Although a grandslam of Gr 1s in one day is too much to expect he said that winning every Gr 1 he entered was always the aim every year.

 

He has two favourites on the day, a second favourite and a trio in the main event who are not prominent in the market, but who might represent good value.

 

His Gr 1 Golden Horse Sprint trio are Thunderstruck, Under Your Spell and Full Velocity.

 

He said about the three-year-old Rafeef colt Thunderstruck, who was an impressive winner of the Gr 1 Gold Medallion last year, “He has a lovely weight (sneaks into the handicap with the minimum weight of 54kg). He is a course and distance winner and he ran a good fourth over 1160m in his only sprint this season when ring rusty and needing it ( (beaten 6,20 lengths by Princess Calla). He hasn’t been given a fair chance over sprints this season and he has pulled every time he has gone around the turn. The public tend to write off horses quickly but he is still a good quality horse. He is a nice price (33/1 with Hollywoodbets).”

Tarry said Thunderstruck had never been a good work horse, so couldn’t be judged on anything he had been doing at home presently.

However, he added his whole team for Hollywoodbets Scottsville were in “a good space.”

He said about the four-year-old Capetown Noir filly Under Your Spell, who won the Gr 1 Allan Robertson Championship two years ago and now runs in the Golden Horse Sprint, “The Greyville mile is within her reach and 1400m is probably her best distance, so the HWB Scottsville 1200m is within her reach. What makes it an attractive race for her is the small weight spread with bottom weight being 54kg. She carries 54,5 kg, so only has to give the bottom weights half-a-kilogram and although the top weights have some very good form the handicap evens it out.”

 

He said about his other Golden Horse contender, the Philanthropist mare Full Velocity, who is 1,5kg under sufferance carrying 54kg, “She definitely went a bit off form, but the signs are she is coming back and she loves this course and distance.  She has run two bomb races here.”

 

Full Velocity won the Gr 3 Poinsettia over course and distance last year, a weight for age plus penalties race for fillies and mares, and she followed up with a fine 2,45 lengths sixth in the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint.

 

Tarry’s best chance of adding to his phenomenal Gr 1 record at Hollywoodbets Scottsville might lie with the crack Flower Alley mare Princess Calla, who has had a fine season in Graded sprint events. 

 

Tarry said, “She has all the credentials, but you have to have respect for Desert Miracle.”

 

He must also have a fine chance with his unbeaten two-year-old Gimmethegreelight colt Lucky Lad, who won the Gr 2 SA Nursery effortlessly by 2,75 lengths despite a tardy start.

 

He said, “The  Johannesburg form has worked out very well, but you have to have respect for the unbeaten horses.”

 

He also runs The Africa House in this race, a big scopey type and it would be no great surprise to see him involved in the finish. He has 7,25 lengths to make up on Lucky Lad on 1100m form and he would prefer further than 1200m, but he will be suited to this tough sprint course.

 

Tarry runs the unbeaten Vercingetorix filly Mrs Geriatrix in the Gr 1 Allan Robertson, her first run since just getting up to win the Gr 2 SA Fillies Nursery.

 

He said she was very well, but he said Candice Bass-Robinson’s filly Winter Cloud looked to be very good and he had healthy respect for her.

 

Tarry is on the extreme outside with both Lucky Lad and Mrs Geriatrix and has the tricky number one draw for Princess Calla, but he is not overly concerned.

 

He said, “I haven’t thought much about the draws. We arrive every year to hear the inside is favourable, but it doesn’t always go like that and I am not too phased because I have good jockeys.”