Mercury Sprint Entries

The two heroes of the recent big sprint raceday at Scottsville, Captain Of All and Carry On Alice, could go head-to-head in the R750 000, Grade 1 Mercury Sprint to be run for the first time at Greyville on Saturday, July 18.



They are among the 32 entries for the country’s premier weight-for-age clash that since its inception decades ago had been run at the now defunct Clairwood Racecourse.



The four-year-old Captain Al colt Captain Of All from the Dennis Drier stable won the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint in sensational style while the three-year-old Sean Tarry-trained filly Carry On Alice, also the progeny of Captain Al, thrashed a strong field in the Grade 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Fillies Sprint on the same day. They both won their races in almost identical times.



The Mercury Sprint over 1 200m will be run on the turf and the entries include top horses from around the country such as the Cape super star Act Of War that has won four of his five starts up to 1 600m but will be tested over the shorter trip for the first time.



A surprise entry is last year’s Vodacom Durban July winner Legislate that won the Rising Sun Gold Challenge in his last start. He will likely use this race if he runs as a warm-up possibly for the Champions Cup on Super Saturday at the end of the month.



Among the speed horses entered is the winner of the Post Merchants, Daring Dave, and the horse he narrowly defeated Moofeed. Others entered include Gulf Storm, Sheik’s Brashee and Bichette that finished second, third and fourth respectively in the Tsogo Sun Sprint.



13 CAPTAIN OF ALL (4C) 60.0 120 Dennis Drier

15 LEGISLATE (4C) 60.0 117 Justin Snaith

22 TRIP TEASE (4G) 60.0 114 Louis Goosen

30 GULF STORM (4G) 60.0 110 Brett Crawford

7 TEVEZ (5G) 60.0 109 Mike Bass

9 DARING DAVE (4G) 60.0 107 Justin Snaith

8 WILLOW MAGIC (AUS) (4C) 60.0 107 Sean Tarry

29 ASHTON PARK (5G) 60.0 106 Mike Bass

25 BARBOSA (5G) 60.0 104 Dennis Drier

4 ROYAL ZULU WARRIOR (8G) 60.0 104 B Kumaran Naidoo

20 MOOFEED (AUS) (4C) 60.0 103 Mike de Kock

19 SHEIK'S BRASHEE (4G) 60.0 103 B Alyson Wright

21 WHITELINE FEVER (6G) 60.0 103 B Sean Tarry

6 KOCHKA (4G) 60.0 101 Alyson Wright

2 AL DON CUMARCO (4G) 60.0 99 Yvette Bremner

12 MR WHATEVER (5G) 60.0 99 Pat Lunn

31 APPROVAL RATING (5G) 60.0 94 Johan Janse van Vuuren

28 TOMMY GUN (4G) 60.0 87 Corne Spies

32 ACT OF WAR (3C) 59.5 117 Joey Ramsden

5 TRIP TO HEAVEN (3C) 59.5 109 Sean Tarry

26 AFRIKABURN (3G) 59.5 106 B Dean Kannemeyer

17 BELONG TO ME (3C) 59.5 105 Johan Janse van Vuuren

1 BRUTAL FORCE (3G) 59.5 104 Joey Ramsden

16 ISPHAN (3G) 59.5 103 B Mike Azzie

23 FOREST FOX (3G) 59.5 102 B Paul Peter

14 ANJAAL (AUS) (3C) 59.5 101 B Mike de Kock

24 FIRE HORSE (3G) 59.5 89 B Corne Spies

10 FLY BY NIGHT (5M) 57.5 111 Mike Bass

18 JET BELLE (5M) 57.5 109 B Glen Kotzen

27 AFRICAN DREAM (4F) 57.5 101 Mark Dixon

11 CARRY ON ALICE (3F) 57.0 115 Sean Tarry

3 BICHETTE (3F) 57.0 108 Sean Tarry

(32)

By Richard Mcmillan

The flashy Australian-bred colt Brazuca, just touched off in a thrilling finish by favourite Seventh Plain in the R600 000, Grade 1 Durban Golden Horseshoe on Vodacom Durban July Day at Greyville on Saturday, heads the entries for the R200 000, Grade 2 Umkhomazi Stakes over 1 200m at Greyville on Mercury Sprint day on Saturday, July 18.



The race is one of four supporting events for the country’s premier weight-for-age sprint, the R750 000, Grade 1 Mercury Sprint, that was previously run at Clairwood and will now be run at Greyville for the first time.



The meeting will also see the running of “The Rider Cup”, the inter-provincial jockey challenge for South African riders over four races with four-man teams from KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape competing for total prize money of R100 000.



Trained by Johan Janse van Vuuren, Brazuca ran a fantastic race under jockey Weichong Marwing and looked a winner until Anton Marcus got a last-stride thrust from Seventh Plain to snatch the result by a short head.



Also among the entries for the Umkhomazi Stakes is the Michael Roberts-trained Argonaut gelding Natal that went down by about a head to Cutting Edge in the R1-million KZN Yearling Sale Million that closed off the country’s biggest meeting.



Buckinghamshire, the Australian-bred colt from the Justin Snaith stable that inflicted the only defeat on Seventh Plain when they met over 1 000m in the Cape, is also among the entries.



The Debutante, the two-year-old race for fillies, has attracted 22 entries including the SA Nursery winner Frosted Honey and Speedy Suzy that finished fourth in the Allan Robertson Championship.



In the Off To Stud Stakes for four-year-old fillies and mares over 1 600m, the winner of the Track And Ball Handicap at Greyville on July Day, Resolution from the Charles Laird stable, is among the 25 entries along with the consistent Dennis Drier filly Gathering Fame and San Trip from the Mark Dixon yard that finished third in the Scarlet Lady.



The Queen Palm Stakes is for fillies and mares over 2 400m and has attracted 18 horses headed by Ash Cloud, Gallica Rose and Vino Veritas that filled the first three places in the Gold Circle Oaks at Scottsville recently. Also among the entries is the Neil Bruss-trained Ideal World filly Zante that ran a great race at 33-1 to finish fourth in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000.

Will be interesting to see who the draw scared off. Ramsden finally got a decent draw with Brutal force I see but Act of war isn't having much luck in that respect. Likewise Afrikaburn is another I would have liked to see running a bit but another poor draw ..unlikely to run.