Legal Eagle, the country’s best horse on merit ratings, will be having his first race on a left-hand track when he lines up in the R1-million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate over 1600m at Kenilworth on Saturday.
Trainer Sean Tarry doesn’t believe it will be an issue and the star runner’s many fans will be hoping that he does adapt.
Horses “lead” with the inside fore (right leg) on a right-handed track like Turffontein, but with the left or off fore on a left-handed track like Kenilworth. They can get so used to leading with the one leg on the turn that there can be issues when asked to lead with the other.
Legal Eagle has been in Cape Town for a couple of weeks and Tarry has shown him the Kenilworth track in a quick workout. “It was a good-enough gallop,” he commented. “But only a race will tell whether he enjoys racing left-handed, which is one of the reasons why we are running him here.”
Legal Eagle’s main mission this summer is the J&B Met on Saturday 30 January. He was originally due to run in the London News Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday as his final preparatory run before being flown to Cape Town in the week of the Met. But an African horse sickness scare forced Tarry and Dereck Brugman to take him there sooner than anticipated to eliminate the risk and he has been based with Tarry’s assistant Monique Mansour at Eric Sands’ establishment for a couple of weeks now.
“He’s well,” said Tarry. “He has come on since that run a month ago, when he only just failed against Killua Castle in an 1800m race on the inside track at Turffontein. He’s on track for the Met from a fitness point of view.”
Tarry does not believe Legal Eagle can beat Futura because the 1600m of the country’s premier “mile” is 400m too short for the Greys Inn gelding. “If he gets into the hunt I’ll be happy,” he said. “He’ll probably race from mid-field and I’m sure he’ll finish off well.”
Legal Eagle will be ridden by owner Markus Jooste’s retained jockey Anton Marcus, who was originally down to ride Act Of War. “The fact that Anton chose to ride him in his prep for the Met must tell us something about what he thinks of the horse,” said Tarry. “After all, Act Of War is the better 1600m runner.”
Gold Onyx, he said, is thriving in Cape Town and made a good comeback from a four-month rest when second to Paterfamilias over 1800m last month.
“That was a fantastic prep run – he was caught wide and finished very well. We were a bit worried about his fitness that day and he’s come on a lot since then. He can spring another surprise over a distance short of his best and I’d be happy with a place.
“He started off in the same race last year before running third in the Queen’s Plate and then second in the Met and he travelled better this year. Yes, he’s a year older, but he seems to be in even better physical shape this year.”
Tarry has Liege in the R250,000 Politician Stakes and says punters can ignore his two runs so far in Cape Town. He finished downfield in both.
“He had an ear infection after the first and we found mucus in his trachea after the second. We wouldn’t have taken him down if we thought he had limitations. He’ll do much better, although I do believe Rabada is the horse to beat. He has a lot of weight but is clearly the best horse in the race and deserves the weight.”
French Navy, the Equus Champion Three-Year-Old last season, will be running at Turffontein in the London News Stakes and Tarry said: “I’d like to think he’s a banker in the carryover Pick 6. He’s got a lot in his favour, but at the end of the day everything’s got to fall into place.”
– TABnews
Betting World’s latest odds: 2-1 Futura; 28-10 Legislate; 11-2 Captain America; 15-2 Act Of War; 8-1 Legal Eagle; 10-1 Noah From Goa; 16-1 Master Sabina; 20-1 Heartland; 25-1 Power King, Bouclette Top, Gold Onyx; 40-1 King Of Pain; 50-1 Night Trip; 66-1 Ashton Park.
