Alice Springs Cup, Pioneer Sprint nominations land
The 2023 Alice Springs Turf Club’s Cup Carnival will conclude next Sunday, April 30, with the running of the two biggest races on the racing calendar in the Red Centre.
There have been 28 nominations received for the $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) and 22 nominations received for the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m).
It will be following Saturday’s meeting at Pioneer Park – Day 3 of the Cup Carnival – that the weights and final acceptors will be confirmed for either race.
The winner of the $40,000 Chief Ministers Cup (1600m) at weight for age and the $26,300 Mags Takeaway Weight-For-Age (1200m) on Saturday will gain automatic entry into the Cup and Sprint, respectively.
The Phil Cole-trained Saccharo (Wayne Davis) was the early $3 favourite with online bookmakers in the Chief Ministers Cup, while Savatoxl (a-Ianish Luximon), a former winner of the Group 1 Goodwood in Adelaide, from the Will Savage stable and the Tayarn Halter-trained Expert Witness (Jade Hampson) were the early equal $3 favourites for the Mags Takeaway WFA.
Savatoxl, who started his career in Alice Springs as a two-year-old in March 2018 and who has since amassed $947,490 in prizemoney following his success in Darwin and interstate, returns to Pioneer Park for the first time since finishing fifth in the 2020 Pioneer Sprint.
I Am The Fox, a nine-year-old gelding from the Halter stable in Darwin, looks set to appear in the Cup having won the race in 2021 before the son of Foxwedge backed up to finish second behind Gary Clarke’s Count Of Essex last year.
Smuggling has won the Pioneer Sprint for the past two years for Darwin trainer Cole and considering he is now a rising 10-year-old gelding it seems likely that the son of Wanted will be making his last appearance in the race.
The Alice Springs Cup and Pioneer Sprint will have a maximum of 12 starters with three emergencies.
Alice Springs Cup nominations: Ankle Rolex (Patrick Johnston), Bench Press (Terry Gillett), Boom Boom Sweet (Kerry Petrick), Century Fox (Dick Leech), Danon Roman (Greg Connor), Desert Lass (Carrol Hunter), Eureka’s Victory (Nicole Irwin), Fantasy Eagle (Will Savage), Great Buy (Terry Gillett), Group Think (Gary Clarke), I Am The Fox (Tayarn Halter), Ironedge (Gary Clarke), Lake’s Folly (Michael Hickmott), Lethal Encounter (Dick Leech), Lunch Session (Dick Leech), Magnossiva (Kym Healy), Mangione (Kerry Petrick), Miracoli (Dick Leech), Mug’s Game (Nicole Irwin), Saccharo (Phil Cole), Sienna’s Choice (Will Savage), Stately Star (Carly Cook), Venting (Kerry Petrick), Verimili (Michael Hickmott), Wicked Addiction (Kym Healy), Write Your Name (Dick Leech), Yowza (Dick Leech), Zelring (Greg Connor)
Pioneer Sprint nominations: Amish Boy (Gary Clarke), Bar Gem (Greg Connor), Bat Pad (Mark Nyhan), Cyclonite (Kym Healy), Early Crow (Dick Leech), Expert Witness (Tayarn Halter), Flying Start (Greg Connor), Great Buy (Terry Gillett), Great Diviner (Gary Clarke), Ideas Man (Phil Cole), I’m A Legend (Kym Healy), Kerioth (Dick Leech), Masterati (Nicole Irwin), Mathematics (Kym Healy), Poupee (Tom Logan), Savatoxl (Will Savage), Sedona (Phil Cole), Smuggling (Phil Cole), Stage Front (Dick Leech), Supreme Attraction (Terry Gillett), Supreme Times (Terry Gillett), That’s Justfied (Terry Gillett)