Seasonal opener for Double Grand Slam

Jack Milner

Summer has arrived in the Western Cape and the opening feature races of the season will take place at Hollywoodbets Durbanville on Saturday.

The two races that traditionally raise the curtain on the summer season are the Grade 3 Matchem Stakes and Grade 3 Diana Stakes for fillies and mares, both over 1400m.

Race 6, which is the Diana Stakes, sees the return of top-rated mare Double Grand Slam. This six-year-old daughter of Vercingetorix has a merit rating of 125 and comes into this event as the best-weighted runner by at least 5kg and is unquestionably the runner to beat.

She has raced at this course on four occasions and has a record of two wins and two seconds so she will have no problem with the conditions.

This Justin Snaith-trained mare has not raced since finishing third in the Grade 1 Garden Province Stakes over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville at the Hollywoodbets Durban July meeting on 4 July, so could be in need of the race. However, she often runs well when fresh and looks very hard to beat.

She also sees an interesting change of jockey as Richard Fourie is not riding at this meeting while Andrew Fortune is still recovering from an injury. However, there should be no concerns for her supporters as former champion jockey and the current log leader Keagan de Melo will be in the irons on this occasion.

The danger could come from Eric Sands-trained Stormwatch, who is currently in good form. She is the second highest rated runner and has some decent form at the track. She has had two races at the course, both over 1400m, for a win and a second place.

The first of those was a gutsy victory over none other than Wish List, who has since gone on to capture her fair share of feature-race wins. The second was in this race last year where the daughter of Vercingetorix flew up too late and went down 0.50 lengths by She’s My World.

She is carded to be ridden by Gavin Lerena but sadly he is dealing with a fracture to his left foot after a fall at the Vaal on Tuesday.

It is certainly a blow to the former champion jockey who landed some outstanding rides on this card and must have been looking for a big pay day at this meeting. But those are the vagaries of horseracing.

Sands has engaged Callan Murray to ride Stormwatch.

The Matchem Stakes looks more open as no doubt many trainers and owners must have breathed a sigh of relief when Vaughan Marshall-trained Questioning, who won this race in 2024 and 2025, opted to give it a miss this time.

Snaith saddles Legal Counsel and this five-year-old gelding has to be considered a lively threat in this race. He has been taking on the best in land and will benefit from the drop in class.

Lerena was due to ride this son of Legislate and this is one runner for which Snaith has got a replacement and that will be De Melo.

However. the runner who could have the edge is Jet Force, who should be ideally suited to this course and distance. His last run was in the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville at the end of last season where he only found the country’s top-rated sprinter, Buffalo Storm Cody, 0.90 lengths too good,

Des McLachlan’s charge, a five-year-old gelding by Master Of My Fate, has a good rapport with jockey Grant van Niekerk and he will be aboard for this race.

He is unbeaten in two starts at this course, both of which were over 1400m.