Durban July 2026 Build Up And All Race Day Bets

The final field for the Durban July will be announced at 11:00 today, you can watch on Ch 240 and Gallop TY. Justin Snaith's Happy Verse, who had been trading at 7.14/1 fourth favourite in the ante post betting picked up an injury in work and will not be running in the big race. Will have the details of field, draw, betting later today. 

thanks chris, about to watch it live now.

Cheers South, I've captured the runners, riders, jocks weights, draw etc and put in an article available  on this link

Thanks Chris and I think that Venniker is on Choisaanada, if it gets in of course.

Geez have to feel for Choisaanada connections if you cannot get in with a MR 121 and a horse with a MR 106 in Regulation sneaks in.

Just feels wrong when a Race Coast stakeholder gets his horse in when it feels like it had no business in the final field. Lol now with a 2 draw and just 52kgs, watch Regulation go on to win it for Bortz and co....

Latest betting from Lucky Fish , places also available, odds correct at time of this post

4 Star Major 3.33/1 Mickaelle Michel 
11 Note To Self 4/1 Richard Fourie 
7 Wish List 5/1 Andrew Fortune 
2 Regulation 6.25/1 Zac Lloyd 
9 Viva’s Liberte 14.29/1 Craig Zackey 
10 Native Ruler 14.29/1 Keagen de Melo 
8 Gladatorian 16.67/1 Muzi Yeni 
5 Legal Counsel 20/1 Callan Murray 
12 Zeitz 20/1 Serino Moodley 
13 Mocha Blend 20/1 Tristan Godden 
17 King Pelles 25/1 Chad Schofield 
1 Isivivane 33.33/1 Sean Veale
3 The Ultimate King 40/1 Kabelo Matsunyane
6 Hazy Dazy 40/1 Trent Mayhew
14 I Salute You 40/1 Mark du Plessis
18 Aladdin’s Lamp 40/1 Calvin Habib
15 Olivia’s Way 50/1 JP v'd Merwe
16 Minogue 50/1 Gavin Lerena

Betting for all 12 races on the July Day card are now available at Lucky Fish .

Latest show for the July below, odds correct as at time of this post. I'd say the horses which have shortened since the final field and draw include Viva's Liberte, Aladdin's Lamp, Zeitz, Isivivane, Minogue and Hazy Dazy

4 Star Major 3.57/1 Mickaelle Michel 
11 Note To Self 4.55/1 Richard Fourie
7 Wish List 5/1 Andrew Fortune
2 Regulation 7.14/1 Zac Lloyd
9 Viva’s Liberte 12.5/1 Craig Zackey
12 Zeitz 14.29/1 Serino Moodley
10 Native Ruler 16.67/1 Keagen de Melo
18 Aladdin’s Lamp 16.67/1 Calvin Habib
1 Isivivane 20/1 Sean Veale
5 Legal Counsel 20/1 Callan Murray
8 Gladatorian 20/1 Muzi Yeni
6 Hazy Dazy 25/1 Trent Mayhew
13 Mocha Blend 25/1 Tristan Godden
17 King Pelles 25/1 Chad Schofield
16 Minogue 33/1 Gavin Lerena
3 The Ultimate King 40/1 Kabelo Matsunyane
14 I Salute You 40/1 Mark du Plessis
15 Olivia’s Way 50/1 JP v'd Merwe

More details of the horses, trainers, jockeys, weights and the draw  can be found here

Thanks Chris

July pretty much open. I took some 7/1 on Note To Self around 2 months ago, so happy with that price. Hazy Dazy @ 40/1 some value if she gets to the front and keeps on going in the straight.

Four other early e/w bets on the card:

Race 3 - Tenpenny (17/2) highly regarded, consistent sort, didn't make the July field. JP van der Merwe can get some "revenge" in the July Consolation for being taken off Regulation in the main race. 

Race 5 - Ocean Mistress (11/1). Top sort with strong form behind the likes of Get Up and Flower Island. Juvenile races always difficult to assess. 

Race 6 - Red Spice (7/1). Graded winner, has proven himself against some of the best. Also a cracking run behind Get Up and Flower Island last time. Tries 1400m for the first time. 

Race 8 - Mon Petit Cherie (11/2) money already from 7/1. - Just got touched off over 1400m. Is 0/2 against Double Grand Slam over 1600m but never far beaten. I feel its third time lucky for her this year.

Thanks Jacques, I haven't looked at the rest of the card in any great detail but will hopefully get chance to study up over the weekend.

Agree with Vin, was surprised to see Choisaanada didn't get a run purely on MR.

Some brief pen pic style comments for each runner here , nothing too controversial and although I haven't nailed up my play(s) in that article just yet I'm leaning towards Native Ruler being a value each way play at 16/1 or so for de Melo.

 

July week is here and over the weekend a bit of a drift about the fav Star Major, 4/1 now a bit more realistic imo.Viva's Liberte continues to be supported, now in single figures

Latest betting show here

We will have a preview of all races on Saturday's card in due course. Thanks as always for all the early plays already posted and lets hope collectively we can nail up some very tasty bets

Hoping to get busy studying up today and Tuesday with a view to publishing my race day picks on Wednesday.

Before that the race by race preview from Winning Form, who like the chances of Viva's Liberte in the July is available here  . Will look out for the Punters Challenge details, they usually boost the prize fund big time. 

My plays for the Durban July (other races to follow later in the week).In this race 12 months ago Native Ruler finished sixth beaten a tad less than 4 lengths. His merit rating is 2 points higher than it was in July 2025 when he jumped from Gate 18 but the two prep runs this year seem to have gone better. Drawn at 10 this year in a field which in our opinion is not as strong this time around and with de Melo in the irons Native Ruler can be a factor at an attractive price. The more conservative punter may wish to consider playing a fixed odds place (to finish in the first 4). 

Bet:  Native Ruler to win at 16.67/1 with Lucky Fish, bet here  

Box trifecta, R120 for a full perm, 6 horses

4 Star Major, has been trading as the favourite, big improver with plenty going for him here
9 Viva’s Liberte, lightly raced, light mass to carry and leading jockey Craig Zackey on board. Has been finding betting support
10 Native Ruler, our headline fixed odds bet so obviously must go in our trifecta perm too
11 Note to Self, Richard Fourie in the irons, difficult to leave out
12 Zeitz, Likes Greyville, needs to prove stamina but a player if he gets the trip
13 Mocha Blend, only been seen out twice since winning the Summer Cup and those runs over distances way short of ideal were prep runs, hopefully now primed for a big show here.

Boxed trifecta perm. 4,9,10,11,12 and 13

Star Major scratched. Official comment from Crawford Racing FB page:

"It’s with disappointment that we announce STAR MAJOR will no longer take his place in the 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July.

We were extremely confident going into the race, but after developing a slightly elevated temperature, we’ve made the decision to withdraw him. The horse’s welfare always comes first, and we also believe it would be unfair to the punting public to run him unless he was at his very best.

We know the quality STAR MAJOR possesses, and while this is a frustrating setback, we’re confident it’s only a minor bump in the road. His future remains incredibly bright, and we look forward to seeing him back on the track soon." 

Thanks Jacques, will put up some revised betting soonest, need a replacement to include in my tricfecta too 

Choisaanada now gets a run now with Star Major's scratching and jumps from gate 4, I think Rachel Venniker will ride.

Revised betting:

Wish List 5/1 
Note To Self 5/1 
Regulation 6.25/1
Viva’s Liberte 6.25/1
Zeitz 10/1
Native Ruler 14.29/1
Isivivane 16.67/1
Legal Counsel 16.67/1
Gladatorian 16.67/1
Aladdin’s Lamp 16.67/1
Choisaanada 16.67/1
Mocha Blend 20/1
King Pelles 25/1
The Ultimate King 33/1
Hazy Dazy 40/1
Minogue 40/1
I Salute You 40/1
Olivia’s Way 50/1 

Note 20% rule 4 for bets struck after final field announcement and prior to the withdrawal of Star Major. Ante post bets not affected.

For my bets I'm sticking with Native Ruler win and rather than add another runner to replace Star Major in my boxed trifecta perm I will just go with the 5 horses. No's 9.10,11,12 and 13 for R60 for a full divi. 

still mulling over durban july itself, but for now my picks on undercard races 1-9:

Race 1:
UNITED FRONT (around 6/1 ew). Has breathing issues but hoping he’s right on the day, 2nd run in kzn and has some strong formlines including debut close 2nd to current durban july fav star major. Mr Marshall doesn’t bring horses back to kzn for a holiday and hoping the master has his primed for a big effort over his ideal mile trip.

Race 2:
ROLLO THE VIKING (around 12/1 ew). A polytrack specialist, all his wins on this surface and gets a strong jockey booking in richard fourie which really catches the eye, with 3 wins and 2 places for yard from 8 rides this season.

Race 3:
LA PULGA (around 8/1 ew). Was an early ante-post july fancy for me, but didn’t shape up well on local debut when i feel was perhaps too handy, would like to see him a bit off the pace on sat. Big plus of gavin getting on board, and if you look at his stablemate VIVAS LIBERTE who has been well supported in the july - LA PULGA beat him fair and square 2 runs back, a repeat of that run makes him a huge danger. My best e/w bet of the day.

Race 4:
HOLDING THUMBS (around 6/1 ew). One i thought might be a lurker in july but off a slow run race he just didn’t get going last time out. On penultimate effort i make him a big runner when he should have finished much closer had it not been for traffic problems. 

Race 5:I
tend to punt light on these 2yr old feature races. Typically you would go wide on your jackpot and pick 6, but ALICE B TOKLAS looks tough to beat. She’s looked well suited to the 1400 and the Tarry yard have some top class 2yr old fillies, but have put this one in and she looks tough to beat. The price is tight @ around 2/1, so for me will be a bet for some swingers - PALACE OF ARVENIA my swinger/exacta pick. Kannemeyer yard don’t have a july runner so sill be targeting the other features for success on the day. 

Race 6:
PRAYERSANDPROMISES (around 10/1 ew). Joburg raider who won well last time out, enjoyed the turn and was reported to perhaps not be 100% tuned up, so encouraging he should come into this firing fit. Draw a bit of a concern but he has a nice turn of foot to come off the pace. 

Race 8:
RAINBOW LORAKEET (around 14/1 ew). Not a strong selection but i’m hoping she can reproduce her Majorca stakes effort from Met day when flying up behind DOUBLE GRAND SLAM to just get pipped. She would have badly needed local debut last time out and with a kind draw of 3, and hopefully stripping fitter, i think she has one more big win in her on a track she does enjoy.

Race 9: POST MERCHANTS SPRINT
TENANGO (around 16/1 ew.)
Seemed to bounce back to near best last time out, found some trouble last 100m. His only run at greyville was 2nd in the grade 1 mercury sprint behind BUFFALO STORM CODY, but given BSC is around 15/10 for this weekend, the 16/1 does look a bit of value on that effort.

Great to hear the thoughts of South and Chris in this Durban July and supporting card preview 

Shot Brent and thanks South, we really appreciated it mate, Whilst we were recording that show 3. The Ultimate King was scratched from the July. Looks like the betting is pretty much unchanged, the second reserve runner Curious Girl (who I fancied in the consolation race earlier in the day) now comes into the line up and jumps from gate 3 with Mickaelle Michel on board 

Revised Field and Latest betting is available here

Aligned to video with Brent and South posted earlier today, completed final version of my July Day plays, all races covered and using a 1-3 unit scale with 1 being small wager and 3 the larger.

Have sometimes 2 places, sometimes 3 even 4 and some just win only with a couple of tote bets for good measure.

Full preview and all plays are on this link   

Summary of picks 

Race 1
2 units win United Front at 5/1
1 unit 3 places Dylans Champ at 9/2 

Race 2
2 units win Bru at 14.29/1
2 units 3 places Bru at 3.14/1
1 unit 3 places Diani at 36/10 

Race 3
2 units win Otto Luyken at 8.33/1
2 units 3 places Otto Luyken at 16/10 

Race 4 
3 units win Shoot The Rapids at 2.86/1 

Race 5 
3 units 2 places Royal Tiara at 15/10 

Race 6
3 units 2 places Red Spice at 1.85/1 

Race 7 
2 Units win Native Ruler to win at 14.29/1
2 Units 4 places Native Ruler at 2.14/1
1 Unit Boxed trifecta perm. 9,10,11,12 and 13. Cost is R60 for a full dividend 

Race 8 
1 Unit Swingers 6 and 7 (Mon Petit Cherie and Quickstepgal) 

Race 9 
1 unit win Cafe Culture at 16.67/1
2 units 4 places Café Culture at 2/1 

Race 10 
3 Units win Better Man at 10/1
3 Units 3 places Better Man at 21/10 

Race 11 
1 Unit win Serengeti Sun at 8.33/1
1 Unit 3 places Serengeti Sun at 17/10 

Race 12 
1 Unit win Poursomesugaronme at 12.5/1
1 Unit 4 places Poursomesugaronme at 1.62/1

Need a lie down after all that 

 

I like this promo as its for the whole of Saturday's July card. Boosted odds on Friday !!!  Details below

 

You can join Lucky Fish here

Next up the Winning Form Punters Challenge, special July edition. 

Preview Here

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