1st Log Hollywoodbets Durban July

Dazza wrote:

Sail the Seas has been scratched from July. 

Judging by the drift in the ante-post betting, that looked inevitable.


 

naresh wrote:

Eight On Eighteen = 129 merit rating = 60kgs less 2kgs Weight For Age Allowance = 58kgs. Maximum 3yo weight = 57kgs.

See It Again = 127 merit rating = 59kgs. 

Due to top weight only allotted 59kgs, all weights will be raised by 1kg to get to 60kgs.

Eight on Eighteen will therefore carry 58kgs according to my understanding at the current merit ratings.

Why do you say that See It Again would be set 59kgs - if he is the top rated horse at 127, would he not be set 60kg ? So 8 on 18 would be Nett 125 ?

And does the 57kgs for 3-yr-olds not take preference ? So if there are to be scratchings after acceptance and 8 on 18 is raised to say carry 58 or 59, does the max weight for 3-yr-olds not trump that ? 

Royal Victory will be in the first 4 just need to fill in the other 3 places .Eight on Eighteen might take the breeding route and skip the July.Remember not many 3 year olds came back after the July run.Top horses were retired , Turncoat,Bush telegraph,to name a few .I always maintained that the July should be for 4year olds and older ,it's a tough race .Think Snaith is on the mark here and from a business perspective,Eight on Eighteen should skip the July win next year's met and go for breeding.
The older horses should fight out the July i.m.o 

Has a three year old won the Met and then the July before? If not and 8 on 18 achieves that feat, he would create history, imagine his stud value then.

bayern wrote:

Has a three year old won the Met and then the July before? If not and 8 on 18 achieves that feat, he would create history, imagine his stud value then.
Not sure if Igugu was 3 or 4 year old but she did the double and that was the end of her career .
Very hard for a three year old to come back  Sir,It's a hard run race for 3 year olds in general.
 

Elmo wrote:

bayern wrote:

Has a three year old won the Met and then the July before? If not and 8 on 18 achieves that feat, he would create history, imagine his stud value then.
Not sure if Igugu was 3 or 4 year old but she did the double and that was the end of her career .
Very hard for a three year old to come back  Sir,It's a hard run race for 3 year olds in general.

Just looked it up, Igugu won the July as a 3 year old in 2011 and won the Met in 2012 as a 4 year old. Seem to think London News did the same win the July as a 3 year old and then win the Met in January the following year as a 4 year old.

My question in essence is, has a 3 year old won both the Met and the July as a 3 year old?

 

Another July carrot would be Eight On Eighteen potentially becoming only the eighth horse to win both the July and the Met and he will become the first in history to complete that double as a three-year-old.


However, Jonathan Snaith countered this by saying, “I don’t think any three-year-old has won the Derby, Met, Daily News and Champions Cup in the same year.”



TURF TALK

www.turftalk.co.za/newsletter/turf-talk-newsletter-26-may-2025/

The downgrading of races, poor turnouts and trainers being "transparent"

The uncertainty over leading runners has been a disaster for Champions Season

Looking forward to this weekend, this is my second favourite day in the festival, but there is not as much hype as there used to be

Sure by the big day all will be forgotten ( HWDJ Day)

Hi Bob. I was really thinking the same.

This is the race that the country watches, 50 000+ at the course. Totes somewhat packed with never ending lines from 10:00 am to everyone in the family taking a bet.

Surely with the thrill of it all, the feeling of it all, the adrenaline of it all. It's an amazing accomplishment just to have a runner in the race. Winning it must be an amazing feeling, and you would want to win it time and time again.

I can't understand the logic on the comments on 8/18, he is the best of his age over this distance, he is 80% ready, he will 110% ready in 6 weeks. He had an easy Daily News. He is very well weighted with the 3yr olds, the older horses are running like they I'll, he has the run from the back style, he has the best jockey in SA, it doesn't matter what draw he gets, he is receiving a 2kgs wfa allowance, he seems to enjoy Greyville based on his runs,

The punters want to take bets, all to comes, make up there mind, build on the hype. Sure if he had a hard tough run in the Daily News I would understand. But the public wants to witness champions

I know the horse comes first, but will it matter if the public starts dissengaing? Every year the July will have the same risks, it can't be that every year one will keep a superstar at bay.....in my opinion the Champions Cup is nothing more than a consolation race for hard luck stories out of the July or good horses that are best 1800m down that needs something after the Gold Challenge.

99% of the public don't even care about the champions cup, watch it or bothers about who wins.

8/18 will win this race with Richard smilling from the 1600m mark. The horse will capture big intest all over the world. Why have a champion to treat him like a baby to protect him. He stud value won't change no matter the result of this race.

Maybe it's Snaith adding a bit of drama to the big event?

 

I was trawling the bookies sites this evening looking for a price..
and noticed more than one site has gone Okavango 12/1… from 25s and 20s..
just wondering if I was missing something?
WSB still 22s.
if I were a conspiracy theorist… Interbet is 12s, but their exchange has 20s available in small volume.
Hollywood is short.. just WSB is 22. Is the Snaith stablemate shortening.. or what? 
 

An old friend once told me if the sardines come before the July ,the favourite will win the July