CAFÉ CULTURE TO SMELL THE COFFEE

SOUTH Africa's Champion Season starts officially at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday with the running of the Gr2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes and the Gr2 WSB Guineas and WSB Fillies Guineas.

- ANDREW HARRISON

The day also marks the march towards the Gr1 Hollywoodbets Durban July with trainers plotting their way into Africa's greatest horserace with their lowest possible weight.

With the July just two months away this year on Saturday 5 July - it is always intriguing to watch how trainers navigate the pitfalls for their charges but it is also an opportunity for punters to try and second-guess them and possibly land a lucrative ante-post bet on the race which always adds to heightened excitement on the big day.

INDEPENDENT ON SATURDAY DRILL HALL STAKES - GRADE 2

That said, the Gr2 IOS Drill Hall Stakes promises to be a cracking contest as it has attracted one of the strongest fields in many a year. Many of the runners are having a pipe-opener for the Hollywoodbets Durban July but class always comes to the fore.