The Hollywoodbets Greyville Racecourse will live up to its magical moniker of the Theatre Of Champions

Ranked in 2021 as South Africa’s leading elite level horse race, the 2022 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge has again attracted a high-quality field, befitting the prestige and status of a contest that inevitably plays a part in defining the 2021/22 season’s champions.

With ruling South African Horse Of The Year Rainbow Bridge now retired after achieving a Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge double in 2020 and 2021, the runway has been cleared for a new generation star to emerge!

A milestone on the South African horseracing and social calendar, Africa’s Greatest Horseracing event, the Hollywoodbets Durban July, is just three weeks away. The Gr1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge takes on a vital strategic importance in the build-up, as it is the final ‘golden ticket’ event for the big race on 2 July 2022.

Past Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge champions to go on and win the Durban July include Justin Snaith’s trio Do It Again, Legislate and Dancer’s Daughter, as well as champion Pocket Power and the much-loved Paarl-based star, Big City Life.

The winner of Saturday’s Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge is thus guaranteed a much sought-after berth in the R5 million Hollywoodbets Durban July, which will be run at the same historic venue on 2 July 2022.

There are six Hollywoodbets Durban July entrants carded to line up in the Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge on Saturday.

The sextet is headed by SA Champion trainer Justin Snaith’s dual L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner Jet Dark, who will be partnered again by S’manga ‘Bling’ Khumalo, who became the first jockey of colour to win the Durban July Handicap when Heavy Metal won the great race in 2013.

Right at the top of the charts in Saturday’s renewal are dual Grade 1 winner and 2021 Durban July runner-up Linebacker, and the handsome grey Cape Guineas winner, Russian Rock.

Jockey Muzi Yeni, who has won a Grade 1 race on each of the past two weekends, goes for a unique hat-trick on Saturday when he rides MK’s Pride for Johannesburg trainer Paul Peter and owner MK ‘Koos’ Nkale. MK’s Pride runs in the famous black and gold strip of champions Kaizer Chiefs, and a victory for the 4yo colt will have his proud owner and the multitude of fans of the AmaKhosi countrywide celebrating until late on Saturday evening.

Major race sponsors Hollywoodbets will have Grade 1 winners Chimichuri Run and Eden Roc proudly carrying their yellow and purple silks, while leading South African lady jockey Rachel Venniker will have her supporters as she has her first ride in the big race when she partners with the Australian-bred Crown Towers, a second Hollywoodbets Durban July entry for Justin Snaith in Saturday’s line-up.

Johan Janse van Vuuren’s Gr2 Allied Steelrode Onamission Mile winner Bingwa will be ridden by talented Soweto-born rider Kabelo Matsunyane, who attended the British Racing School at Newmarket in 2018, and also represented South Africa at the Prix Longines Future Racing Stars in Paris in 2019.

Multiple international champion conditioner Mike de Kock is South Africa’s most accomplished 21^st century Gr1 winning trainer. The man from Randjesfontein saddles Al Muthana, the second of the Australian-bred thoroughbreds in the illustrious class of 2022.

The cream will inevitably rise to the top and the best horse should win! The Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge is run at weight-for-age, which means that the contestants carry a set weight in accordance with the official weight-for-age scale, published by the official regulator of the sport of kings, the National Horseracing Authority of SA. The weight carried depends on the horse’s age, its sex, the race distance and the month of the year. This principle has been applied in horse racing for over 160 years.

It’s all systems go for one of the most exciting races of the year.

See you at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday 11 June 2022 or subscribe free to GallopTV today and be sure to catch all of the action!