High class entire Red Ray (speed score 108) won the Grade 1 Mercury Sprint at Greyville, using stalk and pounce tactics which were ideal under the circumstances. A very strong tailwind blowing down the straight made it impossible for anything to come from way off the pace, and canny jock Anton Marcus followed up an inspired front running victory on Zante over 2400m to bring Red Ray home. The winner repeatedly ran quality figures between 105 and 109 earlier in his career in distances from 5 furlongs up to a mile, before being sent overseas. That Dubai escapade unfortunately turned out as an abortive mission after Red Ray got injured, having had just one unplaced run.
The Mercury was Red Ray’s third run after that long layoff, and he raced with blinkers for the first time. Sent out in prime condition by trainer Joey Ramsden, the son of Western Winter out of super-producer Nacarat (who died last week) attained a deserved Grade 1 victory after being placed four times in such events. Night Trip (s/s 103) stayed on best of the balance for second spot without ever seriously menacing the winner. The filly Real Princess (s/s 101) finished third.
The track variant was pretty fast at Greyville due to the firmer surface and tailwind – the opposite applied at a rain-softened Kenilworth. Best effort came from Ready To Attack (93 +) who won the Grade 3 Langerman from Lord Marshall as a juvenile, but apart from beating his foe again in a MR 76 handicap at Durbanville in October had not troubled the scorer until Saturday’s success. Perhaps being gelded has done the trick, and the scopy Ready To Attack can now be followed with some confidence during the Cape Winter…