Legal Eagle is King of the turf
ECSTATIC Anton Marcus declared: “This is what racing is all about,” after landing a seventh L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate at Kenilworth on Saturday. The four-time champion was talking more about all Gaynor Rupert and her team have done to make the day a memorable occasion but for all those watching, not just on course but on TV around the world, this race was the sort of inspiring stuff that lifts the sport to its very heights.
A carefully, and skilfully, thought-out plan to beat the unbeatable was played out to the full and it so nearly came off.
With a furlong to run the long-striding Captain America was still over three lengths clear with Legal Eagle under pressure and making ground but not fast enough, or so it seemed.
It was only well inside the last 50m, when the leader was visibly tiring and several others were bearing down on him like the hounds of hell closing in on a kill, that Legal Eagle looked sure to win the race for the third successive year, justify odds of 7-10 and stretch his unbeaten mile run to eight. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Captain America but it’s a fine line,” said Marcus.
“You can’t challenge him too early but if you let him slip you are not going to get to him. I wasn’t sure (that I was going to) but I have a lot of faith in my horse and I was hoping.”
Copper Force
In the end it was 50-1 shot Copper Force who snatched second but Corne Orffer, who had ridden such a bold and imaginative race, reckoned he might well have won had he been allowed to dictate the way he had planned. “It Is Written came up to me early and as a result I had to conserve my horse’s energy a bit longer than I wanted,” he explained. “If he had left me alone I might just have done it,” he added. Sean Tarry, confirming that a third tilt at the Sun Met is next for the winner, paid tribute to both horses, saying: “Captain America did everything right and it was a massive effort by Legal Eagle to come and fetch him.”
The Avontuur-bred six-year-old is by the 2004 Durban July winner Greys Inn and new owner Braam van Huyssteen was thrilled (“What a privilege to be here to win my first Group 1”) as was part-owner Billy Henderson who had flown from Australia for the race.
The bookmakers reacted yesterday with Betting World pushing out Legal Eagle from 3-1 to 15-4 joint favourite with Last Winter for the Sun Met. Marinaresco’s price has more than halved to 4-1, Sail South has been cut from 33-1 to 16-1, Peninsula winner Eyes Wide Open from 801 to 16-1 and Copper Force from 66-1 to 25-1.
Drifters include African Night Sky (6-1 to 17-2), Gold Standard (15-2 to 10-1) and Nother Russia (12-1 to 16-1).
Legal Eagle carried the colours of Markus Jooste when second in the last two Mets and Brett Crawford, who beat him with Whisky Baron 12 months ago, is already planning how to do it again.
He said: “We tried to steal the race on Saturday and it ended up costing us second place but I thought it was the only way we could be beat Legal Eagle over a mile. We already know that he is vulnerable over ten furlongs and on January 27 we won’t have to ride Captain America like we did this time.”
Crawford, incidentally, confirmed that the Hong Kong-bound Edict Of Nates has already left his stables and will be scratched from the Met.