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