Surprise late entry into Durban July as weights are announced

Capoeira, winner of the Cup Trial at the weekend, is a late entry into the Vodacom Durban July to be contested at Greyville on 25 July.

The Andre Nel-trained four-year-old has been allocated a weight of 53kg and has a good chance of being selected for the final line-up for South Africa’s most famous horse race.

When the July weights were announced on Tuesday, recent Gold Challenge winner Rainbow Bridge and Queen’s Plate champion Vardy were given joint top-weight of 60kg.

Two-time July champ Do It Again will carry 59.5kg as he tries for an unprecedented hat-trick, while Soqrat has 59kg. There is then a gap in the weightings to Twist of Fate on 56.5kg.

Current 4-1 ante-post favourite Belgarion will carry a relatively light 53kg.

Payment of a supplementary fee of R9,000 on Tuesday saw Capoeira’s name added to those of the 26 horses that had passed through the first declaration stage the previous day – when 27 of the 53 original entries were scratched by their connections.

Among the scratchings was, as expected, early ante-post betting favourite Hawwaam, the Mike de Kock-trained star who is entering quarantine ahead of export to the UK.

Capoeira was one of only three non-July entries in the 12-horse field when the Cup Trial was run on Saturday. The winner of the Grade 3 race enjoys “preferential consideration” for inclusion in the final July field, so nine “fringe” hopefuls for the famous race were going all at Scottsville to try to crack the selectors’ nod.

But Capoeira, partnered by former champion jockey Gavin Lerena in the famous Sabine Plattner silks, trounced the big-race candidates – after tracking pacemaker Herodotus for much of the 1750m trip, making an early move in the straight and accelerating away to in eye-catching style.

It was the gelding’s third win in 13 starts, though he has a collection of decent placings behind top horses in his record and has accumulated earnings of more than R466,000. His latest merit-rating hike of five points takes him to 115 and into the “likely category” for July selection.

Another “preferential consideration” race at the weekend was the Jubilee Handicap at Turffontein, which was won by Johan Janse van Vuuren-trained Divine Odyssey, an early July entry who had been named just outside the top 20 on the final “probables” log. The game five-year-old was bumped up to an MR of 117, which should see him in the line-up.

Final declarations due on Monday 13 July and the final field announced and the draw on Tuesday 14 July.

Eighteen runners and two reserves will be carded.

The traditional July gallops on the Greyville – compulsory for all runners resident in KwaZulu-Natal – will be on Thursday 16 July.

Entries (draw, name, status, age-sex, weight, MR, equipment, trainer):

Current July betting:

4-1 Belgarion

9-2 Rainbow Bridge

13-2 Do It Again

15-2 Vardy, Got The Greenlight

17-2 Bunker Hunt

18-1 Soqrat

22-1 Twist Of Fate, Golden Ducat

25-1 and upwards the others

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