Love Bomb blows away July exotic bets

Punters suffered a rocky start to the 2020 Vodacom Durban July day race meeting at Greyville.

The early races saw several upsets, but the biggest kick in the pants came in Race 5, the Grade 2 Zulu Kingdom Explorer Golden Slipper, when 35-1 shot Love Bomb cruised to victory.

Vodacom Durban July live stream: Catch all the action here

Most pundits had made Joburg raider Caralluma a banker in exotic bets, so many thousands of Pick 6 and first Jackpot tickets were blown away when trainer Frank Robinson’s juvenile filly plugged on up the inside rail to hold off the odds-on favourite.

Robinson has always been open about his high opinion of Love Bomb, who was home-bred by his co-owner GW Whittaker. The two-year-old won on debut over 1000m before being thrown in the deep end in the 1200m Grade 1 Alan Robertson Classic at Scottsville, where she was far from disgraced, finishing less than five lengths off the winner after a sluggish start.

The daughter of Oratorio was always going to enjoy the step up to 1400m in this highly prestigious juvenile contest.

Jockey Sean Veale rode her in her first two outings, so knew what he had under the saddle at Greyville. He was always handy from a No 4 draw and finished with aplomb, nearly a length clear of Caralluma (starting price 2-3) from the stable of champion trainer Sean Tarry.

Another two long-shots filled third and fourth slots: Jasmine (35-1) and Trickster (33-1).

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