Tipster Matthew Stevens riding high ahead of the Hollywoodbets Durban July

The Hollywoodbets Durban July is globally recognised as Africa's greatest race, a race that brings the country to a standstill and captivates racing fans from all over the globe.

There will be over 50,000 people in attendance on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Greyville to watch the big race, a race that was first run 128 years ago in 1897 and won by Campanajo.

Over the years many great stories have been told, which includes great trainers, jockeys and horses that have won this big race.

As far as history goes, I grew up being told about Sea Cottage who was shot by a sniper during his preparation for the 1966 July, and ended up running 4th with the bullet still lodged in his hind quarters.

He went on to win the following year when he dead-heated with a horse called Jollify, truly one of the most amazing bits of July history.

Huge betting pools are expected at the Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday, especially when it comes to the Pick-6, with R15 Million being the estimated pool.

The racing is going to be top class with eight feature races on the day, including two Grade 1 races, and seven Graded races in total.

There are always going to be tricky races on a day like this, you must just think about it logically; Every trainer, jockey and owner wants to have a winner on the day, it is going to naturally be very competitive, there are no horses here today going out 'for a run'.

So my advice is not to worry if you like a horse at a big price, because every year there are big priced winners on the day, most often in the Juvenile features, as that age-group can progress and regress faster than any other.

When it comes to the main race, the Justin Snaith stable were 'touch and go' whether or not to run this year's favourite Eight On Eighteen in the main race, but sanity prevailed and he takes his place in the race everyone wants to win.

I can understand where Justin (Snaith) was coming from, he is a special 3-year-old and this can be a rough race, but when you get a chance as good as this to win Africa's most popular race, you have to take it.

Eight On Eighteen is the highest earner in this year race with winnings of just over R6 million, and he is only three-years-old.

In his last four starts he has won three Grade 1 races, including the Daily News 2000. Many have commented about the tricky draw of 11, but I would rather be draw 11 than 1.

It might not make sense but I can assure you it is better to be off the rail in a 18 runner handicap on a tight track like Greyville, as there is less chance of getting caught in a pocket on the rail.

The horse is technically handicapped to win due to the fact the weights for 3 year-olds are capped at 57kgs. So even before the race starts he has a 2kg advantage over the field.

I haven't liked a horse in this race as strongly as I do him in many years, and I think provided he has a clear passage during the race, he will be very hard to beat.

We have been in the best tipping form ever going into the July week, so we are confident that form will continue and we can tip our clients a big win on the day.

Last Monday we had seven out of nine winners at Kenilworth and tipped the Pick-6 that paid R96,541.00.

On Tuesday, at Greyville we tipped the R17,638.00 Pick-6 for just R256 and tipped the Jackpot straight line at odds of 360/1.

In the following three days we tipped two Pick-6 bets for as little as R108, one returning odds of 34/1 and the other 14/1.

*Matthew Stevens is an expert racing analyst.

The opinions expressed in this article does not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.

DAILY NEWS