Fillies gallop to top of Durban July log
· Citizen
Three fillies are in the top four places on the second 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July log published on Wednesday.
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There are five females among the 20 entries named by the July selection panel as preferred candidates for the R10-million 2200m race to be contested at Greyville on the first Saturday of next month.
This is a notable turn of events as sometimes the July struggles to drum up a worthy filly or mare as a runner to underpin what is perceived to be female betting interest in the country’s premier horse race.
The new log has three-year-old colt Star Major in the No 1 spot, followed by fillies Wish List, Mocha Blend and Hazy Dazy. Lower down the list are Olivia’s Way and Minogue.
The scratching of a slew of fancied entries – significantly, See It Again, The Real Prince and Eight On Eighteen – at the second declaration stage this week has stirred up the July picture no end and the ante-post betting market has seen a number of interesting moves.
Changes to odds
Star Major still tops the boards with a win return of 3.03.
The announcement that punters’ favourite Richard Fourie had chosen to ride Note To Self for the champion stable of Justin Snaith saw a flood of money for the three-year-old and he was trimmed to 3.57 by Hollywoodbets – having been on offer at 6s last week.
This has seen stablemate Wish List ease slightly to 5.56 – a move also influenced by unexpected support for another Snaith entry, Regulation, who tightened to 8.33 from 10.00.
Regulation is at No 20 on the new log, so is in danger of missing out on inclusion in the final July field when it announced on 23 June.
Yet two further Snaith charges, Happy Verse and Legal Counsel, have also been backed – as has late supplementary entry Zeitz, who won Saturday’s 1800m Cup Trial at Greyville for trainer Andre Nel. Nel wasted no time in declaring the weekend’s winning rider Serino Moodley for Zeitz and the race sponsor ended up chalking the pairing at 16.67.
Log process
July host Race Coast issued a detailed run-down of its log process.
“The … log functions as the official ranking tool used to determine which horses are most likely to be selected,” it declared.
“The log is compiled by a Race Coast-hosted nationally representative dual-operator five-man panel, in consultation with the handicappers, with the top 20 horses listed in order of preference, reflecting their likelihood of selection at the time of publication…
“…there are a number of key considerations for determining rankings, including official merit ratings and, in the spirit of transparency, the following should be noted:
“Where an entry has been selected by all panel members, that individual is on the log. In this instance, there were 16 entries which received 5/5 votes.
“Entries with a 4/5 vote are next. Where there are multiple 4/5 entries, but still in the top 18, then they are included. In this instance, there were three entries with 4/5 votes vying for the next two places in the 18-horse field.
“The next weighting is a Grade 1 win… then we have Grade 1 placed… the next benchmark would be a Grade 2 win and Grade 2 placed. Then follows a Grade 3 victory.”
This explanation will help punters understand the selection process, but there will surely still be carping about horses being left out. That’s racing…
This coming weekend’s Greyville top-liner at Greyville, the R400,000 Lucky Fish Grade 3 Winter Stakes, formerly run as the Derby, has strategic importance on the road to the July, with big-race entries Native Ruler, Shoot The Rapids, Holding Thumbs, Tenpenny and Enflame all out to reinforce claims to a berth in Africa’s richest race.
2nd July Log (10.6.26)
Position, name, Hollywoodbet odds, (age/sex), trainer, (jockey), MR
1 Star Major 3.03 (3C) James Crawford (…) 122
2 Wish List 5.56 (3F) Justin Snaith (Andrew Fortune) 117
3 Mocha Blend 16.67 (4F) Frank Robinson (Tristan Godden) 117
4 Hazy Dazy 33.33 (3F) Corne Spies (…) 117
5 Legal Counsel 12.50 (4G) Justin Snaith (Callan Murray) 128
6 Gladatorian 16.67 (6G) Stuart Ferrie (…) 127
7 Note To Self 3.57 (3G) Justin Snaith (Richard Fourie) 118
8 Happy Verse 6.25 (3G) Justin Snaith (Zac Lloyd) 119
9 King Pelles 20.00 (5G) Gareth van Zyl (…) 122
10 Native Ruler 25.00 (4G) Justin Snaith (Keagan de Melo) 121
11 Viva’s Liberte 25.00 (3G) Candice Bass (…) 114
12 The Ultimate King 33.33 (4G) Tony Peter (Kabelo Matsunyane) 117
13 Zeitz 16.67 (4G) Andre Nel (Serino Moodley) 110
14 Olivia’s Way 40.00 (4F) Roy Magner (…) 114
15 I Salute You 40.00 (4G) Peter Muscutt (…) 113
16 Isivivane 33.33 (4G) Peter Muscutt (…) 108
17 Choisaanada 40.00 (4G) Erico Verdonese (…) 121
18 Minogue 56.00 (5M) Candice & Tammy Dawson (Gavin Lerena) 116
19 Aladdin’s Lamp 33.33 (5G) Mike & Mathew de Kock (Calvin Habib) 110
20 Regulation 8.33 (4G) Justin Snaith (JP van der Merwe) 106
Other entries in alphabetical order
Chronicle King (3C) 115
Copper Eagle (3G) 110
Curious Girl (3F) 100
Enflame (4G) 112
Field Marshall (4G) 110
Holding Thumbs (5G) 119
La Pulga (4G) 105
Shoot The Rapids (5G) 117
Tenpenny (4G) 105