DON’T BET ON A HORSE WITHOUT A JOCKEY!

THE SARDINES have arrived in eThekwini, both figuratively and literally. I hope you caught the right current, larnies.

It’s time for the colts and stallions to get their gear out and start popping in order to net anything. It’s the most prestigious day on the South African racing calendar, and a weekend that has Mzansi’s social scene abuzz.

This is when all the fashion fillies will be trotting around the streets of Durban. It’s the 123rd running of the Vodacom Durban July, at what’s now known as the Hollywoodbets Greyville racecourse.

The favourites (for those keen to take a punt) this year are Hawwaam 2/1, Do It Again 4/1, with Rainbow Bridge and Barahin at 13/2 the pair. Personally, I prefer to take a dip on some of the more generously priced ponies, which is a fair amount of the field given it’s an 18-horse race on a highly anticipated race day, which all trainers and jockeys yearn to have on their record.

So Sangoma is hoping for a big upset, but if you are looking at making some tin, then look at taking place bets in the main race too, along with your winning bets as they pay up to six places today.

My fancied outside looks are Eyes Wide Open 13/1, Twist Of Gate 15/1, Legal Eagle 20/1 and Roy Had Enough 66/1.

Oh, for the mickey of it, chuck in Fresnaye and Miyabi Gold which pay

66/1 for the win and as much as 10/1 for a place. Hawwaam and the other favourites are class, all with good inside draw gates, and with South Africa’s top jockeys aboard – it will make them really hard to beat!

Away from the paddocks, this year’s Super Rugby wraps up today with the Crusaders at home to the Jaguares. The home team are 2/10 heavy favourites and deservedly so, with a 13-point spread. The ‘Saders are too strong and should win easily, with a side littered with All Blacks. However, I see the Pumas (sorry, the Jaguares!) leaving it all out there, and if they overcome the travelling and frustrate Richie Mo’unga, perhaps they can cause the season’s biggest upset?

The Cricket World Cup is almost done, and I reckon most of us have had enough of it. Clearly, it’s not coming home!

The semi-finals and finals are next week and while England may have stumbled early on, they seem to be now settling in. Edgbaston is a fortress for them, so expect more fireworks from Bairstow and company.

Expect Australia to have a big say, and I hope India stay in the fight too, as they are the most deserved. A Sharma v Warner and Bumrah v Starc match-up will be the best way to end the festival.

Wimbledon, meanwhile, has a new kid on the block. Literally a kid, as she is 15 years old and her name is Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff. She toppled one of her childhood heroines, a legend of the game, Venus Williams in the first round.

Through the next couple of days expect some more big upsets in both the men’s and the women’s draw. But let me just say I see the top seeds, Ashley Barty and Novak Djokovic, winning this year.

Then there is the AFCON knockouts where two of the games in the last 16 round were played last night. There are six games in this round over a three-day period. Without getting into too much analysis, we will list the match-ups and call the winners. The games consist of Nigeria versus Cameroon, Madagascar playing DRC, Ghana against Tunisia, Mali versus Ivory Coast and Algeria playing Guinea. Then last and not least it’s our poor Bafana Bafana “boys” (pun intended) facing hosts Egypt led by one of the world’s best strikers in Mo Salah. What a beast!

I smell a bunch of goals here, mara it may not be our lads doing the scoring. My dodgy calls are as follows; Nigeria, DRC, Ghana, Guinea and sadly Egypt by two or more goals, bafethu (gents). If Bafana do it, it will be the biggest upset of the July weekend, as they have been playing like a horse running without a jockey! Anyway, it’s a national team trend to puzzle of late. Another story, for another July day.