The classic mile encounter between the best horse in the country and the best female miler played out at Turffontein yesterday.

The once flagship horse of a controversial syndicate and now the darling of a passionate group, Legal Eagle, proved once again that he is king of the country as he stayed unbeaten over a mile in the Horse Chestnut Stakes Grade 1, but not before a down the straight battle with Nother Russia.

The eagle found his way to the front of the pack early on and dictated a slow pace upfront before increasing the tempo mid way through the contest waiting for his rivals to catch him. Anton Marcus was holding the son of Grey's Inn together upfront and had his first glance back at around the 500m mark looking for a challenge. That duly arrived and how.

The Mike De Kock trained Nother Russia has been off colour of late, albeit has great expectations on her shoulders due to her race record. She found her best form when she stalked and hunted down the Horse of The Year down the straight in an eye popping run when it looked like Legal Eagle had the race won. The filly fought hard and at one stage looked like she would catch the champion only to be denied by a head in the end. The Zackey ridden daughter of the Grade 1 star Mother Russia almost caused the upset of the day but Jockey Anton Marcus is a wily customer and knew he had enough in hand on the 4/10 favourite.

It was great to see Nother Russia back but the Sean Tarry champion deserves all the credit for his win. The trainer reckon his champ was 90 percent fit and it would be exciting to see him line up again during the Gauteng and upcoming KZN seasons.