Champion trainer elect Sean Tarry has three well-drawn runners in the weight for age Gr 1 Mercury Sprint and not surprisingly fancies the dual Gr 1-winner Carry On Alice marginally ahead of the other two Willow Magic and Trip To Heaven. He said, “I would say Carry On Alice would be my first choice, but the other two are close behind. Willow Magic might be wanting a bit further now. I think the course and distance will suit Trip To Heaven quite nicely.” Tarry is not too phased about three-year-old filly Carry On Alice having run just two weeks ago in the Gr 1 Jonsson Workwear Garden Province Stakes over 1600m, “She’s coming back in distance, she pulled a little bit hard, she didn’t give her effort at the end, she’s taken her run well, looks good and is enjoying herself.”

He said about her draw of six in the eleven horse field, “It’s halfway, she can come from off them or go up handy. But it’s a strong field.”

Carry On Alice first met the ruling Mercury favourite Captain Of All in the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship over 1000m at Kenilworth and on that day she was asked to stand in the stalls for ages, while others including Captain of All were taken out, after Normanz had broken through. The colt beat her by 1,5 lengths and Tarry said, “We don’t know what she would have done (without the starting incident).” However, in their next meeting in the weight for age Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m she was 3,3 lengths ahead of Captain Of All. Tarry is not taking that form to literally and also does not believe the soft going on the day was necessarily in Carry On Alice’s favour. He pointed to Captain Of All’s next run when carrying topweght to an impressive 1,25 length victory in the Gr 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville and said, “Captain Of All’s performance was very good with that weight. It may just be that he reserves his best for Maritzburg, but if not he’s a very good horse. Having said that the price of the second and third horses were 11/1 and 33/1 and we ran fourth with Bichette (16/1).” He also pointed to the times. Carry On Alice, carrying 58,5kg in the Gr 1 City Of Pietermaritzburg Sprint, recorded a time 0,07 seconds quicker than Captain Of All, who was carrying 60kg. She will now be receiving 3kg from Captain Of All, which effectively means that taking the weight for age scale into account she is 2,5kg better off with Captain Of All from the Scottsville comparison. On the other hand Captain Of All did have to come from a tougher draw than Carry On Alice had to contend with at Scottsville.

The four-year-old Willow Magic, who won the Gr 1 SA Nursery over 1160m as a two-year-old, is drawn well in three. He last ran over course and distance in the Gr 2 Post Merchants and was caught late by Daring Dave and Moofeed to be beaten narrowly. Tarry said, “It was a good effort but I do think that the false start would have affected him more than most horses.”  He said about the draw, “He can be used but I don’t think he has to pace it out with them, it also depends on the pace.  He likes this course and we might leave him in the Champions Cup next week. He’s only run the mile twice and won the Dingaans and then finished second in the Gold Challenge to Legislate.”

The talented three-year-old colt Trip To Heaven has a plum draw of two and could be the dark horse as he finished just 0,25 lengths behind the classy sprinter Trip Tease when facing him on just 1kg worse than weight for age terms in January over a possibly too sharp 1000m. He had won the Gr 2 Post Merchants over 1160m in fine style before that when officially 1,5kg under sufferance. He hasn’t run since facing Trip Tease and Tarry said, “He didn’t pull up well and he is a horse that you have to work quite carefully with, so he wouldn’t have been ready for Scottsville and this is his next and last opportunity.” He doesn’t think that the strange course will affect him and added, “He can use that draw. He is very versatile, he can come from last or lead, it just depends how hard they go.”

Tarry runs the Rebel King filly Rebel To The Fore, who won on debut over 1000m, in the Gr 2 Debutante over 1200m, and said, “She won a five furlong so she’s got enough speed, but I don’t think she’s limited to a sprint.” She came from a bit off them on debut so the draw of eight is not much of a concern and he added, “I think she’s definitely got a nice future and having a look at the field she has a chance.”

He runs Enchanted Silk and City Of Athens in the Listed Off To Stud Stakes over1600m on the polytrack. The former is joint second best in at the weights and has shown both in her last race and at home that she loves the poly, although Tarry regards her ideal trip as being 1700-1800m. The latter often doesn’t try her hardest, but does have ability. She is 3kg under sufferance with the best in, but Tarry believes she is worth taking a chance with as he reckoned wearing blinkers for the first time on the poly might help her.

He runs Eva Tibbs in the Listed Queen Palm Stakes over 2400m, where she is 2,5k under sufferance with the best in. However, Tarry pointed out that she was a touch unlucky when finishing a five length fourth to the promising stayer Wild Ash in a Listed event over 2450m, so he is hoping she can earn black type here.

By David Thiselton

Picture: Carry On Alice (Nkosi Hlophe)