LEGACY ISLE, the Florida invader caught at the wire on his local debut in last December’s Mouttet Mile by domicile American, FUNCAANDUN, yesterday booked a return ticket to this year’s US$300,000 race by hanging on by a half-length to land the Philip Feanny Gold Cup ahead of RIDEALLDAY.
Reporting for the Mouttet Mile win-and-you’re-in Gold Cup at seven furlongs, LEGACY ISLE raced as a team with DESERT OF MALIBU, tracking speedy lightweight PACK PLAYS down the backstretch, before going in chase of the determined leader three and a half furlongs out.
Travelling powerfully under leading and champion rider, Raddesh Roman, LEGACY ISLE (Shackleford-Queenameina) was soon joined on his outside by RIDEALLDAY, circling rivals in hunt of a sixth straight win.
Full of running and attacking PACK PLAYS coming off the home turn, LEGACY ISLE got first run on the speedster ahead of RIDEALLDAY. Quickening off the bend, LEGACY ISLE edged ahead of PACK PLAYS but the Stay Thirsty-Standard Deal colt rallied with his weight advantage, all of 19lb, forcing Roman to throw the works at his mount.
Meanwhile, RIDEALLDAY, running strong three-wide in receipt of 11lb from LEGACY ISLE, started inching forward under Paul Francis, which soon became a two-pronged Philip Feanny challenge as his stablemate, SUPERNATURAL POWER, who was slowly into stride and almost tailed off at the start, started lunging forward from fourth position along the rail.
Driving to the wire with stubborn PACK PLAYS on his inside, RIDEALLDAY looming large in mid-track and SUPERNATURAL POWER charging along the rail, Roman kept LEGACY ISLE strong to the end, fending off a gaining RIDEALLDAY by a half-length with PACK PLAYS hanging tough to secure third, a neck ahead of slow-starting SUPERNATURAL POWER with Dick Cardenas.
LEGACY ISLE stopped the clock in 1:24.1, his fifth win from seven starts this season, a resolute performance from the five-year-old, who shared topweight 123lb with DESERT OF MALIBU, who wilted to finish ninth of 10 runners.
Though in receipt of weight from five-year-old LEGACY ISLE, Feanny’s pair of three-year-olds, RIDEALLDAY and SUPERNATURAL POWER, both served Mouttet Mile notice on their fellow American.
RIDEALLDAY appeared to be shying from sand being kicked at her by a drifting LEGACY ISLE in the stretch run, noticeably hanging her head right, but charging at the end when not immediately behind the colt.
SUPERNATURALPOWER, who was hunting a fourth straight win, got caught too far behind the pace after leaving the gate slow, alongside no-hopers BLUE VINYL and SHEER DELIGHT, but came from far back to finish within a length of LEGACY ISLE.
Dane Dawkins ruled the jockeys’ roost with three winners on the nine-race card, powering home CROWN CHASER, SUDDEN FLIGHT and Byron Davis’ MARK MY IDENTITY, who upstaged champion trainer Jason DaCosta’s United States-bred pair of AMERICAN AVIATOR and H TWO O with a storming finish in the seventh at a mile.
Racing continues this afternoon with a 10-race card featuring the divided Nigel B Nunes Memorial Trophy at five furlongs straight in which BOOTYLICIOUS, the 2023 Thornbird Stakes winner, now allowance speed demon, is the firm choice for division one.
