2022 Durban July Result - Sparkling Water bolts up at Greyville
- Full result for the 2022 Durban July
- South Africa's most famous horse race took place at Greyville today
- Sparkling Water secured a four length victory under S’manga Khumalo for trainer Mike de Kock
Sparkling Water ridden by jockey S'manga "Bling" Khumalo react after winning the 2022 edition of the Durban July horse race in Durban, on July 2. (Getty)
The eyes of a nation were fixed on Greyville this afternoon, as the 2022 Durban July was played out in front of a capacity crowd.
Mike De Kock's Safe Passage had topped the betting for most of the build-up. However, after a deluge of support during the last 24 hours, it was Justin Snaith's Pomp And Power who entered the Greyville stalls as the Durban July favourite.
Linebacker drifted a little before the off, going off as the third-favourite. There was also support Aragosta, Do It Again and Waterberry Lane before the starter sent the field on their way.
2022 Durban July Result
1st Sparkling Water
2nd Jet Dark
3rd Safe Passage
4th Do It Again
5th Kommetdieding
As expected, the early pace wasn't particularly fast. Astrix and Flying Carpet were kept wide for a while from their high stalls, before eventually angling over to set the pace.
Sparkling Water and Do It Again were positioned behind the leaders. Pomp And Power was restrained four rows back. Kommetdieding and Linebacker raced in the final third of the field, as Second Base and Al Muthana brought up the rear.
As the field began to turn for home, Do It Again was angled out and struck the front. Suddenly, S’manga Khumalo unleashed Sparkling Water and Mike De Kock's mare quickly put daylight between herself and the chasing pack. Khumalo raised his arms in celebration as Sparkling Water crossed the line a fantastic four-length winner of the 2022 Durban July.
Joint-top weight, Jet Dark flew home late on to finish second, ahead of Safe Passage, who made good late progress to finish third. Do It Again secured his fifth top-four finish in the Durban July, with Kommetdieding crossing the line a little one-paced back in fifth.
Pomp And Power simply couldn't pick up and finished a long way down the field. Third-favourite Linebacker was barely mentioned throughout the race.
