All hopes on Legal Eagle
SEAN TARRY declares himself “very hopeful” of making it third time lucky with Legal Eagle in Saturday’s Sun Met now that the dual runner-up does not have to shoulder a 2kg penalty.
The three-time champion trainer has been carefully monitoring Legal Eagle to see exactly how much the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate took out of him so that he can judge what work to give the horse in the interim.
Tarry said: “We were mindful of the fact that he may have had a hard race but there were no tell-tale signs to confirm this afterwards.
“He was very fresh – indeed full of himselfand he also ate well. So we have basically handled him as we would normally.”
Alastor
Tarry, who won the 2005 Met with 50-1 shot Alastor – his first runner in the great race, is untroubled by Legal Eagle’s 15 draw not least because he has the priceless advantage of Anton Marcus in the irons.
“A good jockey and a good horse – they will find their way,” he said.
He has also been concentrating on getting the slow-starting Trip To Heaven smartly into his stride.
This is to ensure that there will be no repeat of the gelding’s performance in last year’s Betting World Cape Championship when he gave away eight lengths at the break but flew home so fast that he was only beaten a neck by stable companion Carry On Alice.
Tarry explained: “Basically it has been just different schooling in the pens and repeatedly putting him through them.”
Diadem
It seemed to work in the Diadem but is there any risk that altering his accustomed method will take the horse out of his comfort zone and affect his performance?
“Yes, there is and that’s possible,” Tarry admits. Indeed I felt that he might have been a little too handy in the Diadem.
“He certainly didn’t kick as he normally does. But it’s a matter of getting the right balance.”