There is no better rider in the country than current National Champion Lyle Hewitson but he has a long, long way to go to even get near the one hundred Gr1 winners of Anton Marcus. But as long as he continues getting the winners home as he did at Greyville yesterday, punters won’t mind if they are lowly maidens or Graded races.

Marcus’s milestone went almost unnoticed until Arnold Hyde, acting CEO of the National Horseracing Authority, stepped out of the woodwork yesterday to present Marcus with a memento for his achievement of one hundred Grade 1 victories in a career spanning nearly three decades.

Born in 1970, the 48-year-old is still at the top of his game as he showed when coaxing Legal Eagle to a thrilling victory in last Saturday’s Greenpoint Stakes at Kenilworth.

The fact that he has a current winning strike rate of close to 32% and is three winners behind log leader Muzi Yeni who has had almost three times as many rides, tells the story.

Marcus opened the day on the odds-on favourite Enterthedebutante for Ashburton-based Kom Naidoo who said the filly will now be put away. “She wasn’t supposed to be precocious, but she showed a lot of speed at home so I decided to run her.” It was a decision well made.

Hewitson scored in three of the next four races, each one a copybook ride. On Donnan and Mystical Summer, second and fourth races respectively, he sat off the pace and produced his mount with telling late runs.

It was a change of tactics for Nathan Kotzen’s Donnan who had been showing early pace in his previous races. This time with the blinkers off, he settled nicely and ran on when it counted.

Hewitson rode a similar race on Wendy Whitehead’s filly Mystical Summer who caused a major boil-over in the exotics, starting at 25-1 and paying R18 a win on the ‘nanny’. This was only Mystical Summer’s second run for Whitehead after showing very little in her previous starts.

The late switch of tracks from Scottsville to Greyville saw the draws turned upside down in the sprint races. With the draws down the Scottsville straight hardly an issue, outside draws suddenly did become an issue on the Greyville turn. One to suffer was the well fancied Socrates who was not able to get up handy as is his want and Marcus was forced to tuck-in towards the back of the field. Socrates was doing his best work late but Hewitson was wide awake on On The Boulevard. Handy throughout, Tony Rivalland’s gelding kicked when it mattered.

It was two more for visiting jockeys as Donovan Dillon recorded a double. Dennis Bosch expressed reservations about Mutawaary’s chances after the switch to Greyville but Dillon rode a driving finish to nail hot favourite Candy Galore on the line. Slow out of the gate, Dillon bided his time until the home stretch where he gave his mount a clear run at the wire to get home in the last jump.

He had it easier in the next as Doug Campbell’s runner Stand By Me put some moderate recent form behind him to come home lonely in the seventh. The Gary Rich-trained Don Pierro, often a handful in the mornings,gave apprentice Khanya Sakayi a difficult ride, refusing to stay on a straight course under pressure but doing enough to finish a comfortable second.

Rich had to be content with another second in the last as Clouds Of Witness was just run out of it by favourite Walterthepenniless to give Dennis Drier and Sean Veale a double.

It was anyone’s race come the final furlong as pacemakers Victorious Man and All Aboard clung to their lead but Clouds Of Witness and Walterthepennisless gradually clawed their way past with the blinkered ‘Walter’just getting the upper hand.

By Andrew Harrison

The Vaal stages a ten race meeting tomorrow and the exotics look the way to play it with some fair opportunities in some races coupled with other races which are competitive.

There is a ready made banker in the first leg of the PA over 1600m in the form of Blossom who is impeccably bred being by Silvano out of the Triple Tiara winner Cherry On The Top. She is trained by the latter’s trainer Ormond Ferraris and was a touch unlucky on debut when running on strongly from last over 1400m for a narrow third. She will relish the step up in trip and faces an uninspiring field.

In the first leg of the Pick 6 Missouri has his second run after a layoff and gelding and runs off an attractive mark of 73 considering he finished just five lengths behind Monk’s Hood in the Dingaans last year. He should have benefitted from that last run and will appreciate the step up in trip so van reverse form with Nephrite. The latter has to be included as he showed a good turn of foot in that aforementioned 1400m contest and is now back to the merit rating of his last win, which was over this trip.However, he did not run so well on Saturday so the tip for second is Proud Dynasty who looks sure to enjoy the step down in trip having not found extra over 2000m and 2200m in his last two and now being four points lower in the merit ratings. Those three will have to be enough for the Pick 6 as the harder races later on will need a wider selection.

In the first leg of the Jackpot over 1600m Mr Cuddles is an improving sort and although his best race was over 2000m he went close over 1700m before that and faces an uninspiring field here. Brave Detailled over 1700m in his penultimate start and held on for second so also has a shout with known good judge of pace Piere Strydom up. Colonel Caramel has never earned a cheque in thirteen starts but did actually catch the eye staying on in a recent 1700m event and it is interesting to see Muzi Yeni staying aboard having ridden him last time. Others who can be included in the Pick 6 in a race which could produce an upset are Chief Blackhorse, Blanco and the joker in the pack, Captain’s Alpha, who has some good recent form over sprints and now tries further again despite having failed when stepped up to 1400m before.  

In the next race over 1000m the strapping Royal Cavalier is a well regarded horse and is progressive so is the one to beat having gone close last time out over this trip in an Assessment Plate. The only other one who is suggested for the Pick 6 is Seventh Son as he goes well for Strydom and is only two points higher for his win last time over 1200m.

The seventh race is a tough MR 90 handicap over 1400m where a case can be made for just about every horse and it is suggested the whole field should be included. The tip to win is Big Mistake as he beat Flying Winger the last time he went over this sort of trip and the latter then came out and won again, so the other option is to banker him. However, he did receive a five point raise for that win so it would be risky.

In the eighth race over 1400m Zulu Dawn is the one to beat. She is a courageous front-running sort and is only two points higher than her last win, where she beat I Like it over 1450m. The latter went on to only just fail in the Grade 3 Fillies Mile. Pale Lilac is the other one to include as she has shown some class before and has first time blinkers on over a trip which is on the sharp side.

The last leg of the Pick 6 is another tricky 1400m fillies and mares handicap. Wine Festival is a possible banker but beyond her it is wide open. She hails from Cape Town from where horses often arrive at other centres with suppressed merit ratings due to the class of horse down there and she duly won her first two starts on the Highveld, which were both over 1600m. She has only been raised a total of five points so can defy the handicapper again over a trip she is effective over. Gold Dawn has always struck as one who can progress as she gets older and is capable of a strong finish so she has to be included despite getting a two point raise for her close second over 1200m last time. My Dream Chaser looks to be a sort with plenty of scope for improvement as a still immature looking horse. Ponchielli, Tricia and Sammi Moosa are others with form chances. 

By David Thiselton

Hawwaam, Mike de Kock’s exciting Dingaans winner, is a 10-1 chance with Betting World for the Sun Met but punters should not back him unless and until his trainer reports him a runner because, as of now, he looks like being still in Gauteng when the historic Kenilworth race is run on January 26.

In an interview with Charl Pretorius’s Turf Talk, de Kock spoke of the present much stricter African Horse Sickness regulations which led, in part, to Soqrat and Ghaalla taking 27 hours to get to Cape Town and added: “Hawwaam would have been on the same float but his value and reputation are too high to have risked an arduous trip. Everyone rightly expected Hawwaam to take on Vaughan Marshall’s One World and the other classic contenders but at the end of the day we are the ones who have to travel and the risk is all ours.”

Present plans, according to Pretorious, are that the colt will run in Turffontein’s Tony Ruffel and Gauteng Guineas rather than the Met.

Rainbow Bridge was installed 3-1 favourite when Betting World opened its Met book on Monday but Do It Again has since been backed from 4-1 to 7-2. However the Sporting Post’s disclosure that Bernard Fayd’Herbe weighed in half a kilo overweight in last Saturday’s Green Point makes Rainbow Bridge’s performance even better than it looked. It is not that uncommon for a jockey to come back a little heavier than he weighed out – it is even possible for sweat-soaked colours to account for this – and the rule sallow for half a kilo. However this is the equivalent of half a length over a mile, and theoretically enough to make the difference between fourth and first for Rainbow Bridge.

By Michael Clower

Vaughan Marshall is bidding for his third successive Cape Guineas on Saturday – and his sixth in all – but, unlike William Longsword in 2016 and Tap O’Noth 12 months ago, One World is both unbeaten and odds-on at  8-10.

Anton Marcus’s mount has earned a reputation for outbattling challengers. Remember Kasimir in the Matchem? And last time in the Concorde it was Chimichuri Run. He also seems to have a fondness for leading from some way out.

“He doesn’t have to be in front and actually I would prefer it if he got a lead,” says Marshall. “But he has done everything we have asked of him. I have been very happy with him and I think he has come on from that last run. The horse is fit and we have Anton up so half the battle is won. We just need a bit of luck, and that is a big thing in this game.”

Chimichuri Run (best-priced 11-2) has only half a length to find on Concorde Cup running when he came at One World as if he was going to beat him. S’Manga Khumalo reckoned that the mile just got to his mount.

“It may have because he did challenge quite early,” agrees Sean Tarry who looks like adopting more patient tactics on Saturday. “He doesn’t need to be used as he was but it was his first go at the trip. The fact that he has now run the mile should help his stamina.”

Tarry, champion trainer in three of the last four seasons, has yet to win the Cape Guineas but it can only be a matter of when and he has a second strong contender in 8-1 chance Cirillo who ran out an emphatic winner of the  1 400m CTS Ready To Run. Champion Lyle Hewitson, who rode the colt in the Cape Classic previously, is in the irons.

“He is a top horse,” enthuses his trainer who would not be drawn into comparing him with Chimichuri Run (“not at this stage”). “I am not certain that he will actually be better over the extra furlong but he will certainly get the mile.”

Mike de Kock had been expected to run his runaway Dingaans winner Hawwaam who would have challenged One World for favouritism but instead relies on Soqrat in his bid to win a fifth Cape Guineas. The Premiers Champion winner was to have run in the Dingaans but was ruled out with a temperature.

Matthew de Kock reports that it only sidelined him for two days (“We didn’t feel that it was necessary to take a chance as we also had Hawwaam in the race”) and adds: “He has seen the course and is doing very well.”

Indeed he looked good when galloping at Kenilworth last Saturday and is only rated 1.5kg behind One World.

De Kock has won the Cape Fillies Guineas three times. What are the chances of last month’s Fillies Mile winner Ghaalla making it four?“That was her first time at a mile and she was crying out for the distance,”says Matthew. “She has a wide draw (12) so we are going to need a bit of luck but she will be very competitive.”

By Michael Clower

Following heavy showers at Scottsville over the weekend, and a Pen reading of 31 with some areas recording 40, Gold Circle yesterday took an early decision to move the race meeting scheduled for Scottsville today to the Greyville turf.

Times remain the same but race eight will now be run over 1800m.

The money came in spades for Upskilled when making her debut at The Vaal late last month. It was a gamble that went astray as she found one too good for her and her backers will be hard-pressed to get their money back at Greyville today as she is destined to start at much shorter odds than the 20-1 initially on offer on debut and the 7-10 when rolled over the same course and distance last Saturday in a work riders plate.

Paul Peter is riding a hot streak at present but Upskilled faces another difficult race as the likes of Ambra, Sand Queen and Marzipan Path will be no pushovers.

Sean Veale is up from Cape Town to partner a few for his boss Dennis Drier including Ambra who made marked improvement at her second start behind I’m Free. Significantly that was in yielding going and rain this past week will likely produce similar conditions at Greyville today.

Sand Queen is sure to improve on a promising debut effort while Marzipan Path, second at her last two and the now blinkered Paarl Rock are others to consider.

African Angel finished a close-up third behind second-placed Ambra when last they met and while Drier has elected to keep Ambra to a sprint, Mark Dixon has opted for an extra two furlongs for African Angel. She does not have the best of draws over the tight Scottsville 1400m but is improving quickly.’

Her biggest threat is the Drier-trained Tarocco. Beaten favourite in both starts so far, she has a plum draw and given her pedigree this seven-furlong trip should be right up her street.

Ashburton-based Shame Humby is a trainer who is shy of publicity but there is no doubting his ability as a trainer. He got one on the board with Cause And Effect at Greyville on Sunday and it may be a toss-up between his two runners Socrates and Neala in the fifth.

Socrates has an exemplary record, winning four of his eight races and he may prove the pick ahead of the carrot-loving Neala. Although Buffalo Soldier has not franked the form of Socrates’s last run, there were excuses so Socrates can follow up on his last victory.

But the opposition is strong. Autumn In Seattle is quick as is On That Boulevard who gets plenty of weight and Lyle Hewitson is in superb form. Calvary appears to have a touch of class and Louis Goosen has three useful sprinters in the line-up.

The Goosen-trained fillies Imbali and Bonnie Dawn are both speedy and in with chances in the sixth although again it is a difficult handicap. Imbali is back on her favourite surface while Marcus has taken the ride on Bonnie Dawn, always a good sign.

Clinton Binda has been a regular visitor to KZN in recent weeks and saddles Sugoi who was not far back in an Assessment Plate at the Vaal last time out while Candy Galore comes off a two-race winning streak and a stable that is bang in form.

Don Pierro is not the easiest at home and gives Gary Rich many a sleepless night but he has ability and can build on his forward showings in his last two starts. He does not have the easiest draw but looks good enough to get the better of Viking Red and Two Stroke.

Walterthepenniless has been costly to follow but he gets the blinkers on this time around and he could get one over All Aboard and Victorious Man in the last.

By Andrew Harrison

It is unusual for a Port Elizabeth horse to be seen running in features in the major centres of Cape Town, KZN and Johannesburg let alone winning them, but Yvette Bremner has already achieved the latter feat twice this season.

On Saturday her assistant trainer Carl Hewitson took the speedy Rebel King filly Princess Rebel to Kenilworth to run in the Grade 2 Southern Cross Stakes over 1000m and she led from pillar to post under Carl’s SA Champion Jockey son Lyle to win by a cosy 2,25 lengths, beating the like of Magical Wonderland.

Last month the yard took their exciting three-year-old gelding National Park to run in the Grade 3 Graham Beck Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein and he slammed some good horses, including the highly regarded Chimichri Run, by 5,8 lengths under Ryan Munger.

National Park then started favourite for the prestigious Grade 2 Investec Dingaans over 1600m but finished a disappointing fourth, beaten 7,4 lengths by the top class prospect Hawwaam.

Carl said he believed the altitude might have affected the horse in the Dingaans and indeed there is anecdotal evidence that coastal horses raiding the Highveld hit a flat spot at about the 19 day mark that can last for a week. National Park’s Dingaans run would have fallen exactly in this period and Carl also pointed out the race had not panned out well as he had found himself having to do “the donkey work” in front, unlike in the Graham Beck when sitting just off the pace.

National Park is currently having a rest, but Carl said he had been “going bananas” in his paddock and looked keen to get back into work. He will be brought back shortly and aimed at the Grade 2 Gauteng Guineas.

Carl said the yard would like to keep four-year-old Princess Rebel to the minimum trip of 1000m as her career record over this trip to date read six wins and two seconds in eight starts. This was despite her staying on strongly on Saturday over the tough Kenilworth 1000m.

The yard are thus likely going to avoid the Sceptre Stakes in Cape Town, as that is over 1200m, and are leaning towards the Grade 1 Computaform Sprint over 1000m at Turffontein as her next out of province target. They also have no plans at present for the Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint, which is over 1200m at Scottsville.

By David Thiselton

Summerveld trainer Dennis Bosch and his staff put in hours of work just to get the four-year-old Silvano gelding Born To Perform to the races and it paid dividends on Friday night when he powered home to 4,70 length win on debut over 1600m on the Greyville polytrack under Warren Kennedy.

Born To Perform, bred by Highlands Farm Stud and owned by R Hurchund, looks a lot like his famous mother Dancer’s Daughter, a strongly-built British-bred grey whose five Grade 1 wins included a celebrated dead-heat with the legendary Pocket Power in the Vodacom Durban July of 2008.

Dancer’s Daughter was ridden in that July by Kevin Shea, who related yesterday she had a mind of her own.

She would drag riders around the training centres and on the racecourses, other times she would stop dead-still and look around and then only go when she was ready to, and would usually go faster than the rider wanted her to, and by the end of her career she was becoming reluctant to jump out of the starting stalls.

Born To Perform has inherited the strength of his mother in both mind and body

Bosch explained how the grey would walk out of the ring in the mornings and then just stand stock still and no amount of effort would budge him. He just refused to work.

He is bred in the purple and was originally bought for R500,000 at the CTS Cape Premier Yearling Sale. However, this turned out to be a shrewd pinhook for he appeared just three months later in the CTS Empress Palace Select Yearling Sale and was bought by Mayfair Speculators for R800,000.

At this year’s Super Sale at Greyville, held annually just over a week before the July, the beleaguered Mayfair Speculators dispersed a lot of their horses. Born To Perform was one of them. His reputation for being difficult had preceded him so there was little interest and Dennis Bosch purchased him for just R55,000.

Bosch, a top jockey in his day, said, “I rode him for three months myself and I won’t do that again in a hurry. We gave him a lot of time to play in the paddock too and nursed him. A lot of work was put in by everybody in the yard. He is a sound horse but the main thing was his mind started coming right. There was still the worry of how we would get him to the racecourse, but both times we have taken him there he has been exceptionally well behaved. His whole attitude has changed and we got quite excited when he won due to the amount of work we had all put in.  I don’t want to read too much into the win but while we have his mindset right we will plan another race. He has matured into a nice horse and I think he will go further. I think if he runs well next time we will know we have the horse we think we have.”

Born To Perform wore pacifiers in his barrier trial on November 30 over 1000m on the Greyville poly and he stayed on in eye-catching style under Kennedy without being asked any questions.

On Friday night he was caught wide in the early stages of the 1600m Maiden Plate from a high draw but settled well and was then given a lead into the straight when another horse came around him. He had hit the front by the 350m mark and galloped on strongly. Kennedy said. “He galloped through the line so I think there is improvement to come.”

It is early days for the grey, but he is going the right way thanks to the big team effort put in by the Bosch yard and the collective patience of themselves and owner R Hurchund.

Silvano’s progeny tend to get better with age so this horse has an interesting career ahead of him.

To date Dancer’s Daughter has produced five runners and Born To Perform is her third winner.

By David Thiselton

Rainbow Bridge was installed 3-1 favourite when Betting World opened its book on the Sun Met yesterday with Do It Again (4-1) and Undercover Agent (8-1) – both also involved in that dramatic photo finish for last Saturday’s Green Point – the next two in the market.

Legal Eagle, who won the Green Point, is a 10-1 chance along with last year’s Met winner Oh Susanna and Mike de Kock’s pair Hawwaam and Buffalo Bill Cody.

The Sporting Post revealed yesterday that Bernard Fayd’Herbe weighed in half a kilo overweight on Rainbow Bridge. This is within the rules and quite legitimate but in such a close finish it could – theoretically at least – have made the difference between fourth and first.

By Michael Clower

Featured Image: Rainbow Bridge (Liesl King)

The Turffontein Standside track is one of the fairest in the country so punters should be able to have a good time of it in tomorrow’s nine race day time meeting.

In the first race Vida Es Bella hasn’t raced since July 26 over 1200m at the Vaal. This Duke Of Marmalade filly started favourite that day and appeared to be labouring at the 200m mark but then took off, although hanging inward cost her. The form of that race has worked out quite well and she doesn’t face a strong field here unless there are some good ones among the first-timers. The layoff will have given her time to mature and she should get through on ability. Her paternal half-sister Super Fine made a good debut when going close over 1200m. However, that was a weak race and she will need to improve considerably to win this. Miss Sabina makes the most appeal of the first-timers being a R525,000 Silvano filly out of the Sportsworld mare Sabina Park, who won the SA Fillies Nursery and SA Oaks.

In the second race over 2400m Orpheus has an easy task on paper over a trip he should stay as he found extra to repel a challenge over 2000m last time and eventually ran out a cosy winner. Gift For The Gap ran a fair race in the Dingaans and will enjoy the step up in trip so could pick up the pieces if Orpheus fluffs his lines. However, he is officially 5kg under sufferance with Orpheus so has a hard task.

In the third over 2000m Elusive Butterfly is a scopey sort who has plenty of improvement still to come and she will relish the step up to this trip, having stayed on well against a useful sort last time in an Assessment Plate over 1800m. Furthermore, she has the advantage of a pole position draw.She is half-a-kilogram under sufferance on official merit ratings but has to carry only 52kg. Sunshine Silk is a consistent sort and is a resolute galloper so will be course and distance suited and should go close, although she does have a tricky draw in the small field and can be headstrong occasionally in her customary blinkers. 

In the next over 2000m Cardiff Castle has the eyecatching booking of Lyle Hewitson. This horse has some good form in Cape Town in middle distance to staying races and tomorrow will be the first time he has cracked a draw on the Highveld. In his penultimate start he moved up well over 2200m but then found no extra so with the blinkers on for the third time he might appreciate this step down in trip and will enjoy the galloping course. Nuntius Oratorion has always struck a one who will get better as he matures and he should be right there if able to overcome a tricky draw over an ideal trip as his recent form has been franked. Gone With The Wind is a progressive sort who went close to Orpheus over this trip last time despite being way out at the weights under the Assessment Plate conditions and now back in a handicap he must have a big shout. However, he did make a breathing noise in that race which could be a concern. To The Regiment is an interesting runner as he has not been disgraced in his last two over 1700m and 1000m against fair sorts and on pedigree he should enjoy this trip. Highlander returns from a layoff but is capable of a strong finish from off the pace and can’t be ignored.

In the fifth over 1400m Aurora Australis has dropped to a competitive merit rating and sneaks into the handicap with the minimum weight.He was well drawn when winning on debut over this course and distance and is drawn in pole here with Hewitson up. He will need to get into the race quicker than in his last two starts but does pack a strong finish so is the one to beat. Bold Coast is ideally distance suited and in hard knocking form and there is not much between him and Varimax. Those three should be enough to get punters through.

In the sixth over 1600m Green Haze is hard to oppose on paper after his Dingaans third but he had pole position that day and In Cahoots, who had to overcome a wide draw, could get a lot closer and even possibly reverse the form. Chijmes is an improving sort who is worth including to.

In the seventh over 1600m Master Magic moved up well over 1800m last time before finding no extra and he might be looking for this step down in trip. Kurt’s Approval is only two points higher than his last win and is effective over this trip. Swing Vote ran quite well on his comeback from an eleven month layoff and if coming on from that run could be a threat with Strydom up over an ideal trip.

In the next over 1800m Owlinthetree is made the best bet on the card as he has been seen to stay on in his three runs to date up to 1400m and he should relish the step up in trip being by Dynasty out of a Giant’s Causeway maiden.

In the last race over 1800m Fly Thought by Philanthropist out of the Grade 1 Paddock Stakes winner Badger’s Gift is a big, rangy sort who stumbled at the start last time over this trip and was not suited to the tight Inside track. She will much prefer this galloping track and can get off the mark. Her wide draw is a concern and the well drawn Rubix can be included. This filly has talent has but is immature so has likely benefitted from a layoff, although the yard did reckon she would need it.

By David Thiselton

“He will win the Met,” predicted Richard Fourie after so nearly winning the thriller that was the Green Point Stakes on Do It Again at Kenilworth on Saturday.

The July winner was racing for the first time since his triumph in the historic event five months earlier and Justin Snaith was similarly buoyed with optimism. “That was a good run, the first time he has had a real blowout this season,” the champion trainer enthused. “It’s Queen’s Plate and Met now and, if he makes that extra improvement, well ……”

If Do It Again is a big race hope machine then Rainbow Bridge is an enigma. So much talent but so much temperament still to be harnessed. Only Eric Sands knows how and, to this observer at least, the trainer’s task looks to be somewhere between downright difficult and damn near impossible.

Backed down to 14-10 favouritism, the gelding burned up valuable energy fighting for his head in the early stages and, when Bernard Fayd’Herbe pressed the button in the straight, he hung fire for a fatal few strides. Approaching the furlong marker he was in full flight but still with four lengths to make up. The fact that he closed the gap to within all but a few precious millimetres says everything about both his talent and his potential.

True, he was receiving 2kg which he won’t get on January 5 but his jockey enthused: “He is getting better with every run,” while his trainer reflected: “He was taking on the best at their trip. I now know the strength of my horse and I’m happy as well as impressed.”

Sands deliberately took him late into the parade ring where the horse’s usual jig-jogging was much less evident than before. But apparently the four-year-old had got himself as stirred up as ever earlier in the afternoon. “I’ve got work to do,” said Sands feelingly.

In this memorable finish of three short heads Undercover Agent was second (Corne Orffer: “We knew it was only a prep but it was a great run and very exciting”) and Brett Crawford added: “It is very hard being the hare but he will come on from it in the Queen’s Plate and the Met”).

Legal Eagle, watched by proud Avontuur breeder Pippa Mickleburgh, was of course extending his unbeaten mile run to ten and somehow -only he knows how – Anton Marcus poached a big enough lead going to the front a furlong out to enable him to hold on when it must have seemed the hounds of hell were coming at him.

“Even when I got to the line I wasn’t sure,” he admitted.“Legal Eagle is a stronger horse this year than last despite the fact that he isn’t getting any better, and he is holding his form. You can set you clock by him. He is a special horse.”

Sean Tarry was as full of praise for the four-time champion as he was for the horse and confirmed that he has been aiming for the same amount of improvement still in the tank for the Queen’s Plate as he achieved a year ago.

But a word of congratulation to Ravaun Smit. The commentator stuck his neck out as bravely as any of the protagonists and declared Legal Eagle a short head winner while the judges were still reaching for their magnifying glasses.

Snowdance warmed up for her bid to become the first of her sex to win the Queen’s Plate since Mother Russia in 2011 by hardly breaking sweat in the pinnacle. She was almost unbackable at 1-3 with the bookies and 1-10 on the Tote. “She is in a good space which she wasn’t in the Durban season when she was always over-racing,” said Snaith who confirmed that Oh Susanna runs next in the Paddock Stakes before attempting to win a second Sun Met.  “I will have her spot on for the Paddock,” he insisted. “Last time I got caught out and I am not going to let that happen again.”

Lyle Hewitson, who played a part in Legal Eagle’s third Green Point by sitting on the horse as he was led round the parade ring, won both the Cape Summer Stayers on the Crawford-trained Gimme One Night and the Southern Cross on Princess Rebel for Yvette Bremner who is on holiday in Hong Kong. Hewitson’s father Carl stood in for her and plans bringing the filly back for the Cape Flying Championship. Magical Wonderland, the 2-1 favourite, was found to be coughing.

By Michael Clower