Green With Envy is the one to watch

“I’m not lost, I’m just taking the scenic route through the valley of confusion.” That’s what the man leaning on the counter of the members’ bar murmured when I asked for his views on the 2024 Hollywoodbets Durban July to be run at Greyville on 6 July.

I sympathise. Three postponed feature races staged in midweek – following Saturday’s farcical riotous assembly at Greyville – hardly helped to clarify the July picture.

There’s another saying: when you’re in doubt, just hit the confusion button and watch what unfolds. That’s what the weekend’s Greyville meeting – headlined by the Grade 2 WSB 1 900, a traditional July “pointer” – looks like to perplexed punters.

The July preparation races are largely opaque, the betting market is volatile and last year’s runner-up, See It Again, has been the only constant star to guide us in rough seas.

One thing that is clear is that Wednesday’s WSB Guineas winner Green With Envy is surely as smart as trainer Dean Kannemeyer has often asserted.

The way the three-year-old colt from Cape Town came from the back of the field to overhaul oddson favourite Sandringham Summit marked him out as a potent force ahead of Africa’s greatest horse race in seven weeks’ time.

Green With Envy’s pre-race odds of 7/1 quickly dropped to

15/4 – moving him to the top of the boards, displacing local hero See It Again.

The handicappers were hiking Green With Envy’s merit rating from 119 to 123, describing his performance as “eye-catching” and “impressive” after the much-ballyhooed Highveld raider Sandringham Summit had got “first run” in the rather slow 1 600m Grade 2 classic.

Kannemeyer knows how to win the July with young, fast-improving, relatively unexposed horses, having done it with Dynasty, Eyeofthetiger and Power King in the past two decades. It’s no surprise his newest star has leapt to the forefront of thinking.

The officials chose thirdplaced Snow Pilot, trained by Justin Snaith, as the line horse to assess the Guineas, leaving him unchanged on an MR of 120. Since July first entries were announced last week, Snow Pilot has been supplemented into the big race and has slotted into the odds at 33/1. Of course, Sandringham Summit’s connections have opted not to run him in the July – for now.

Also catching the eye was Snaith’s Hluhluwe, who returned from a two-month hiatus to gallop into fourth, just 1.4 lengths behind stablemate and line horse Snow Pilot. His rating went from 111 to 116, which sealed his spot in the July lineup and saw punters reduce his value from 66/1 to 25/1.

As for the rest of the midweek action, we did not learn a great deal. The scratching of Main Defender from Saturday’s scheduled Grade 2 Drill Hall Stakes has racing fans confused and bemused and the gelding’s July chances have gone walkabout. From a price of 25/1 a week ago, he can now be backed at 55/1.

The finish of the delayed Drill Hall was fought out by joint 7/2 favourites Royal Aussie and Cousin Casey, with the former getting the decision.

He dropped from 66/1 to 50/1, while the latter edged from 40/1 to 35/1. But the 1 400m contest told us nothing we didn’t already know about two candidates that remain marginal to most calculations.

Hopefully, today, prominent July entries Much Dinero, Safe Passage, Future Swing and Without Question will answer questions about their ability at the top level, while hopefuls such as Atticus Finch, Formagear, Narina Trogon and Master Redoute could find themselves in the 6 July field.

Kannemeyer knows how to win the July with young horses