In Durban, A Triple Crown-Winning Underdog

The centerpiece of South African racing, the 4.25-million rand G1 Vodacom Durban July, will be held today at Greyville Racecourse, and the 2200-metre event is being judged as one of the most wide-open renewals in recent memory.

This despite the fact that there's a Triple Crown winner in the field, the 3-year-old Abashiri (SAf) (Go Deputy), who became the third horse since Horse Chestnut (SAf) in 1999 to sweep the series with a win in the G1 South African Derby at Turffontein Apr. 30. The gelding was coming off wins in the G2 Gauteng Guineas and G1 SA Classic.

Americans remember Go Deputy as the Todd Plecher-trained son of Deputy Minister who won the GI Sword Dancer Invitational S. at Saratoga in 2006, his lone Grade I victory.

The feeling among punters is that a tough Triple Crown campaign and his 130-pound impost–co-highest ever for a 3-year-old in the race–will be too much for Abashiri to overcome, and as of Friday afternoon, he was sitting as the 12-1 co-sixth choice on one local betting site.

Even Abashiri's trainer, Mike Azzie, has been less than bullish in the lead-up to his charge's first start since the South African Derby.

“It's a very tough race, because they have given the 3-year-olds a tough task this year due to the top weight being scratched at a very late stage,” said Azzie, referring to the departure of Legal Eagle (SAf). That one, maybe South Africa's best horse, wasn't considered a serious entry by many observers well before his official June 15 scratch, which came after the weights were assigned for the July.

“It was very clever on the part of trainer Sean Tarry, because he manipulated the weights to suit himself with his horse, French Navy (SAf),” said Azzie, who added, “the last 3-year-old to carry the weight Abishiri is carrying was the great Hawaii, that my granddad trained, that raced in America and was a champion on the grass and went to stud there. So he was the last horse to carry this type of of weight in the July as a 3-year-old. It is a tough task, but it's not that I don't think he's up to it, he's a proper horse. I am confident with caution.”

French Navy (SAf) (Count Dubois {GB}), meanwhile, continues to draw heavy support for the Durban July. The 4-year-old, winner of the G1 Daily News 2000 just over a year ago at Greyville, was full of run late on in the 1600-metre G1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge, and French Navy will likely appreciate the step-up in distance.

Like Azzie, however, Tarry is expecting a competitive event.

“Based on the handicapper's [assigned weights], there should be a few that will get into it,” said Tarry.

Asked to explain the importance of the Durban July, inaugurated in 1897, to a group of international reports, Tarry added, “In my mind, it's a tradition,” he said. “It's the race every jockey, owner and trainer wants to win, and there's a history attached to it. You have all the people from Cape Town and Johannesburg meeting in a central place, and it's where the champions are decided.”