IN PICS | Champion jockey is hard at work training his horse for Durban July

Horse trainer and former British and South African champion jockey Michael Roberts is hard at work training his horse hoping to end a drought that has seen no KwaZulu-Natal horses win the Holywoodbets Durban July for two decades.

Roberts wakes up at dawn every day to train See It Again, this year's favourite to win the race on July 1.

Roberts, a previous Durban July winner, says he aims to use his vast experience and international knowledge to take See It Again to victory at this year's race.

“I had a couple of winners for the queen (Elizabeth II) . She used to love racing and was very knowledgeable. It was a great honour for me being from South Africa to meet the royal family. I won the Durban July with Super Quality in 1997. I have over 53 years' experience in horse racing” said Roberts.

At Summerveld Horse Training Centre, 36km from Greyville racecourse where horses will be racing for the R5m prize-money, See It Again and 17 other horses are being trained for the 2,200m race.

Three-year-old See It Again is a half brother of Do It Again who won the HDJ in 2019 and 2022. They are both the offspring of Twice Over, a stallion which won the UK Champion Racehorse 2009 and Joint European Champion 2009 titles. See It Again's mother is the sister of Do It Again's mother.

Roberts says See It Again is regarded as one of the top race horses in the country due to his achievements.

“Nick Jonsson bought it at the CTS yearling sale and he gave it to me [to train]. He said he could see from an early stage in training that he was above average. He progressed and matured so nicely and he just keeps improving and improving. He won the Group 1 Cape Derby in March, returned home and also won the Group 1 Daily News 2000 in Durban.

“I believe I have the best horse in the race but the race is not over until I go past the winning post [finish line]. With that being said, jockeys can make mistakes but we also have an experienced jockey in Pierre Strydom. He has won the July [HDJ] four times before. I am happy with that but the July is a rough race, the jockeys don't give much room for it. You've got to be alert. We have got experience which I think is a bonus. You also got to have luck in the running. The pace is different in the July because the jockeys are excited.

“It's tough because it is a handicap and the horses get weights according to what the handicap gives them. We are carrying a little bit more weight because we are a little better than the others.”

Roberts will be looking to only be the fourth person in history to both ride and train a Durban July winner after Syd Garrett, David Payne and Bert Abercrombie.

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