Brutal Force out to give Ramsden a Mercury follow-up

Preview: South Africa Saturday2.35pm BST

Greyville: Mercury Sprint (Grade 1) 6f, turf, 3-y-o+

The Joey Ramsden-Anton Marcus combination, successful in last year’s Mercury Sprint with Red Ray, bids for a repeat with the horse’s year-younger brother Brutal Force, who is back on song after a freak accident caused him to flop in the Tsogo Sun Sprint at Scottsville last time.

Ramsden said: “He got something sharp in his eye after 50 to 100 metres and when he came back to his stables that night the eye was closed. He then got an infection from the piece of track that hit him, but he is very much back to his best now.”

However, Ramsden is concerned about the horse’s wide draw on the right-handed turning course, adding: “The jockey [the fastest starter in South Africa] will be a big help but we are still going to need a miracle.”

Search Party (Brett Crawford/Corne Orffer), winner of the Post Merchants over course and distance last month, is drawn even worse and Crawford said: “He can be a fast starter but the draw is going to make things tough for us.”

The market is headed by Trip To Heaven (Sean Tarry/S’Manga Khumalo) and stable companion Bull Valley (Karl Zechner), who won the Tsogo Sun Sprint.

Tarry told Tabnews: “Trip To Heaven loses ground at the start so it’s really irrelevant where he is drawn [seven] but the faster they go the better. Bull Valley was primed for that last race and he stole it from a long way out.”

Talktothestars (Coenie de Beer/Bernard Fayd’Herbe) is another drawn wide but he was beaten only a neck by Search Party in the Post Merchants and is 2kg better.