITH the tote paying six places in Saturday’s R4.25m Vodacom Durban July, punters will be searching among the long shots to put money in their pocket in SA’s most famous race.
A horse that falls into that category is Aussie-bred Mac De Lago, a 20-1 chance in ante-post betting. His win in the Rising Sun Gold Challenge means the four-year-old has the hefty burden of 59.5kg, but, in his favour, trainer Weiho Marwing’s charge appears to be peaking at the right time.
Mac De Lago will be ridden for the first time by Bernard Fayd’Herbe who won the 2008 July on Pocket Power.
He will need all his expertise to overcome a wide draw.
Another long shot worth considering for a top six finish is Dynamic, one of four runners from the stable of Justin Snaith. The son of Dynasty should give promising apprentice Lyle Hewitson a good ride on his July debut.
Hewitson, 18, who was in matric at Kearnsey College last year, has received good luck messages from pupils, old boys and teachers.
Victory for either Anton Marcus or Anthony Delpech would mean history for the pair as both have won the race four times. Delpech has the best chance of this duo as he partners the favourite, Bela-Bela.
The Snaith stable appear confident about her chance despite her slow time in the Woolvington win. Delpech remains bullish and told Gold Circle: “She has good gate speed and is a simple horse to ride.”
Bela-Bela has drawn low as has French Navy.
One can expect French Navy to be cutting through his rivals in the short straight. Tarry and owner Chris van Niekerk will be hoping for the same outcome as the 2015 Daily News 2000.
Cape challenger Marinaresco has caught a cold in the market as a result of Whisky Baron’s failure to boost the three-year-old’s form in the Cape last weekend. The worry is that Mike Bass, Marinaresco’s trainer, has proved he is a master in big races.
Solid Speed is the choice of many pundits and will bid to give Dean Kannemeyer another July triumph following Power King’s win 12 months ago. Although he makes more appeal than Anton Marcus’s mount St Tropez, he will have to produce a career-best effort against the likes of French Navy and Bela-Bela.
With Delpech opting for Bela-Bela in preference to stablemate Black Arthur, 13-times Hong Kong champion Dougie Whyte has a real chance of notching his first July win.
As Triple Crown hero Abashiri will carry something like 10kg more than when Bush Telegraph won as a three-year-old, he has a mountain to climb.
Mac De Lago should give punters a good run for their money and is selected to beat home French Navy, Bela-Bela and Dynamic. Other runners who make appeal on the 12-race programme are Stebbins (third race), Malificient (fourth) and Royal Life (12th).