Derek Brugman, racing manager of Mayfair Speculators, said their Sean Tarry-trained Equus Horse Of The Year Legal Eagle had been “doing fine and his work had been good” ahead of this Saturday’s Gr 1 R4 million Premier’s Champions Challenge over 2000m on Turffontein Standside.

Legal Eagle will attempt to become the first South African horse for 50 years to successfully defend three Gr 1 crowns in one season. The immortal Sea Cottage was the last horse to achieve this feat in 1967. Legal Eagle has already defended his L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes crowns.

Legal Eagle is merit rated 123, which is 10 points higher than the second highest rated horse in the race, his stablemate French Navy, who finished runner up to him last year.

Of the opposition the Mike de Kock-trained three-year-old filly Nother Russia is the most unexposed. This is a big step up, but she improves every time she races and was an impressive winner of the Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes over 1600m last time out. She should get the trip on pedigree, being the daughter of the twice J&B Met runner up Mother Russia.

Mayfair Speculators Deo Juvente looks to have enjoyed a good preparation and both he and dual Gr 1 Sansui Summer Cup winner Master Sabina carry the never to be under-estimated Geoff Woodruff factor.

Mayfair Speculators have the Tarry-trained Trip To Heaven and the Joey Ramsden-trained Brutal Force in the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m. Their retained jockey Anton Marcus has chosen to ride Trip To Heaven and Piere Strydom will be aboard Brutal Force.

Brugman said, “Trip To Heaven is not the easiest to keep sound, but Sean knows him well and what to do. If he is sound and jumps on terms he is the horse to beat. Brutal Force has tightened up after his last win, which was his third run after a lengthy break, and will be spot on.”

Trip To Heaven put up an incredible display in the Gr 1 Betting World Cape Flying Championship over 1000m last time out when losing a number of lengths at the start and only just failing to catch his stablemate Carry On Alice. Brutal Force has won his last two starts, including over the Computaform course and distance last time out. His unplaced run in the Cape Flying followed a year’s layoff.

High draws are often favourable in the Computaform Sprint and in that case Brutal Force’s draw of four could be a concern. Trip To Heaven usually starts slowly so can be dropped out from his draw of seven before producing his devastating turn of foot.

Brugman is expecting a good run in the Gr 2 SA Oaks from the Joe Soma-trained Silvano filly Wind Chill.

He said, “I thought she was a bit unlucky when runner up in the Oaks Trial as she raced three wide. We are expecting a very good run. It is a step up in class and trip but we think she will get the trip.”

Brugman’s one slight concern for their runners on Saturday was the Equine Herpes virus which had been doing the rounds on the Highveld, especially as affected horses had generally not been showing signs of the virus until after their races.

“Our form on the Highveld has been a bit hit and miss,” he admitted.

Brugman also spoke about Mayfair Speculators’ SA Champions Season campaign. He said the plans for their KZN string were still “fluid” and horses would be placed according to well-being, merit rating and track suitability.

The Ramsden-trained Attenborough has been in KZN for a while and impressed on Sunday in his first run as a gelding when swooping from off the pace to win the Listed In Full Flight Handicap over 1100m.

“We always thought gelding was what he needed,” said Brugman. However, he said the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint was not necessarily on his agenda as Mayfair Speculators had many other possible candidates for the race and it would all depend on the handicappers assessment of their recent performances, their well-being and their suitability to the predicted track condition.

Other horses he mentioned as possible Tsogo Sun contenders were Excelero, Night Trip and Elusive Path (3^rd, 8^th and 11^th in the In Full Flight), Graduation Day (whose soundness issues have seen him have only nine starts despite being a six-year-old) and Seventh Plain (a Scottsville Gr 1 winner who caught the eye in his last start). He said another of their Scottsville Gr 1 winner, Guinness, was unlikely to run in the Tsogo Sun as they considered him a 1000m horse these days.

Mayfair Speculators have a phenomenal record in Scottsville Gr 1s.

Brugman explained Table Bay and Just Sensual’s surprise scratchings from Sunday’s Gr 2 Daisy Guineas and Daisy Fillies Guineas respectively. “They had good spells on the farm after the Cape Summer and the Guineas meeting came too soon as we did not want to start them fresh in a mile. We will bring them back over shorter, but there are no firm plans. They are galloping this week and we will see how they go in their races before deciding their routes.”

Meanwhile, the Gr 1 Investec Cape Derby winner Edict Of Nantes suffered a “small niggle” after arriving at Summerveld, which was why he would be missing Sunday’s Guineas meeting. Brugman said the Gr 1 Daily News 2000 would now be the target, but if that did not work out they could bring him back to a mile later (he was a narrow runner up in Gr 2 Selangor Cup over 1600m).

By David Thiselton

Joey Ramsden will be two-handed in his bid to win the Somerset 1200 for the fifth successive year at Kenilworth on Saturday.

Ramsden, who has won the two-year-old Listed race with horses of the calibre of Red Ray in the past, runs both last month’s first time out maiden winner Morning Catch (Donovan Dillon) and Speedpoint (Grant van Niekerk) who followed up his win in March by running Dutch Philip to half a length in a winners’ race in the middle of last month and will now be 2kg better.

Dutch Philip (Aldo Domeyer) has to give weight all round and as much as 4kg to the three maidens in the race. These include Greg Cheyne’s mount Kasimir who represents Snaith Racing whose most recent Somerset success came with the subsequent L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate winner Gimmethegreenlight in 2011.

Jonathan Snaith said: “Kasimir has been second twice and we are looking for a good run. He has a good chance at the weights.”

The Philippi stable’s Angel’s Trumpet is the only non-winner among the eight declared for the fillies equivalent, the Perfect Promise Sprint, and Bernard Fayd’Herbe rides. He won last year’s race on The Merry Widow for the Snaiths as well as the 2012 running on Hammie’s Hooker.

By Michael Clower

Punters will need to dig deep into their formbooks and do some serious studying for today’s meeting at Scottsville as they are faced with a loaded card of mostly maximum fields. However, the pickings will be profitable if they can find correct combinations.

The White Horse Function Room Handicap is a sample of what they are up against being a competitive handicap. Dante’s Legacy was a beaten favourite last run and Gavin van Zyl’s charge is having his fourth run after a lengthy break. He has raced handy in both of his last two starts before coming up short under pressure but the extra distance and a good draw should see him in the firing line.

Gareth van Zyl saddles the Australian-bred Handsome Harvey for the first time. The colt shed his maiden for Mike Azzie at Turffontein and had shown steady improvement leading up to that win. He has the worst of the draw but looks progressive.

Terabyte has his third run after a lay-off and gelding but still gave his rider a tough time last time out as he proved a touch headstrong. He races with a tongue-tie for the first time and that could make all the difference.

Crystal Ball takes on males for the first time but there was a lot to like about the way she finished off her latest start. She made up many lengths in the straight and with that run under her girth she cannot be written off lightly.

In the Rockafellas Restaurant Handicap, Cuvara made good improvement to win at his second start and looks progressive. Tony Rivalland’s yard has come good over the past few weeks and it generally pays to follow form stables. Talking of form stables, Paul Lafferty has been lining them up in recent weeks along with apprentice Ashton Arries who is back from suspension. They team up with top weight Dark Moon Rising who won well on debut beating the luckless but subsequent winner Indian Tractor. Of the balance, Rock Of Africa has some fair form to stronger in the Cape and can make the step up.

The final race on the card is a tough Fillies and Mare Handicap but Rainbowinthesky has shown up well in two starts against stronger since shedding her maiden. An outside draw down the Scottsville straight does not appear to be an issue any longer so gate 16 should not be a disadvantage.

Russian Girl has been holding form and looks a live danger to the selection while Silk Trip was deemed good enough to try a trip to the Highveld and can improve on her last effort.

A possibly exotic bet banker may come in the form of Silent Obsession in the Racing It’s A Rush Maiden Plate. The gelding only has one eye but has come to hand after making major improvement at his last start. He was an expensive yearling buy and is a smart looking individual.  The filly Enticer looks his main threat and although she takes on males she has smart form over shorter. If she stays the trip she will be competitive.

On The Bounce will have many supporters in the card opener after finishing a useful third against winners last time out. That form has since been franked with second-placed Neptune’s Rain winning the Gr3 Strelitiza Stakes at her subsequent outing.

Both On The Bounce and Swift Dancer have had both their starts in soft ground and there was a length between the two when they met for the first time. There is unlikely to be much between them again today and drawn alongside each other should make for an interesting tussle. However, there are plenty of unraced fillies in the line-up and the betting may prove a better guide.

By Andrew Harrison

Anton Marcus will ride Trip To Heaven for the first time in the Computaform Sprint at Turffontein on Saturday.

It’s a fascinating prospect – the best starter in the business teamed up with perhaps the speediest horse in the country but one with a flaw in his make-up that often results in him giving away a fatal amount of ground at the start.

Marcus’s famed starting method involves pushing his weight almost impossibly far forward as the gates open, so encouraging the horse’s momentum, but the four-time champion faces an additional problem with Trip To Heaven because the Sean Tarry-trained gelding is not just slow out of the pens but also slow to get going.

When he started favourite In the Cape Flying Championship in January, with Grant van Niekerk in the irons, he was eight lengths last after 100m yet he finished far faster than anything and only failed to peg back stable companion Carry On Alice by a rapidly-dwindling neck.

Marcus, though, has been struck by how well the horse ran in his two races at Kenilworth and said: “He has got to bring his Cape Town form to Jo’burg.”

Trip To Heaven is 28-10 second favourite with Betting World which has Carry On Alice heading the market at 22-10 in her bid to become the first dual winner of the Computaform since Golden Loom at the end of the last century.

What A Winter in 2013 is the only Cape Town winner since Laisserfaire 15 years ago and Snaith Racing is not optimistic about the chances of Jo’s Bond (8-1) despite her close-up fourth in the Cape Flying and her more recent Listed win at Scottsville.

Jonathan Snaith said: “We are raiding from Summerveld and people don’t seem to realise that is only about 1 700 feet whereas Jo’burg is over 5 000 feet. This makes it very difficult and, while the shorter the distance of the race the better chance you have, we are not at all confident.”

Legal Eagle (Marcus ) is as short as 4-10 to repeat last year’s win in the Premier’s Champions Challenge and Heavenly Blue (Callan Murray) is 6-10 to give Mike de Kock his first SA Derby since Irish Flame seven years ago.

Michael Clower

Billy Jacobson made the most of his opportunities in the “Levelling the Playing Fields Series” and heads the standings after Sunday’s second leg at Scottsville.

Jacobson, successful aboard the Chris Erasmus-trained Puchini in the first leg, was drawn to partner Mark Dixon’s runner, The Poet, and rode the perfect race to get his mount home ahead of Puchini in a thrilling finish.

Allocation of jockeys is done on a random draw basis and Jacobson knew what he was up against in Puchini. “He’s a horse that never gives in. I was a bit worried because I thought I’d gone to soon. I know Pucini would come back at me.” There was only a nose in it at the line.

Former commentator Eric Denman was complimentary of Jacobson’s ride and was on hand to lead in The Poet who races in the colours of his brother Trevor and his wife Robin. “Billy did his homework.  He worked out the race beforehand and knew exactly what he was up against. I thought he rode a great race.”

Morne Winaar was fortunate enough to re-draw the mount on Brave And Bold on which he finished second in the first leg. This time he went one better on Wendy Whitehead’s mare and made all to hold The King Of Random with first leg winner Royal Agree back in fourth. Jacobson and Winaar now lead the jockey standings.

A feature of the “Levelling the Playing Fields Series”, is that jockeys’ mounts are balloted and each trainer was invited to enter only one horse from their yard to compete in all three legs with the 14 highest point earners qualifying for the final at the end of June. While all horses entered for the series will compete again in the third round, the make-up of the fields for the two heats will change, as a fresh draw will take place to decide upon the two fields for the 1600m contests.

The third round takes place on Saturday, 27 May with the final being held over 1400 metres at Greyville on Sunday, 25 June.

Prize money for each race in rounds 1, 2 and 3 is R100 000 but the final will be contested for R200 000. In addition the Owner, Breeder and Trainer of the horse that accumulates most points, including the final, will each receive an additional R50 000 and the Jockey who accumulates the most points over the series will receive a bonus of R50 000.

Andrew Harrison

Picture: The Poet and Billy Jacobson (Nkosi Hlophe)