Eight On Eighteen Aims To Be No. 1 Of 18

Star colt to defy top weight in bid for South Africa's most famous race, the Durban July

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DURBAN - Trainer Justin Snaith and owners Nick Jonsson and Johann Rupert have taken the plunge.

Their star colt Eight On Eighteen heads the list of 18 runners for the Grade 1 five million rand (S$360,000) Hollywoodbets Durban July to be run over 2,200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on July 5.

The field announcement and barrier draw took place at a glittering function in the Hollywoodbets Greyville parade ring where Eight On Eighteen drew 11.

The son of Lancaster Bomber will make history should he win and become the first three-year-old to win the Grade 1 WSB Cape Town Met (2,000m) and the Durban July in the same year.

All the signs are good with current South African champion jockey Richard Fourie hunting his fourth July win and Snaith his sixth.

Eight On Eighteen's victory in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 on May 24 was breathtaking as he made short work of many of the country's top three-year-olds.

He was equally impressive in this year's Cape Town Met on Jan 25 when he took on and beat the country's top older horses at weight-for-age.

The five-time winner has been set to carry top weight for a three-year-old male in 57kg, the highest since Abashiri lumped 59kg into 13th place behind The Conglomerate in 2016.