Gold Challenge (Group 1)

RAINBOW Bridge warmed up for his bid to make it third time lucky in the Vodacom Durban July by readily repeating last year’s win in the Group 1 Gold Challenge at Greyville last Saturday.

In truth, the dual Met winner should have made short work of the opposition in this Hollywoodbets-sponsored mile Group 1 as, on official ratings, he had nearly 5kgs in hand over all except last year’s July winner Belgarion who had been off for over four months.

At six, he was the oldest horse in the race, he started odds-on and Luke Ferraris didn’t ask him to do much until the final furlong when he accounted for 25/1 shot Catch Twentytwo rather more comfortably than the neck verdict might suggest.

“It probably looked a bit close on TV but the way he was moving under me I wasn’t too worried,” Ferraris reported. “When the horse in front of me went on to the rail about five furlongs out my cover was gone and I was worried Rainbow Bridge would start travelling a little bit too hard – but he didn’t and from thereon he did everything I asked him to.”

Peak run

Many South African trainers, and almost all the country’s punters, are firm believers that a horse runs below par in his second race of the season and to his peak in the third one.

Eric Sands, Rainbow Bridge’s trainer, who has held a licence for the best part of 40 years, has based the Ideal World gelding’s Durban campaign with this theory in mind and said: “There are only another three weeks before the July and he always runs a bit flat on his second run back (which this was) so I left a little bit of beef on him in case he took this one badly. But he didn’t – he is a phenomenal horse. He just gets better and better.”

Bookmakers reacted by shortening his July price from 6/1 to 9/2 but that looks plenty tight enough for a horse who has started favourite for the country’s most famous race in the last two years.

He was beaten four-tenths of a length by Do It Again in 2019 but last year he was only sixth. He has top-weight of 60kg (9st 6lb) in the July 3rd spectacular, 2kg more than Belgarion who is surely one to note.

Despite his long absence, he was beaten less than three lengths in fifth last Saturday and appeals at 7/1.

Master

His trainer Justin Snaith has won the last three runnings of the July and has become a master at placing his horses so that their handicap increases are kept to a minimum.

He also won last Saturday’s nine-furlong Group 3 Cup Trial with Crown Towers, one of the few horses to race in South Africa by Camelot who went so close to landing the Triple Crown for Aidan and Joseph O’Brien nine years ago. Crown Towers, bred in Australia, is out of a Galileo mare and has won eight of his 21 starts.

He was supplemented for the July, is one of the many on bottom weight of 53kg and is quoted at 25/1. “He is an absolute pleasure to train,” said Snaith. “He is a lot of people’s favourite because he wears his heart on his sleeve and tries so hard.”

THERE are serious concerns about Anthony Andrews at the beginning of the week. The 32-year-old one-time stunt rider was unseated into a mass of flying hooves shortly after passing the post second on Dancetildaylight in a fillies’ maiden at Kenilworth last Sunday. His mount clipped another horse’s heels and Andrews had to be stabilised by medics before being rushed to hospital. However he was able to report mid-week that he has fractured the C2 vertebrae, the so-called hangman’s fracture. He should recover but there must be a doubt about his future riding career.