Legal Eagle – favourite in each of the last three years at 16-10, 2-1 and 57-20 – is as big as 15-1 for Saturday’s Sun Met with the bookmakers seemingly unable to tempt the legion of punters who have lost faith.

It is now generally accepted that he is not quite as good over ten furlongs – until last year this was only a suspicion – but it was his Queen’s Plate fourth that put the real dampener on his chances for Saturday. Even Anton Marcus has jumped ship.

The stats are against the horse too. Only one seven-year-old (Martial Eagle in 2013) has managed to win the great race in the last 24 renewals. Seemingly, though, that Queen’s Plate fourth was not his true running and he is now showing every sign of being back on song. So much so, in fact, that a place bet in the 13-runner field might yet prove rewarding.

Sean Tarry, who pulled off a 50-1 shock with the six-year-old Alastor in 2005, says: “It has been well documented that I felt he had a flat run last time. We haven’t found anything obvious but there were many things that confirmed he wasn’t quite right on the day – the way he saddled up, the way he cantered down and in running he wasn’t travelling well at all.

“Since then he has perked up tremendously and he has definitely turned the corner. I was very happy with his gallop on the racecourse last Thursday – he went about 1 200m with a companion – and with the way he took that gallop. His attitude and his general well-being are back where I would like them to be.”

Tarry has made up his mind to adopt significantly different tactics and champion Lyle Hewitson will ride him patiently. “Obviously pace will dictate and we will have to wait for the race to unfold.  But we are not intending to have him as handy as he has been in his last two runs,” says the trainer. “Personally I don’t remember the last time we saw a strong pace in the Met but there seems every reason to believe that it will be hot this year. If it is, I am happy for him to come from off them.”

What does the three-time champion trainer make of the opposition? Tarry doesn’t hesitate. “I think it’s a crackerjack field and there are several who are on the up. Even though they don’t have the rating, and don’t appear to have the form, they are continuously improving and the Met has been won by horses with similar profiles in the past. It looks a tough, competitive race with a worthy favourite.”

And does he envisage Legal Eagle getting into the shake-up once again? After all the horse’s Met record – two seconds and a fourth from three runs – is better than that of almost any of the opposition. Tarry gives his head a slight shake, not to signify no but as if he is going over the question in his mind. “It’s hard to be over-confident when you are going into the race off a flat run,” he says slowly. “But I feel there is every reason for me to believe we are through that bad Queen’s Plate period.”

By Michael Clower  

Defending champion Oh Susanna has become the forgotten horse of this year’s Sun Met with many pundits having written her off due to her increasing tendency to over race but she might prefer racing against males where the pace is usually stronger and on Saturday it is highly likely to be strong.

Oh Susanna has an enormous stride but has tended to over race in her last three runs, all against the girls. Usually a horse over racing will have little chance of getting home, but she actually picked up another gear in both the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 and Cartier Paddock Stakes to get up. She must have an enormous engine and it leaves one imagining how well she would do if she settled. She might be able to do just that on Saturday due to the presence of Milton in the field. This horse only knows one way of running, tearing off to the front usually opening a big lead, and then staying on doggedly in the straight. Oh Susanna from draw five, one inside of Milton, can make a bee line for the front and then wait for him to come around and give her a lead. Thus she has a fine chance of retaining her crown.    

Rainbow Bridge can also over race, so a good draw was vital and he duly landed barrier position two. His usual exceptional turn of foot was not quite there in the Queen’s Plate and he was found to have a little bit of heat in a joint afterwards. However, it had cleared up by the next day and at his best he will be a big runner, especially if the pace is hot through the whole field and not just with two horses out in the front and the rest being held up by a patient third horse.

Do It Again jumps from a middle draw of seven. He jumped from draw 15 of 18 when winning the Vodacom Durban July and from draw six of nine when winning the L’Ormarin’s Queen’s Plate. However, he relaxed well before running on strongly in both so this draw looks ideal and he is a worthy favourite as this imposing horse with the fine action is only getting better.

Legal Eagle ran a flat race in the Queen’s Plate after being a bit quiet in the preliminaries, which was unlike him. He was strongly fancied for last year’s Met, but it did not pan out well and he had to eventually go more handy than intended. His best runs over this trip, which include a Grade 1 win and two Met runner up finishes, have come from off the pace, so he might well be dropped out from a wide draw of eleven.

Made To Conquer, the July runner up, drew four and is classy and progressive, but he does have a tough task at the weights with Do It Again and with Head Honcho from his last run.

Head Honcho is a much improved sort and has an impressive stride. He is the dark horse although he has a tough draw to overcome.

Eyes Wide Open won the Grade 1 Cape Derby last year beating Do It Again by 1,75 lengths. He will be cherry ripe for the first time since that Derby win, although his draw of nine is tricky and Do It Again is a different horse this year.

Undercover Agent likely went too hard in the Queen’s Plate and found little extra. He is a Grade 1 wfa winner over a mile so has the ability to bet the best, but he has a slight stamina doubt and will likely be ridden cold from draw 12.

Tap O’ Noth did beat Do It Again over this trip last year at level weights in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000, but the latter was below his best that day. He had earlier thrashed Do It Again when winning the Grade 1 Cape Guineas, but hasn’t won since then and was beaten 5,9 lengths by Head Honcho in the Grade 2 Premier Trophy over 1800m despite giving away only half-a-kilogram. Furthermore, he has the widest draw of all to overcome. 

Doublemint comes off a win in the Grade 2 Peninsula Handicap over 1800m, beating Kampala Kampari. However, this pair are up against it in this field.

Hat Puntano has never recaptured his Argentinian form in SA but does have a trainer who can get the best out of a horse.

Oh Susanna is selected to beat Do It Again with Eyes Wide Open, Legal Eagle and Head Honcho next best. 

By David Thiselton

Richard Fourie is the man in the hot seat on Saturday. Riding hot favourite Do It Again the pressure will be on but the 33-year-old shakes his head and smiles when asked if he will be feeling it.

“Not at all,” he says – but he has already given a fair bit of thought as to how the race will be run and where he will position his mount. “Do It Again is not the kind that you can bustle,” he explains. “If you niggle him the whole way he is not going to kick as hard as he can so you have to accept how he runs, place him accordingly and ride him like the good horse he is.”

The gallop is expected to be strong with Milton’s fondness for building up a good lead a deciding factor. Fourie disagrees about the last point. “Milton is a bit of a slow starter these days, then he unwinds and likes to run from the front. But there are others like Kampala Campari who went quite a clip when I beat him on Doublemint in the Peninsula Handicap. Head Honcho also likes to be up there and there are others like Undercover Agent.” He smiles again. “Yea, I think the pace will be on alright and that could play in my favour.”

Fourie admits that he was surprised how well his mount ran in the Green Point. It was the four-year-old’s first run since winning the Durban July five months earlier and the mile was widely expected to be too short for him. “I thought he would be a little bit out of his ground but he ran a superb race and he then he won the Queen’s Plate. It was run my way at a fairly quick pace and the best horse won.”

And the opposition this time? “There are many you have to respect. Last year’s winner Oh Susanna (on whom he won the Paddock Stakes) will be right there. She is very good – she was Horse of the Year for a reason – and she is working so well at home while we have put blinkers on Made To Conquer which has woken him up.”

Fourie has ridden in four of the last seven Mets and finished fourth on Gold Standard two years ago but it is his first ride in 2008 that stands out for him. Pocket Power won it but Fourie was second on the miler Our Giant. “I felt I was going to win and ever since I have believed that a good miler can win the Met.”

But Do It Again is much more than that and the acceleration he produced last time, making up six lengths in the final 300m, colours Fourie’s thinking. “What I feel is a bit in my favour is the smaller number of horses in the race. Even if I am sitting last I could be only six lengths off them. Certainly those in front of me will know I am going to come at them! Do It Again is a very good horse and I am pretty sure he can back it up.”

By Michael Clower   

Harold Crawford is making slow but steady progress in Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital as he battles to recover from a stroke. It happened during the afternoon eight days ago and, according to daughter and assistant Michelle Rix, he collapsed and was found lying on the floor.

Apparently the stroke was caused by a clot in his carotid artery and the doctors operated on him to ease the pressure on his brain. “He has paralysis in his left arm and left side,” said his daughter. “He is having physio every day and they will do further tests this week but he is getting better.”

Crawford, 66, had the biggest win of his near 43-year training career when the now Mauritius-based Perovskia won last year’s Drill Hall. His stable has expanded since Michelle joined the team and set about attracting more owners. “My father is a strong old guy and I am sure he will pull through,” she said.

By Michael Clower

Head Honcho’s odds have tumbled since this page pointed out that he was overpriced at 33-1 following his impressive win in last month’s Premier Trophy and today you will be hard pushed to get much better than 13-1.

The vibes from the stable are good. Andre Nel, not exactly a member of the oozing-confidence brigade, is bullish. “I think the current odds are a fair reflection. He has done very well since the Premier and I believed he has improved.”

Nel had hoped to run the five-year-old in the July. “I tried to get him into the race and qualify him with a galloping weight and I thought I had done so but some of the KZN horses got in above him – and some of those probably didn’t see out the trip.”

Head Honcho ran on July day but in the Betting World 2200 which he won. His win in the Premier was his sixth success from his last seven starts but only his second run of the season – “I was always only going to give him two runs before the Met and if he hadn’t run well in the Premier he would have gone for the Peninsula Handicap.”

Keagan de Melo, who has ridden Head Honcho in five of his last seven races, has only ridden in the Met once before. That was two years ago when he finished down the field on 100-1 shot Cape Speed. The ride made such little impression on him that he can’t even remember it!

Head Honcho, though, is quite a different matter. “He has improved every time I have ridden him. As a young horse he lacked confidence but he has been improving off each win. He was very, very impressive in the Premier and in a way I was quite surprised how well he won but not so ability-wise. I always knew he had a big one in him.”

However the horse is not a straightforward ride. “He seems to pull quite a bit. He is a natural front-runner and he likes to gallop so that is obviously the plan for Saturday.

“This is his biggest test to date and so I would like to have one or two to follow but, if that is not possible, I wouldn’t be afraid to take it up myself.”

And what chance does the jockey give the fourth favourite? “Realistically, it is going to be hard to beat a couple of them but the way he is improving I think he will run in the first four.”

He and Kampala Campari will be Nel’s first Met runners with 2013 winning rider Aldo Domeyer on the second string. “I think he has come on from his last run and he should put in a game effort,” says his trainer. “He has done well and he has earned his place but I have my doubts that he really sees out ten furlongs.”

By Michael Clower

Ashburton’s Duncan Howells is bullish about the chances of his three raiding runners for the Sun Met meeting, Fiorella, Thanksgiving and Mr Greenlight, and Summrveld’s Gareth van Zyl is hoping to earn some black type with Ovation Award.

Howells said, “All three are fit and well and the main concern was how they would travel. They all travelled exceptionally well and have settled in nicely so I am very happy. Choice Carriers did a very good job.”

The horses did pace work at Milnerton on Saturday morning and their big race rider Mark Khan will be there today (Tuesday) to give them all a final blowout. Mr Greenlight last ran just before travelling so is not being asked to do as much as the other pair.

Fiorella runs in the Grade 1 Bidvest Majorca Stakes over 1600m. She is quoted at 20/1 by World Sports Betting, but has never lost to either of the joint 28/10 second favourites Snowdance and Lady In Black. She caught Snowdance in the shadow of the post in the Grade 2 Daisy Fillies Guineas at Greyville, beating her by a head, and Lady In Black was beaten 2,85 lengths into fifth place in that same race. Fiorella later beat Lady In Black by a quarter of a length in the Grade 1 Woolavington 2000 when finishing a narrow second to Oh Susanna. However, in her last start she was a touch disappointing when managing only a 6,2 length fourth in the Grade 2 Ipi Tombe Challenge over 1600m at Turffontein. She will now have blinkers fitted for the first time.

Howells said, “Mark Khan suggested the blinkers as she battled to quicken in the Ipi Tombe and he reckons she now needs further. But when I saw her going down at Turffontein that day I thought she looked a bit flat and she duly ran a flat race. But right now she is looking as fit and well as I had her for the Guineas so I am expecting a very good run.” She does have a tough draw of eleven to overcome.

Thanksgiving is the top merit rated male in the Cape Derby and the second highest merit rated horse behind the filly Second Request. However, Howells pointed out in retrospect he had run to about 107 when second to the unbeaten star Hawwaam in the Dingaans. He turned it on impressively last time out over 1600m at Greyville and being by Dynasty will be improving all the time. His full brother Stormy Affair won over this 2000m trip. Thanksgiving has the bonus of a plum draw of two and has attractive odds of around 11/1 with bookmakers.

Howells said, “He does like to race from off them but the draw saves us from having to find a position. He will love the step up in trip and is a big runner.”

Mr Greenlight is drawn widest of all in the 13-horse field for the US$500,000 CTS 1600 and is quoted as an outsider at 28/1. This Gimmethegreenlight colt drew away impressively last time out over 1600m on the Greyville poly in a relatively strong Graduation Plate event and won as he liked.

Howells said, “There is speed on the outside so that should help us find a position, but it doesn’t really matter where he comes from. He came from stone last in his first win, although that was just a maiden, and we pressed him last time and had him handy to see whether he was good enough and he improved dramatically. He is on the up and is still unexposed. He has a lot of scope and will be very competitive. I didn’t really have him quite right in his penultimate start over 1800m but Stuart Randolph got off and said ‘You don’t know how good this horse is’, he gave him a helluva good feel. He is fitter now and improving.”

Ovation Award arrived in Cape Town last Friday. This Stagelight colt has won both of his starts this season easily over 1800m and 2200m respectively and is another one who is on the up. In his last start he beat horses of the calibre of Dark Moon Rising, Crowd Pleaser and One Man Show comfortably, although he was only carrying 50,5kg.

Van Zyl said, “He has done his main work already and has been doing nicely at Milnerton. He is better as a three-year-old and has proven himself better over this sort of middle distance. He has also proven himself against some of the better older horses in KZN. So it is worth taking a chance. However, realistically we are hoping to place and a win will be a bonus.”

By David Thiselton

There is an eight race meeting at the Vaal Classic track tomorrow and it should pay dividends to play the exotics.

The first leg of the PA over 1600m sees a banker in Hareer as he ran well on debut over 1200m and now faces an uninspiring field over a step up in trip he will relish. Furthermore, he is drawn in pole and has champion jockey Lyle Hewitson aboard.

In the first leg of the PA over 1600m Pilou with Hewitson up will make a bold bid for his fourth victory in succession. He is a good front runner and although six points higher in the merit ratings from his last run, he is now drawn in pole as opposed to eight out of eight last time over this same course and distance. Morning Catch will be a threat being half-a-kilogram better off for a half-a-length beating last time. He also has a better draw than he did then. Greek Fire is a classy sort who would despatch this field if producing his best as he is potentially better than his 92 merit rating. However, he is a quirky sort and is drawn wide. Those three are chosen to get punters through the exotics, simply because the racing on the day is competitive and risks have to be taken. Nordic Rebel was hard to ignore as he has a fine record over this trip and is consistent. Divine Odyssey also has a chance. 

The next race over 1600m is the toughest on the card and the advice is to go wide. Lock Him Up is chosen as the winner as he has turned the corner since the blinkers were removed and steps back to the trip of his last win. Festive Linngari has improved and should enjoy the step down from 2000m as his only win was over 1700m. Rockstar Child is well drawn over a suitable trip and having been thereabouts lately is two points lower in the merit ratings. Sammi Moosa won well in her penultimate against her own gender with a 4kg claimer up.

However, she ran well last time in a race over 1400m where the winner got away from them and was staying on. It is never easy against the boys but she warrants consideration from pole position with the excellent Warren Kennedy aboard. Molleloa is an interesting runner as he is having his third run after a layoff and after plummeting down the merit ratings he sneaks into the handicap with the minimum weight, although he will have to improve on his last two runs. Well Connected has ability and has been in good form over this trip. He has a wide draw but Muzi Yeni is one of the best at finding positions from difficult draws. Street Flyer, Gonnafly and Zerodarkthirty can also be included.

In the fifth race over 1450m Blonde Vision is chosen as the best bet on the card. She finished close up in the Listed Secretariat Stakes over 1400m and is the best weighted horse in this race. Monopolize is distance suited and has some class so could be a danger. Only To Win is second best in at the weights and is only half-a-kilogram out with Blonde Vision on official merit ratings but is more exposed.

The sixth race over 1200m is another tricky contest. Seattle Tango finishes well and is interesting dropped in trip. Twelve Oaks has ability and had excuses last time so Kennedy might bring out the best in her. Last Girl Standing drops back to her best trip. Those three are selected for the Pick 6 but for the less risky Jackpot the suggestion is to go wider.

In the seventh race over 1200m Carbon Atom is chosen as the value bet of the day. He has talent and was a touch unlucky last time when narrowly beaten by Regal Graduation, who came out and won on Saturday. He is a banker consideration but for the risk averse the well regarded Whitehaven can be included and Sporting Monarch has always been a fair sort and his win last time could have been confidence building.

In the last race over 2400m Flirty Girty is hard knocking and distance proven. Eternal Summer is not far off her and was staying on over 2000m last time so will enjoy coming back to this trip. Poison Ivy will relish the step up to this trip being by Golden Sword and was ahead of Eternal Summer over 200m last time. Laconia is by Lateral so will enjoy the step up in trip. Viserion was staying on and finished narrowly behind Poison Ivy and Eternal Summer last time over 2000m, so can also be included.

By David Thiselton

Last year’s Sun Met winner Oh Susanna, generally available at 13-2 and 7-1, took Justin Snaith’s breath away with a spectacular gallop on Saturday morning.

The champion trainer said: “She worked the house down. She went 1 000m and she would have gone another 1 000. She wouldn’t stop and we battled to pull her up. She was super-impressive and on what I saw there is not much in it between her and Do It Again. She has gone to another level.”

Anton Marcus tried out his big race mount, second favourite Rainbow Bridge, last Thursday. “He did pace-work over 1 200m and Anton was happy with the horse,” said Eric Sands who has mapped out his programme for the final few days: “Rainbow Bridge will do pace-work on Monday and Tuesday and on Thursday he will do short, sharp work over two and a half to three furlongs.”

World Sports Betting has opened a market on the winning trainer. Snaith (“I am leaving no stone unturned and I still have almost a week of sleepless nights to go”) is 9-20 to win with one of his four runners, Sands 15-4, Andre Nel (Head Honcho and Kampala Campari) 7-1, Sean Tarry (Legal Eagle) 14-1 and Brett Crawford (Undercover Agent) 18-1.

Hat Puntano is 2-1 favourite to finish last closely followed by Milton at 22-10. If you want to take a chance and believe that something could go seriously wrong with Do It Again you can get 150-1 that he will trail in with the rest of the field in front of him.

Harold Crawford is making slow but steady progress in Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital as he battles to recover from the stroke he suffered a week ago. It happened during Monday afternoon and, according to daughter and assistant Michelle Rix, he collapsed and was found lying on the floor.

Apparently the stroke was caused by a clot in his carotid artery and the doctors operated on him to ease the pressure on his brain. “He has paralysis in his left arm and left side,” said his daughter. “He is having physio every day and they will do further tests this week but he is getting better.”

Crawford, 66, had the biggest win of his near 43-year training career when the now Mauritius-based Perovskia won last year’s Drill Hall. His stable has expanded since Michelle joined the team and set about attracting more owners. “My father is a strong old guy and I am sure he will pull through,” she said.

By Michael Clower

Glen Kotzen warmed up for Eyes Wide Open in the Sun Met with a 123-1 double courtesy of Parade March and the Luyolo Mxothwa-ridden Count Dubucks at Kenilworth on Saturday. But the Woodhill trainer’s attentions, like that of most of his rivals, are focussed on Wednesday’s sale and Saturday’s hoped-for fireworks.

“It’s nice to have two winners going into the big meeting. It gives us a little bit of confidence,” said the Woodhill trainer who will have 13 runners on Saturday.

Morne Winnaar only has three rides on Met day but he once again demonstrated that he deserves more. In addition to scoring on Parade March, he stole the Tabonline Maiden from the front, kicking early in the straight and securing an advantage just big enough to hold on.

The winner drifted from 15-2 to twice that price and was the first leg of a double for the crutch-supported Piet Steyn who was busily showing people some (rather gruesome) shots of his knee-replacement operation. His second winner was the Aldo Domeyer-ridden Man About Town and the trainer related how he had bought the two winners, plus Hammie’s Fan (seventh in the last), for a total of R70 000 for Marsh Shirtliff and Bryn Ressell. The three horses have now won almost R500 000. However their owners are unused to shopping at bargain basement level and when Ressell was informed of the bill he asked “Is that the VAT?”

Brett Crawford, who numbers Majorca joint favourite Front And Centre among his 12 runners, was also in double form with Principessa (Greg Cheyne) and the Anton Marcus-ridden newcomer Run Fox Run who was by far the easiest winner of the day.

Marcus, who is restricting himself to six rides on Saturday– all in features, said: “I’m not sure of the depth of this field but she did it impressively.”

Candice Dawson had her first Cape Town winner when MJ Byleveld added to Friday’s Fairview success by getting up almost on the line on Infamous Fox in the 1 400m handicap. The 18-1 winner was rather out of his depth in the Queen’s Plate and is one of eight horses that the trainer and her sister Tammy brought down for the Cape season. They run three on Saturday.

Justin Snaith runs 32 and Richard Fourie rides for him in every race except the third which he sits out. The pair combined for a convincing win with River Thames in the 1 400m maiden.

By Michael Clower

Michael Roberts spoke yesterday of his pleasure at seeing horseracing finally being recognised as a sport at the annual Scottsville race meeting which is named in his honour.

Roberts became the first jockey inducted into the South African Hall Of Fame last week.

In the Listed Michael Roberts Handicap the Dennis Drier-trained Wealthy was 1kg under sufferance and the trip of 1750m was considered on the sharp side so he was ignored in the betting and went off at 22/1. However, he relished the decent pace and stormed home from last under Sean Veale to win going away by a comfortable three-quarters of a length from the topweight Dark Moon Rising. Affranchi handled the step up in trip well and finished third ahead of Amor Ardiente. The favourite Pietro Mascagni finished a disappointing fifth. He looked to be over racing in the early stages and did not move up as well as he did last time in the London News over 1800m at Turffontein. Wealthy has turned the corner since a wind operation and might be able to read racecards as he has made a habit of winning when the prize money is good.

Anton Marcus kept up his phenomenal strike rate with a treble. Punters were holding their breaths in the final stages of the opening race as the 1/3 favourite Agent Murphy was being challenged by the well supported Thomas Shelby and by Mr Minister. However, Marcus had left enough in reserve for the Alyson Wright-trained What A Winter colt to win by a quarter of a length.

In race five, a Maiden over 1600m, Marcus rode the first leg of a quick double for Highveld trainer Johan Janse Van Vuuren. The Oratorio filly Giglio is immature, but the penny dropped yesterday as she travelled well throughout and then pulled away from her market rival Leanna to win as she liked. Thru The Trees ran on strongly to claim second place.

In the next race over 1200m Marcus won on Mardi Gras and this classy grey sprinter showed his credentials for the Grade 1 Tsogo Sun Sprint to be run over this trip in May as he found another gear under pressure to win impressively.

Veale rode a double having won the third race over 1200m on the Drier-trained debutant Sacred Journey.

Tony Rivalland also had a debut winner in Extravargent who was brought home by Stuart Randolph.

Both of those debutant winners had run decent barrier trials.

Louis Goosen’s yard is in fine form having been through a bleak spell and outsider Shwanky never looked like losing the eighth over 1200m under Deon Sampson.

The Sean Tarry Play The Night is on the up and won the fourth over 1400m well under Luke Ferraris.

The last race saw a stampede for the finish line and Ferraris made it a double and Drier a treble when Daydream Believer got up.

By David Thiselton