Breeder and owner Lady Laidlaw of Khaya Stables could possibly add a second Hollywoodbets Durban July win to her impressive tally of Gr1 winners, after Green With Envy in a tussle with Flag Man won the fight on the finish line in the Gr1 Daily News 2000 on the weekend.

In a race that proved problematic for many with a variety of traffic issues and mixtures of pace, it was eventually Flag Man (Flying The Flag – Irresistible Chris) and Green With Envy (Gimmethegreenlight) who pulled away from the field, ending up three lengths clear of the grey Barbaresco and almost six lengths between him and Pure Predator who finished fifth.

The Clifton-bred gelding Flag Man has been improving with every race, and interestingly his dam, Irresistible Chris, used to be in the ownership of Khaya Stables until 2018, when the mare ownership became Clifton Stud. The last foal produced in Khaya Stables name was Admire Me (Capetown Noir) and the reason that Gareth Van Zyl purchased Flag Man from Garth Puller, as she has proved above average on ability.

Green With Envy dug deep at the finish line on what was a splendid day for Dean Kannemeyer’s jockey Craig Zackey, to win his fourth race in a row and his sixth career victory from 10 starts.

It is his second Gr1 win to date after capturing the Gr1 Splashout Cape Derby earlier this year.

Born and raised at Varsfontein Stud for Lady Laidlaw, Green With Envy is out of Miss Coco by Galileo. Lady Laidlaw’s Khaya Stables are boasting incredible statistics for the season, from 7 runners an AEPR of R481,032 and 57.1% winners to runners.

Gimmethegreenlight is enjoying another outstanding season, with R23,940,738 earned in stakes and 18 Stakes wins for the season.

Green With Envy currently tops the betting boards as favourite for the Hollywoodbets Durban July and will be looking to emulate the likes of Dynasty, also trained by Dean Kannemeyer, by completing the Daily News / July double.