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.