Via Africa will be the star attraction in the Gr 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m at Turffontein on Saturday and her fans will be hoping she can go one better this time around, having finished second to champion What A Winter in last year's running of the country's premier speed test. Duncan Howells's charge went on to win the Gr 1 SA Fillies Sprint, ensuring her 3-year-old season would end on a high note, but her campaign this term was compromised by a lung infection, leading to two shock defeats in Cape Town during the summer. She recovered to post a brilliant victory in the Gr 1 Cape Flying Championship, indicating that she was back to her best. She's only been seen out once since, duly trotting up in the KZN Stakes over this trip, and will be hard to peg back if she reproduces her best here.

Contador is something of an enigma but the winner of last year's Golden Horse Casino Sprint has regained form with a hat-trick of easy victories coming into this race. Anton Marcus gets on board and they could prove a serious threat to Via Africa's aspirations.

Happy Forever made a superb Gauteng debut when winning the Gr 2 Senor Santa Handicap over 1160m at this track at the beginning of this month. Trainer Joey Ramsden and his team have done a fantastic job of keeping the 5-year-old son of Var going despite career-threatening injuries and he has shown he belongs at this level with a respectable fourth in the Cape Flying Championship. He could certainly be in the shake-up at his best.

Miss October has thrived since relocating to Gauteng and she was a good winner of the Tommy Hotspur Handicap over this course and distance, having also won a competitive  Pinnacle event against male opposition prior to that. She has place prospects at best but needs to be delivered at just the right time, as she tends to need cover early on before pouncing in the closing stages.

Sharp Design and Jade Bay are possibly held by Miss October on the form of her aforementioned pair of recent victories, but they are both smart sprinters and go particularly well over this course and distance. They have realistic prospects of making the frame here, although Jade Bay tends to tear away early on and may be found wanting in the closing stages against this level of opposition.

Veterans Copper Parade and Magico have been there, done that, and neither of them can be discounted. Copper Parade has found a new lease of life at age seven and impressed when winning the Golden Loom over this course and distance, which he followed with a creditable fourth under top weight in the Merchants here. He'll enjoy the weight for age terms of the race and could be worth including in the larger quartets.

Magico has previously run second in this event but has been plagued by problems and spent his share of time on the sidelines. He shaped promisingly when touched off by Sharp Design in a Pinnacle event last time out and can make the frame here, although it's not easy to predict his performances from one race to the next.

Mr Whatever has consistent form in Kwazulu Natal but his exposed form lacks the punch to suggest he can topple the bigger guns here. Having said that, sprinters from that part of the world have done really well when raiding at Turffontein in recent years and he could sneak into the placings.

Deliver The Power looked the sort who could challenge in this event earlier in his career but something went amiss when he contested the Merchants here in December 2012. He spent exactly a year on the sidelines before returning in the 2013 edition of that same event and once again finished near the tail end of the field. He hasn't run since and is obviously under a bit of a cloud at the moment.

Schiffer is a smart filly who actually beat Via Africa when they met on debut. However, she is another runner who has been plagued by problems and something was clearly amiss when she finished downfield in the Southern Cross Stakes in December. Barring that run, she's done nothing wrong, having won three of her four remaining career starts and it's difficult to assess her chances here, in what will be her toughest test to date.

Valberg is an honest sort who is seldom far off them, but his exposed form leaves him with a bit to do under the conditions of the race, while Virgo's Babe has some smart form against her own sex but is taking a big jump in class here and looks to have her work cut out.

It's set up for a cracking race and Via Africa will be a popular winner if she brings her A-game to the track. If the script goes awry, though, there are chances aplenty. Contador, Happy Forever and Sharp Design are probably the biggest threats, with Copper Parade and Magico also capable of getting in a blow at their best.