Eight On Eighteen in the final 18: Field and draws for Durban July unveiled

The lure of the Hollywoodbets Durban July proved too much to resist.

Connections of Eight On Eighteen – ante-post favourite for South Africa’s biggest horse race – succumbed to the promise of a special place in racing’s history books and opted to run the wonder colt at Greyville in two weeks’ time.

Eight On Eighteen will carry the three-year-old maximum of 57kg, will be ridden by champion jockey Richard Fourie and has drawn starting gate No 11 – which many consider to be close to ideal for the 2200m showpiece (and was the draw of last year’s winner Oriental Charm).

For months, trainer Justin Snaith and owners Nick Jonsson and Johan Rupert remained non-committal about the horse’s participation in the 129th renewal of the July. Right up until Eight On Eighteen’s name was announced in the final field of 18 runners on Tuesday morning, conflicting rumours buzzed about.

Word was that the three-year-old star had already cemented an elevated place in the stud book with three Grade 1 victories, including in the Cape Town Met, and there were fears that the rough-and-tumble of a July could only diminish that – both physically and reputationally.

In the end, the old July magic worked.

There are no major surprises in the final field for the R5-million Grade 1 epic on 5 July.

An inclusion that might spark some debate is Rainbow Lorikeet, the sole filly in the line-up. Candice Bass-Robinson’s four-year-old had not made it into any of the July logs of “probables”, but scratchings from among remaining entries in recent days afforded the selection panel the chance to provide a smidgeon of gender interest – not to mention the colour of the filly’s Yuppie Syndicate ownership.

On the fringes as reserves are Sean Tarry’s Litigation and Tony Peter’s Son Of Raj. Only four other remaining entries were eliminated: The Equator, Holding Thumbs, Beating Wings and Thunee Playa.

Former champion Tarry might well be a notable absentee from the July saddling ring. Joburg’s perennial top trainer unsurprisingly scratched his SA Derby winner Legend Of Arthur from the big race after two shockingly bad prep runs.

The traditional July public gallops will be held at Greyville early on Thursday morning (26 June).

FIELD FOR THE 2025 HOLLYWOODBETS DURBAN JULY
[number & draw, name, weight, (jockey), trainer]

1 Oriental Charm 60kg (JP van der Merwe) James Crawford
2 Madison Valley 54kg (Gavin Lerena) Frank Robinson
3 On My Honour 53kg (S’manga Khumalo) Glen Kotzen
4 Atticus Finch 57kg (Calvin Habib) Alec Laird
5 The Real Prince 56.5kg (Craig Zackey) Dean Kannemeyer
6 Selukwe 54kg (Serino Moodley) Andre Nel
7 Rainbow Lorikeet 53kg (Diego de Gouveia) Candice Bass-Robinson
8 Pomodoro’s Jet 55.5kg (Ant Mgudlwa) James Crawford
9 My Best Shot 53kg (Chase Maujean) Alan Greeff
10 Immediate Edge (Callan Murray) Mike & Mathew de Kock
11 Eight On Eighteen (Richard Fourie) Justin Snaith
12 Purple Pitcher 57.5kg (Kabelo Matsunyane) Robyn Klaasen
13 Okavango 54.5kg (Andrew Fortune) Justin Snaith
14 Confederate 53.5kg (Warren Kennedy) Fabian Habib
15 See It Again 60kg (Raymond Danielson) Michael Roberts
16 Gladatorian 60kg (Stuart Ferrie) Sean Veale
17 Royal Victory 59kg (Muzi Yeni) Nathan Kotzen
18 Native Ruler (Timothy Godden) Justin Snaith

RESERVES:

19 Litigation 54kg Sean Tarry
20 Son Of Raj 56kg Tony Peter
(In the event of a scratching, the reserve runner replacement will inherit the draw of the withdrawn horse)