Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Majmu takes a giant leap in to the big time when she carries the Minister of Finance’s colours in the Durban July at Greyville Racecourse in South Africa on Saturday afternoon.
Inaugurated in 1897, the Durban July is a handicap that is easily South Africa’s most famous race, and a win in the 3.5 million rand (Dh1m) event could well see Majmu grace Meydan at next year’s Dubai World Cup Carnival.
Trained by Mike de Kock, the grey filly has made the circuitous route to South Africa, having been bred at Arrowfield Stud in Australia.
She was named the champion South African juvenile last season after an unbeaten campaign that culminated in a devastating victory in the Group 2 SA Fillies Nursery. She won by a scarcely believable eight-and-three-quarter lengths.
De Kock has won the Durban July five times, and on two occasions his winning fillies subsequently made their way to Dubai.
In 2002, Ipi Tombi won before coming to the UAE in a campaign that produced wins in the Jebel Hatta and Dubai Duty Free, while Igugu never lived up to her tall reputation in three runs at Meydan on the back of her Greyville win in 2011.
Majmu won a Group 1 contest at Turffontein in April, beating Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa’s Tamaanee – who also runs today – into third, before she found the step up to all-age company against the colts a bridge too far in the President’s Champions Challenge at the same course a few weeks later.
Majmu will be ridden by Anthony Delpech, who was aboard Igugu when she won, as he seeks a fifth success in the race.
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