Three jockeys eye Durban July history
TRAINERS: KANNEMEYER HOPES FOR 4TH VICTORY On paper, Marcus on Edict of Nantes has the best chance for a handful.
No jockey has ridden more than four Vodacom Durban July winners but that could change at Greyville on Saturday. Anton Marcus, Piere Strydom and Anthony Delpech have each won the race four times and all have mounts with big chances in this R4.25 million event over 2 200m at Greyville Racecourse.
If the betting proves an accurate guide then Marcus must have the best chance as he is aboard 5/1 second favourite Edict Of Nantes for trainer Brett Crawford. Marcus’ first winner came in 1993 on Dancing Duel for Tony Millard and he followed that up in 2000 on El Picha for Geoff Woodruff, in 2005 on Dunford for Mike Bass and his last in 2007 on Hunting Tower for Charles Laird.
Strydom rides It’s My Turn (8/1) for the Justin Snaith yard. His first win came in 1995 on London News for Alec Laird, in 2001 on Trademark for Mike Bass, in 2012 on Pomodoro for Sean Tarry and last year on The Conglomerate for Joey Ramsden.
Delpech will ride one of the two fillies in the race, Nightingale for trainer Candice Bass-Robinson. He first won the Durban July on Classic Flag for David Ferraris but his other three were all for Mike de Kock – 2004 on Greys Inn, 2010 on Bold Silvano and a year later on Igugu.
The only other jockey to have ridden four winners is Harold “Tiger” Wright, who is the grandfather of current top jockey Bernard Fayd’Herbe. He won on Silver Phantom (1942), Brookhill (1947), Milesia Pride (1949) and Preto’s Crown (1955).
Two jockeys have won the Durban July three times – Bertie Hayden and Felix Coetzee.
As far as the trainers go, Dean Kannemeyer leads the group of current trainers with three winners – Dynasty (2003), Eyeofthetiger (2006) and Power King (2015).
However, nobody has yet come close to the seven winners trained by Syd Laird and the six trained by Terence Millard.