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