Talktothestars and Carry On Alice head the list of entries for the Mercury Sprint to be run over 1200m at Greyville on Saturday.

However, both have drawn wide so the ball will be in the court of two of the next highest rated runners in the field, Trip To Heaven, who is drawn in five out of 24 nominations, and Trip Tease, who is drawn in pole position and will be out to land a deserved first Gr 1 trophy.

Piere Strydom has jumped ship from Talktothestars on to Trip Tease, who is trained by his former brother-in-law Louis Goosen. Strydom has won three Gr 1s, including the Vodacom Durban July, since returning from a three-and-a-half month layoff for a broken collar bone on May 24. He partnered Trip Tease to a facile 3,25 length victory in a Pinnacle Stakes race over 1000m at Turffontein on June 16. This was the six-year-old Trippi gelding’s 15^th win in 25 starts and his sixth win with Strydom up. Trip Tease has won around the bend on the Turffontein Inside track before, but the bend only constitutes about 300m of a race over that course and distance whereas at Greyville it will constitute 750m of the Mercury Sprint course and distance.

Talktothestars (Nkosi Hlophe)

Furthermore, that Turffontein Inside track run remains Trip Tease’s only ever run around the turn on turf and happened in his fifth career start over two years ago. He did run around the turn on the Vaal sand once, finishing third over 1200m in a Pinnacle Stakes event over 1200m, but the bend was only negotiated for 200m over that course and distance. On the bright side Trip Tease proved just how much speed he has when winning the Easter Dash over 600m, so jumping from pole position will be especially advantageous on Saturday, provided he handles the turn. However, another downside is he has only ever raced beyond 1000m once, and that was in the aforementioned defeat on the Vaal sand.

The talented and versatile Trip To Heaven, who only lost the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge in the boardroom, will also be out to land a first Gr 1 and looks to have a massive shout in a race which could pan out well for him. He showed just how exceptional his turn of foot is in the Rising Sun, coming from last to first in a matter of strides despite going around the field. He will likely be dropped out again, unlike in this race last year when handy and fighting for his head from a draw of two, which led to him falling in a hole. Another reason to drop him out is he has developed a bit of a tardy starting habit. The pace will be the key to his chances.

Carry On Alice (Nkosi Hlophe)

Three-times Gr 1-winning sprinter Carry On Alice ran on strongly for a 4,5 length second in last season’s Mercury Sprint when dropped out from a  draw of six. On the downside her wide draw (19 of 24 nominations) means she might have to be dropped out again. However, on the plus side there appears to be more pace in the race than there was last year and there are no horses quite of the calibre of Captain Of All in the field, even if Talktothestars on 121 is rated one point higher than Captain Of All was at this time last year.

The Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint-winner Talktothestars has run around the turn four times in races of 1400m and beyond and was unplaced in all of them, while his sprint record around the turn is limited to a second place over 1000m on the Turffontein Inside track in a handicap at which stage he was a lowly rated 71 three-year-old. However, the four-year-old gelding, who usually races without shoes, has clearly improved considerably since then. He proved when finishing second in the Computaform Sprint how strongly he can turn it on from off the pace and he later proved his versatility by winning from a handy position in the Tsogo Sun Sprint. The jockey is yet to be declared, but will have plenty of planning to do from the wide draw (21 among the nominations).

Real Princess, who beat a luckless Carry On Alice in the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint over this trip, has drawn quite well in eight. She has a fine turn of foot, so Greyville should suit her.

Gulf Storm, the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship winner, is better than his Tsogo Sun unplaced effort and is the fourth highest runner in the field. His wide draw (currently 13) is a concern for one who likes to be up there.

The classy Red Ray should be cherry ripe having his third run after a long layoff and will be hoping for more luck than he had when joint-topweight in the Gr 2 Post Merchants over course and distance, although from a current draw of 12 he might not be any better drawn.

Flybynight won this race two years ago when it was it was still being run at Clairwood and bounced back to form with a second place in the City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint. However, she is drawn way out in 18 as opposed to five when finishing fourth last year.

Computaform Sprint third-placed Barbosa is better than his Tsogo Sun Sprint run, but is another with a very wide draw (23).

Redcarpet Captain is an intriguing entry in a current draw six, despite having a lot to do off a merit rating of 101, as he showed just how much gelding had benefited him on Vodacom Durban July day when winning well over 1200m on the poly.

Other intriguing entries include Night Trip and Heartland, who stay further but have a touch of class, and both are well drawn. A notable absentee from the nomination is the facile winner of the Post Merchants, Kangaroo Jack.

However, just about all of the best sprinters in the land will likely line up and it is going to be one to savour.

David Thiselton

Anton Marcus was the rock that the KZN Falcons rested on in the second Rider Cup Interprovincial Jockeys Challenge held at Scottsville today but in the end it all turned to sand as the Highveld Hawks sneaked home via an objection in the last leg to edge out the Cape Eagles. The final points tally was Hawks 139 points, Eagles 133 and KZN Falcons 132.

The Eagles were first to strike as Aldo Domeyer rode the perfect race on the Duncan Howells-trained favourite Gordon’s Cungee. There were a lot of not so happy punters after the Australian-bred was run over when favourite for her last start but this time Domeyer followed instructions and got home narrowly ahead of the two Mark Dixon runners Honorary and Dundrum.

This win gave Domeyer his first century of winners in a season at the course where he recorded his first victory.

Domeyer had a tough time of things early in his career, being turfed out of the Jockeys Academy on the premise that he would not make it.

It took him a lot of faith and six years to make it back and with a J&B Met victory to his credit and now 100 winners in a season it was battle worth fighting.

Marcus notched up two winners for the Falcons but it was not enough to claim the title. His first came aboard the Mike de Kock-trained Very Vary in the second leg but there were a few hairy moments before he got the son of Var through to the line. With Escovitch looking to hang in under pressure Very Vary got tight on the inside rail as Kimberley was pressed onto him. “At the 200 I thought they should have been arrested for attempted murder,” quipped Marcus post-race. “It was a courageous run, having to put his head in front and win.”

Marcus was back in the winner’s box in the third leg when the well fancied Wealthy ran up to expectations, keeping on strongly to hold off Silver Rose and Starrett City.

There was drama in the last leg of the Challenge with the reversal of the result resulting in the Hawks edging out the Eagles.

The 1200m handicap produced a blanket finish with the Chris Erasmus-trained Jason Argo ridden by Eagles captain Grant Van Niekerk pipping stablemate Panza with Hawks captain S’manga Khumalo up. However, Khumalo objected and the decision to uphold the protest proved crucial to the outcome of the inter-provincial with the Hawks snatching it on the line.

Andrew Harrison

Mike Bass will be three-handed in his bid to win the Mercury Sprint for the third time in five seasons at Greyville on Saturday.

With stable jockey Grant van Niekerk sitting out a ten-day interference suspension – when winning the Garden Province on Inara – Brandon Lerena gets the call for 2014 winner Fly By Night while Stuart Randolph will be on Lanner Falcon and Callan Murray rides Night Trip.

Brett Crawford is expecting a much-improved performance from his Cape Flying Championship winner Gulf Storm who ran below his best under second top weight in last month’s Tsogo Sun Sprint.

He explained: “I put blinkers on for the five furlong Cape Flying and I made the mistake of leaving them on over six at Scottsville and as a result he pulled too hard. He will race without them on Saturday and I am sure he will run a much better race.”

Justin Snaith will return his three-year-old stars It’s My Turn, Bela-Bela and Black Arthur to Cape Town this week after the trio finished fourth, sixth and seventh in the Vodacom Durban July.

He said: “They are top horses so we are saving them for next season but Dynamic may stay for the Champions Cup (July 30). He is an older horse who has been there and done that.

“Golden Horseshoe winner Zodiac Ruler will run in the Premiers Champion on the same card assuming all goes well and there are no hiccups. He is drawn one but a bad draw would have meant him coming home.”

July runner-up Marinaresco is among the 20 nominations for the Champions Cup but he is unlikely to line up. “He came out of the July fine but he is drawn 18 in the Champions so I don’t think he will run,” said Candice Robinson. “Next season he will be aimed at the Queen’s Plate and the Met.”

Michael Clower

Justin Snaith will add Saturday’s easy Kenilworth winner Gift Of Rain to his Final Fling line-up on Saturday week as he bids to win Cape Town’s penultimate feature of the season for the fourth successive year.

He said: “I promised Gaynor Rupert black type with this horse even before the mare came to South Africa so I am now under a bit of pressure. She is a Galileo and she is a different horse in the soft but just about the only features left for her are the Final Fling and the Jockey Club Stakes (August 26) at Fairview, but if I send her for that and it rains they will switch to the race to the Polytrack.

“They did that when I ran her in it last year. The track was far too firm for her and it has taken me this long to get her back to where I want her.”

Snaith and Richard Fourie made it a memorable return from Texas for Jack Mitchell by following up in the 1800m handicap with Prince Of Wales but the most remarkable story of the day came two races earlier when Jaswick Jordaan added the latest chapter in his contribution to the wonders of modern medicine by riding his first Cape Town winner since his return to the fray.

The tall 23-year-old said: “I was off for three years. The problem started when I suddenly found I couldn’t function that well, probably the result of a fall, and I was in hospital for a year. I spent a further 12 months recovering and then almost another year getting my weight down from 74kg to 59kg.

“I resumed in February/March and this is my sixth winner since. I joined Glen Kotzen a month ago and hopefully I have cracked the ice by winning on Treize for him.”

Prudence Prevails started favourite for the race and contributed to a painful day for punters – all eight favourites were beaten – by unshipping Corne Orffer as she came out of the pens.

But the biggest shock came in the last when Maximum Flo scored at 75-1 under Francois Herholdt who had already won the first on the Mike Robinson-trained Fire In The Belly. Brett Crawford, though, was left scratching his head over runner-up Rock On Geordies.

He said: “If you saw the way he works you’d have thought he would have been out of the maidens a long time ago. He is a frustrating horse.”

Greg Ennion gave up the beliefs of a lifetime with Sign Your Name and was rewarded with victory in the juvenile fillies.

He said: “I have a hard and fast rule that I don’t put blinkers on two-year-olds but Aldo Domeyer, who rode her last time, told me that If I did this filly would win. I rang Robert Khathi on Friday night and said I wanted him to ride her up the course with them on the following morning. He thought I was mad.”

There wasn’t much room when Khathi made his move 300m out but the filly put her head down and barged aside her rivals like Bryan Habana going for a try against the All-Blacks. Domeyer, only third on De Ragatas, is just one short of his first century after taking the mile maiden on Gyre to boost Adam Marcus who has spent the last week in bed with ‘flu and bronchitis.

Four jockeys also cried off sick and this, coupled with Bernard Fayd’Herbe plying his trade in Mauritius with a treble, led to scratchings in the last.

Michael Clower

The Rider Cup Inter-Provincial Jockeys Challenge took place at Scottsville today and the three teams of four fought to an exciting conclusion.

The teams entered the final of four legs with the Cape Eagles and Highveld Hawks locked together on 102 points and the defending champions the KZN Falcons also right there on 99.

The 1200m handicap then produced a blanket finish with the Chris Erasmus-trained Jason Argo, ridden by Eagles captain Grant Van Niekerk, pipping stablemate Panza with Hawks captain S’Manga Khumalo up. Karl Zechner of the Hawks was third on Shogun. However, more drama followed as Khumalo objected. The subsequent upheld decision proved crucial to the outcome of the inter-provincial.

The Highveld Hawks had thus emerged victorious on 139 points to the Eagles on 133 and the Falcons on 132.

In the first leg Aldo Domeyer of the Eagles converted favouritism on the Duncan Howells-trained Gordon’s Cungee. Corne Orffer and Khumalo earned second and third-placed points on the Mark Dixon-trained pair Honorary and Dundrum respectively.

Anton Marcus then got one back for the Falcons, who were captained by Anthony Delpech, when the Mike de Kock-trained two-year-old Very Vary proved too good for a weak maiden field over 1200m. An objection by third-placed Kimberley, ridden by Van Niekerk, against second-placed Escovitch with Zechner up was unsuccessful.

The Eagles led at this stage on 79 points with the Hawks on 70 and the Falcons on 53.

In the third leg Marcus converted favouritism again on the Dennis Drier-trained Wealthy, although the runner up Silver Rose with the Falcons’ Keagan de Melo up was baulked for a run and possibly unlucky. However, with Starret City earning third-placed points for the Hawks’ JP van der Merwe, an exciting conclusion was assured. The other jockeys competing were Muzi Yeni (Falcons), Andrew Fortune (Hawks) and Teaque Gould (Eagles).

David Thiselton