Fields for the $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) and $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) will take shape in the Red Centre on Saturday.
For horses who have yet to qualify for either race, it’s their last chance on Day 3 of the Alice Springs Turf Club’s Cup Carnival at Pioneer Park.
Currently, 19 nominations have been received for the Cup scheduled for April 7, with 21 nominating for the Sprint on April 6.
Write Your Name and Supreme Attraction, the respective winners of the Cup and Sprint last year, are expected to defend their title.
Only 12 starters will contest the Cup and Sprint.
Five horses nominated for Central Australia’s biggest race will feature in the $40,000 Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m) at weight-for-age on Saturday.
Write Your Name, who also won the 2023 Darwin Cup (2050m), Venting and Hettinger have qualified for the Alice Springs Cup, while Quizzle (13th in the order of entry) and Taipan Tommy (15th) have to win to secure automatic qualification.
Desert Lass, second in last year’s Cup, had already qualified and was scratched from the Chief Minister’s Cup after finishing second behind Boom Boom Sweet in an open 1900m handicap on Wednesday.
Victory secured a Cup berth for Kerry Petrick’s Boom Boom Sweet.
Plenty of intrigue surrounds South Australian galloper Taipan Tommy, who has never raced beyond 1600m, as he has had seven Pioneer Park starts for Kym Healy for five wins and two seconds.
He is backing up after saluting over 1400m (BM76) on Wednesday.
Murray Bridge trainer Michael Hickmott has nominated Exalted Fire, Lake’s Folly and Oath Of Omerta for the Cup, fellow Murray Bridge trainer Garret Lynch has nominated Shiny Rock, and Darwin trainer Chris Nash has nominated Son Of Bielski.
Neither of the five horses have yet to appear at Pioneer Park, while the in-form Son Of Bielski made it five straight wins in the St Patrick’s Day Cup (1600m) in the Top End on March 16.
Better Not Fuss, who was exempt from the Cup ballot after winning the NT Guineas (1600m) on Wednesday at $91 for trainer Paul Gardner, has not been nominated.
Meanwhile, Gardner’s Red Wraith, who was sitting 13th in the order of entry, qualified for the Sprint after emphatically winning The Soldier Lightning (1000m) on Wednesday.
The winner of the 1200m weight-for-age on Saturday will seal their Sprint ticket, so the door remains ajar for Brat, Munster, Noble Magnate and Vitesse Breeze as they sit outside the top 12.
There’s a 1000m (0-70) race on Saturday, and of the six horses in the field that have been nominated for the Sprint, only Kumicho and Liberty Blue have qualified.
Leading Sprint hopes Early Crow, who won last year’s Palmerston Sprint in Darwin, and Kerioth are last start winners in Alice Springs.
Alice Springs Cup Order Of Entry
| Horse | Rating |
|---|---|
Pioneer Sprint Order Of Entry
| Horse | Rating |
|---|---|
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