A fantastic field of 15 top horses, including 12 entries for
the Vodacom Durban July, will contest the R600 000, Grade
1 Gold Challenge over 1 600m at Clairwood Racecourse in Durban
on Saturday, June 9.
With many of the country's star performers in the line-up
and run under weight-for-age conditions, the race certainly
lives up to its original title, the Clairwood Champion Stakes.
The J&B Met winner, Pocket Power from the Mike Bass
yard, heads the field with Bernard Fayd'Herbe replacing
the injured Jeff Lloyd in the saddle. He is drawn one from
the outside at 14 and will have a real battle on his hands.
Drawn one off the inside of the field is Dean Kannemeyer's
Eyeofthetiger, winner of the Vodacom Durban July last year
and rated just two points inferior to Pocket Power. He is
supported by Jagged Ice, winner of the Green Point Stakes
and a comfortable winner over 1 900m at Greyville in his
last start.
Mike de Kock's Kildonan, winner of the Golden Horse Casino
Sprint in course record time in his very first run after
a lengthy injury break, has rocketed up to near the top
of the Vodacom Durban July Log. He is rated the best three-year-old
in the country and is already being touted as the winner
of this year's big event.
Mike Azzie's Dynamite Mike, winner of the KwaZulu-Natal
Guineas and Sean Tarry's Successful Bidder, winner of the
Drill Hall Stakes, add spice to the field and multiple feature
race winner, Jay Peg, from the Basil Marcus yard, is likely
to be strongly fancied to make a bold bid for victory.
Alec Laird's Malteme won the Steinhof Summer Cup and St
John Gray's Biarritz won the Gauteng Guineas while Silver
Mist was second in the L'Ormarins Queen's Plate for Joey
Ramsden.
The field also includes Dominic Zaki's champion miler National
Spirit and Charles Laird's winner of the London News, Hunting
Tower. Mike Bass's Hilgrove won the Premier's in Cape Town
and was third in the L’Ormarins Queen's Plate and Glen Kotzen's
Majestic Sun was second in the Green Point Stakes.
The final runner in the field is John Vos's Drumbold, third
in the Wolf Power at Turffontein and second in the King's
Cup at Greyville.
This is a power-packed field guaranteed to provide a sensational
finish and a challenge worth more than its weight in gold.