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In a shock reversal of plans the Geoff Woodruff-trained Yorker has been withdrawn from the Vodacom Durban July and will revert to an immediate international campaign.
Derek Brugman, the racing manager for part-owner Markus Jooste, announced that Yorker – South Africa’s highest rated male performer, has left Clairwood for Johannesburg and will be sent overseas as soon as possible.
Horses booked on the next shipment to Dubai are all in Johannesburg and have to be in quarantine by Friday.
The decision to bypass the Durban July was made in reaction to his merit rating assessment after Yorker’s third in last Saturday’s G1 Gold Challenge at Clairwood.
“We have always said that we would look at how he was handicapped before deciding to run him,” Brugman said.
“He ran to about a 115 in the Gold Challenge on Saturday and the handicappers didn’t lower him, despite not giving the winner King Of Pain what we believed should be his full rating of 117 and instead giving him only 114.
“Furthermore, last year when we lodged a merit ratings appeal on behalf of two July horses and were later proven to be correct, the appeal was only heard on the week of the July and we weren’t refunded our deposit.
“We don’t believe Yorker is good enough to win the July off 118.”
Jooste’s retained jockey Anton Marcus will now ride the champion owner’s only remaining Durban July runner, the Woodruff-trained Rake’s Chestnut.