Coenie de Beer is living the dream of every small-time racing guy. The down-to-earth, unassuming trainer from the Vaal has a string of just nine horses. But one of them is a horse of note. His name is Talktothestars - rather appropriate for a rags-to-riches narrative. In just a year, the four-year-old son of Overlord has risen from a handy sprinter campaigning on dusty "outback" tracks to the highest-rated horse in South Africa - having delivered De Beer the first feature race winners of his career.It's some fairy tale.And it is given extra charm when you learn that De Beer is something of a maverick horseman, having learnt the old craft at the knee of his father, Dawie, on the platteland. Notably, and highly unusually, his horses race unshod as he reckons farrier's nails can too easily damage a hoof.Bare-hoofed, Talktothestars is likely to start as favourite for tomorrow's Mercury Sprint at Greyville, the fourth and final showdown of the country's great speed circuit. He won the third leg, the Tsogo Sun Sprint at Scottsville in June, and was catapulted up the rankings.Luckily for De Beer, in the Mercury his charge races at level weights with his opponents and doesn't have to carry the burden of a merit rating that is, truth be told, absurdly high.However, not in his favour, according to the pundits, is the widest draw, on the bend, at Greyville's 1200m starting pole. Coenie is undaunted."The draw is nothing . I'm happy . I don't fear anything. This is a good horse," he burbled happily in an interview with my colleague Nicci Garner this week.The confidence might have to do with the fact that Gavin Lerena will be in the irons. The champion jockey knows all about launching from a remote gate - particularly after his recent stint in Hong Kong, where the tracks are even faster and tighter than Greyville.Of course, this is a Grade 1 event and there are plenty of hot-shots from bigger, wealthier yards going all out to shatter Coenie's magical moment.Primed for the fight are no fewer than six offspring of the brilliant sprinting sire Trippi. Of these, the two that loom largest are Trip To Heaven and Trip Tease.The former, handled by champion trainer Sean Tarry, is more talented than his recent form might indicate and, from stall No 5 with S'manga Khumalo on board, will make his presence felt.Trip Tease is a very consistent speedster, with 15 victories from his 25 starts, and you would ignore the guy at your peril. The fact that Durban July winner Piere Strydom is up for his old friend Louis Goosen only burnishes the five-year-old's case.Of the rest, Red Ray, Heartland and Real Princess appear to be the biggest dangers.As a sucker for the glory story, I'll stick with Coenie de Beer reaching up into the galaxy. Talktothestars could pull another fast oneTalktothestars is giving owner-trainer Coenie de Beer the thrill of his life and is 15-4 favourite for tomorrow's R800000 Mercury Sprint over 1200m at Greyville in spite of a disadvantageous wide draw.This is the last of this year's big-four sprints and a win by the Vaal-based speedster could see him clinch the champion sprinter award for the 2015-16 season.Talktothestars won the 1160m Senor Santa Handicap at 25-1, and then finished second to flying filly Carry On Alice in the Computaform Sprint at Turffontein in April, before winning the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint over 1200m at Scottsville.Joburg raiders Trip Tease and Trip To Heaven are next in the betting at around 5-1 with Red Ray at 11-2...