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Durban July Ante-post Betting 2025 – Tips and Predictions

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The Hollywoodbets Durban July is Africa’s greatest horse racing event, where the finest thoroughbreds in the country race for a whopping R5 million, it will take place on Saturday 6 July. The runners will race over 2200 metres at Hollywoodbets Greyville Racecourse in Durban. The field will be made up of 18 runners and two reserves and on Wednesday 24 April the first entries were released, and last year’s runner-up See It Again is the current ante-post betting favourite at odds of 4/1 with bookmakers. The day will be made up of 12 races with the main race, the Durban July being race 7.

Our Ante-post Betting Tips and Predictions

  • Prediction 1 – Green With Envy
  • Prediction 2 – See It Again
  • Prediction 3 – Gimme A Nother
  • Prediction 4 – Purple Pitcher

With over two months to go to the Hollywoodbets Durban July, many races will serve as indicators. These races will take place in the South African Champions Season which will take place at Hollywoodbets Greyville and Hollywoodbets Scottsville racecourses. However, we have put together a few early selections to assist you in taking a few bets in the ante-post betting market based on the form from the previous Gauteng and Western Cape Seasons.

1st – Green With Envy

Green With Envy is a 3-year-old who has been an impressive winner of the Politician Stakes and the Grade 1 Cape Derby during the Cape Season earlier this year. He has won four of his eight starts to date and has formed a good relationship with his jockey Craig Zackey. With just over two months to go, he does look like if he brings his current form to the track, he will walk away with the July trophy. His trainer Dean Kannemeyer is no stranger to big race success having won this race with Power King back in 2015. He is currently 7/1 in the ante-post betting market and at this early stage, he does look like the right runner in the race.

2nd – See It Again

See It Again is a 4-year-old colt. He did everything right in last year’s race but was just outdone by Winchester Mansion in the final few strides, he was disappointing in the Grade 1 Cape Met when starting at odds-on favourite earlier this year but he does have a great record at the Hollywoodbets Greyville track. He will be putting his best foot forward on the first Saturday of July. In his 15 runs to date, he has notched up six career victories which include two Grade 1 races. He has the form to win any race, and if things go his way, his jockey Piere Strydom should be able to notch up another Grade 1 to add to his collection of Grade 1 races. He is the current ante-post betting favourite at 4-1 in the market.

3rd – Gimme A Nother

Gimme A Nother is the only runner currently in the ante-post betting market who is undefeated in all of her starts to date. She is a 3-year-old filly who has only faced fellow females thus far and she will face males for the first time in the Hollywoodbets Durban July and if up to the task she will have a massive say in the way the race unfolds. She has formed a formidable relationship with her jockey JP van der Merwe as he is the one who has accompanied her in all of her starts to date. Her trainer Mike de Kock is also no stranger to Durban July success having won this race five times, the joint most with trainer Justin Snaith. She is currently 7/1 in the ante-post betting market.

4th – Purple Pitcher

Purple Pitcher is our fourth choice. He has shown that he has immense staying power, having been able to win the last two legs of the Triple Crown in Johannesburg over distances of 1800m and 2400m. From his 12 starts he has won 6 races for his trainer Robyn Klaasen. All these wins have come with jockey Kabelo Matsunyane, who is the same jockey to have won the 2023 Hollywoodbets Durban July aboard his runner Winchester Mansion. He is currently 16/1 in the ante-post betting market.

Durban July Ante-post betting

How Ante-Post Betting Works

In horse racing, you get two types of fixed odds betting, ante-post and final field betting. Ante-post betting is betting that takes place long before the actual event has been finalised or started. It is done based on odds that bookmakers create using their expertise.

For example, for the Hollywoodbets Durban July, betting opened in February. Experts from the specific bookmaker use their horse racing knowledge to put together a list of runners that they believe will be in the final field. It must be noted that they do this without any formal entries being supplemented. After entries come out, they remove the horses that haven’t been entered from the list.

In South Africa, all Grade 1 races and other major graded races have ante-post betting. The only difference is that odds come out three to six months earlier for the Hollywoodbets Durban July, the Cape Town Met and the Gauteng Summer Cup. While the others come out a minimum of two weeks prior.  

Ante-post betting changes to final field betting once the horse racing organizers confirm the final participants in the race, in the case of the Hollywoodbets Durban July, this will occur on Tuesday 25 June 2024, in other major races it also normally occurs between 5 to 10 days before the race.

Internationally there is ante-post betting available for races such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Melbourne Cup, The Breeders Cup Classic, the Saudi Cup and the Dubai World Cup as well as all of the major UK races such as the Grand National, the 1000 and 2000 Guineas, and the Queen Mother to name a few.

Bookmakers that offer these bets are Hollywoodbets, WSB, SunBet and Betway.

Positives and Negatives of Ante-post Betting

The advantage of ante-post betting is that because you can place the bet well before the actual race, the odds are far greater than what it would be just before the race. Due to the odds being far greater, it gives the punter more chances to bet on a variety of horses to be as profitable as possible, closer to the race the more horses you bet on won’t be feasible.

The biggest negative of ante-post betting is that if your selection does not make the final field, you lose all your money. Another massive disadvantage is that after taking your bet, it is price-locked which means if the horse’s odds increase, your bet will unfortunately have to remain at the odds on the day that you took the bet.  

The betting for this year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July opened in February and will close on 23 June, two days before the final field is announced.

How to Pick the Right Runners for Durban July

There is a lot that goes into finding the winner for the Hollywoodbets Durban July, it is one race where every single runner in it has a chance and we have seen it with the results in years gone past as there have been a mix of massive upsets and quite favourable results.

To make the right choice the first thing one needs to do is look at the form over distance and on the current racecourse. For example, when looking at a horse’s form, and you see that the horse has good form over distances of 1600m 1800m 2000m 2200m and 2400m, you ideally should consider this runner. There are many form guide websites and form books that bettors can choose from, the most popular in South Africa being the Winning Form.

Another consideration is the horse’s breeding, this is looking at their bloodline (grandparents, parents and siblings) and seeing how they performed over this distance. This will determine how the runner will perform over this distance.

The draw: the next big point is the draw of the horse. This determines which gate the horse will come out of, the lower the draw, the closer the horse is to the rail which will mean he or she will have a massive advantage of the other runners drawn wide going into the first bend,

The weight: it is important to understand the weight that the horses carry in the race. The high-merit-rated horses will carry a big weight whilst the low-merit horses will carry a low weight. The weight is used as a feature to level the playing fields. This is due to the Hollywoodbets Durban July being a handicap race, which means that each horse needs to be weighted according to their ratings.

There are many scientific, statistical, and analytical ways you can study horses, but experts can tell you that at the end of the day being able to tip in the sport of horse racing is 80% luck and 20% skill. Just because there is a massive form guide that has all the information in it, you must not be discouraged from taking a number that means something to you, your birthday, a lucky number or even a name that is significant to you, as experts, we often look at newcomers in the sport celebrating and ask them “how did they pick that runner” and the answer often leaves us astonished.