A fantastic full field of 20 runners will take part in South Africa’s premier race for stayers, the R500 000 Grade 1 Canon Gold Cup to be run over 3 200 metres at Greyville Racecourse in Durban on Saturday, August 6.

Although some of the runners will be racing under sufferance at the weights in relation to their merit ratings, the result of last weekend’s Mercury Sprint at Clairwood ran at weight-for-age clearly indicated that the winner could come from among those considered the lesser lights.

The Canon Gold Cup is not only the final race of the KwaZulu-Natal Winter Season but also the first feature of the new South African racing season and with a full 20 runners this year an outstanding contest is expected.

Charles Laird’s stayer, The Badger, will carry top weight in the race with the Cape challenger, Red Badge, who was unplaced in this year’s Vodacom Durban July but finished third in the big race in the two previous years, is now being tested over the country’s maximum distance. With the experienced Garth Puller in the irons, he is likely to be a major player.

Mike de Kock has accepted with Gang Related and the very good stayer Cycad, and Geoff Woodruff will be represented by Fantastic Horse and Eurovision. Both stay all day and, although the latter has a major task at the weights, he is likely to give a very good account of himself.

Neil Bruss’ Western Prospect, who ran below expectations in the Vodacom Durban July but has always had the Canon Gold Cup as one of his main missions, will definitely have his supporters and Joey Ramsden’s Kipketer is expected to do a lot better than his last performance.

The field is packed with good staying horses and with Brett Crawford running Reveille Boy who ran a good race in the Vodacom Durban July, this should be an outstanding contest to bring the curtain down on the Winter Season.