The incredible weightiness of the Durban July
Jockey Craig Zackey celebrates with The Real Prince after winning the Hollywoodbets Durban July at Greyville Racecourse on Saturday. Picture: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
The pressures of competing in a high-profile, historic sporting event was plain to see with the running of the 129th Hollywoodbets Durban July at the weekend.
Champion trainer Justin Snaith said beforehand: 'The July is the best race and the worst. It's brilliant to win but a nightmare if you lose!'
We can well imagine how Snaith felt leaving Greyville racecourse on Saturday evening after his horse Eight On Eighteen — 2-1 favourite and rated the best in a long time — had been narrowly beaten in the big race.
The colt was perfectly prepared and ran a great race. But we all know what they say about coming second.
Even the victorious team behind winner The Real Prince revealed the burden of expectation that comes with competing at the top.
Trainer Dean Kannemeyer spoke of doubts experts had expressed about The Real Prince having the stamina to handle the July's 2200m. The furthest the four-year-old had raced was 1600m – and that was just once, in a minor feature.
'Right time, right place'
'With his pedigree, I thought he'd stay the 2200m,' said an emotional Kannemeyer after notching his fourth July victory.
'We were banking on that; 'cos he's a completely relaxed horse. Everybody said, 'You're the trainer, you should know if he stays the 2200'; and I said, 'I'm not that smart!' But I did think he'd relax and get it.'
Pundits also piled pressure on Kannemeyer by suggesting The Real Prince was under-prepared, short of a prep run, as he'd had just one outing since February.
The problem was the horse had built up a high merit rating by excelling in sprints, but another good performance would send it soaring and land the gelding with a hefty weight in the July.
'The handicapper is going to be looking for you,' explained Kannemeyer. 'You've got to come in at the right time, in the right place.
'We got the right draw, which was fantastic. We galloped him twice in between, at Summerveld up the hill; and he did good pace work [at the Durban July public gallops] as we all saw. So, it's fantastic!'
2024 disappointment
Winning jockey Craig Zackey said he was confident of 'the best horse in the race' but also spoke of his 2024 July disappointment and the heavy stress he'd felt in being booked aboard the favourite, Green With Envy, for Kannemeyer, and then running poorly.
'Green With Envy … it felt like I was carrying the world on his shoulders. The pressure just got to the both of us,' said the well-liked rider.
Currently striving to win his first national championship, Zackey said he'd carried a burden of Green With Envy's failure for an entire year. 'That pressure is well off now.'
Another indication of the pressures faced by big-race trainers and jockeys was the unexpectedly slow pace at which the race was run, which clearly showed that elaborate tactics were in play with a number of runners.
In almost every sporting code nowadays, sports psychologists are the norm. Is it time for racing to go that route?
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