Eight On Eighteen out to make history

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 Gr1 R5 million Hollywoodbets Durban July to be run over 2200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.

- ANDREW HARRISON

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

Eight On Eighteen will make history should he win and become the first three-year-old to win the Gr1 WSB Cape Town Met and the Gr1 Hollywoodbets July in the same year and 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 Gr1 Daily News 2000 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 Gr1 WSB Cape Met where he took on and beat the country’s top older horses at Weight For Age. Eight On Eighteen 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.

While Eight On Eighteen is likely to start one of the shortest priced favourites in the long history of the race, he will not be short of opposition.