A typically high-class field of twelve will line up for the 54th renewal of the R2 million Hollywoodbets Gr1 Gold Challenge, the premier weight-for-age Champions Season mile contest, and a gamechanger on the 2024/25 season road to glory, at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday.
Flashback to 2024. A punter ponders in peace, amid the party and buzz on course (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge is in its fifth year under the Hollywoodbets brand and holds a milestone moment as the first-ever Grade 1 race sponsorship for the innovative company.
The premier mile showdown will be run under the city circuit’s brand-new international standard lights and will be contested for the first time under the Race Coast banner on Saturday, signifying another chapter in the exciting new dawn of the sport in South Africa.
Race Coast was spawned from the merger of Gold Circle’s operations in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape-based Cape Racing, united under the Hollywoodbets banner.
Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge defending champion, and reigning South African Horse Of The Year, Dave The King will be ridden by last Saturday’s Grade 1-winner Callan Murray. Success for the relentless galloping son of Galileo stallion Global View would give the De Kock team a fourth victory in the race – their first achieved when Golden Hoard scored all of twenty-seven years ago.
Flashback to 2024. Double Grand Slam takes Richard Fourie to winner 335 (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
While only Dancer’s Daughter (2008) and Do It Again (2019) have achieved the elusive Gold Challenge – Durban July same season double this century, Saturday’s line-up includes four entries for Africa’s greatest race on 5 July.
The Hollywoodbets Durban July quartet who could write their names into the history books of the turf are defending champion Oriental Charm, Michael Roberts’ stable star See It Again, who was third behind Dave The King last year, Stuart Ferrie’s IOS Gr2 Drill Hall Stakes winner Gladatorian, and Highveld raider Purple Pitcher, a dual Gr1 winner in his sophomore year.
2024 winner Dave The King – can he do the double on Saturday (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
The Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge day last year was significant for a magical moment of turf history when current SA champion jockey Richard Fourie broke Anthony Delpech’s 25 year record of 334 winners in a season. Fourie piloted Double Grand Slam to win the East Coast Radio Gr2 Tibouchina Stakes, thus bringing up the 335 winner mark.
Fourie’s incentive for breaking this prestigious record was a R1 million prize in the Delpech 334 Challenge, sponsored by Hollywoodbets.
Flashback to 2024. Fans celebrate Richard Fourie’s amazing season (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Saturday’s Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge card starts at 13h05, with the running of the first of ten races on a bumper programme. The headline feature is carded for 16h55 and is the first of four races to be run under the spectacular international class lights.
As has become a networking tradition and an embracing of supporters of horse racing, each one of the ten races on the card are sponsored by Hollywoodbets’ partners.
Three new names are evident this year with leading Robertson-based breeders Ridgemont sponsoring the Listed Devon Air Stakes, while JC Le Roux add their sparkle to the third race, a Class 4, and Chinese vehicle brand Omodo sponsor the final race, a Class 4 (F&M).
Ridgemont already sponsor the prestigious Gr1 Garden Province Stakes on Hollywoodbets Durban July day and just this weekend bred another Grade 1 winner, courtesy of their star Canford Cliffs filly, Direct Hit.
It’s National Bubbly Day on Saturday, hence the partnership with JC Le Roux. A Bubbly Garden on course will provide a venue to toast every winner!
A 2025 Omoda C7 is a major prize in the Hollywoodbets Champions Season competition.
The ever popular Hollywoodbets Punters’ Challenge has paid out over R40 million in prizes over the past four years and the special ‘Gold Challenge Edition’ offers a guaranteed R125 000 to be split among the top 50 on the leaderboard on the day, as well as an estimated jackpot of R2 million for the player/s who can find all the winners on the day!
There is entertainment for the entire family on the big day, with food stalls and food trucks which are partnering with local venders to offer some divine Durban treats.
Worth noting:
- The Enchanted Kids Zone area with many different Disney characters for kids to interact with, including face painting, bubbles and tons of fun activities for the little ones.
- There will be live entertainment, including The Kick Stands, 2 Unique and DJ Nzweri.
- A new addition to look forward to is the Young Designer Semi-Final Awards which incorporates tons of fashion elements where talented designers show off their unique fashion creations for the public
- Win your share of R50 000 in amazing prizes at Hollywoodbets activation stand. All you have to do is purchase a Top Up Voucher of R100 or more to enter and that lucky winner could be you.
- East Coast Radio’s Danny Guselli will be the host in the public area.
