National champion trainer Sean Tarry is pleased with his Gr 1 Mercury Sprint contender Trip To Heaven at Summerveld and revealed the scratching of Carry On Alice was the result of a decision not to “gamble” from a wide draw.

Tarry said the Gr 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge had proved Trip To Heaven was probably best at 1200-1400m, but could get away with a mile at Greyville. The four-year-old Trippi gelding showed an exceptional turn of foot in the Gold Challenge, coming around them from last to hit the front in a matter of strides. However, he lost the race on objection after carrying Mac De Lago across the course.

Tarry said coming down in trip to 1200m five weeks after the Gold Challenge would not pose a problem for a horse who possessed so much speed.

He said the key obstacle would be the start, as the horse had tended to jump tardily lately. However, he was not overly concerned.

Tarry felt the horse could lead if jumping well, but if losing a length could sit off them and use that turn of foot to make up the leeway in the straight.

Last year Trip To Heaven fought for his head in a handy position, but Tarry was not at all enamoured with the ride. He said the plan had definitely not been to “break his jaw” and added the race had been gifted to Captain Of All as Trip To Heaven’s natural pace should have been used.

He is happy with the riding arrangement this year and said, “S’manga (Khumalo) knows the horse well.”

Khumalo has ridden the Highlands Farm Stud-bred speedster in eleven of his thirteen starts and has been aboard for all four of his career wins, which includes Grade 2s over 1160m and 1450m respectively. Trip To Heaven has been at Summerveld since the Gold Challenge.

Tarry said Carry On Alice was fit and well and he planned to keep her in training, although this had not been discussed yet with the connections.

He also runs five horses in the Listed Off To Stud Stakes on Saturday over 1600m. He was reluctant to single any of them out as he said all of them had things in their favour as well as question marks against them.

However, he pointed out, contrary to assumptions made in the press and by the public, Khumalo does not have an automatic choice of ride for his yard’s runners. He said rather the method was for himself to allocate rides to the jockeys and he usually did this based on the suitability of rider to horse as well as familiarity and also the success a rider had had with a horse in the past.

Tarry runs Aventurine, who won at Greyville yesterday (Wednesday), in the Non-Black Type Queen Palm Stakes. He said this horse was able to run close up after a previous run and he was “taking a chance” with her in a race where she had a tough task at the weights.

David Thiselton