Anton Marcus was visibly emotional after he jumped off Legal Eagle and almost seemed to touch his heart in shock and sheer amazement at the horses run in his outstanding Pinnacle Plate win.

Running against some of the best sprinters in the land including recent Group 1 winners, Legal Eagle was meant to be unfit, needing the run and preparing for bigger things. He also took off last and was well back in the race, outpaced. By the 400m mark he was still stone last but accelerating and looked a winner even at that point, yet he still had many many lengths to make up.

He accelerated like a champion and he is of course a dual Horse of the Year. He was almost eased down at the end after overtaking Pinnacle Peak in the final 100m for an outstanding win. It looked like a rerun of one of Chautauqua's runs, the grey flash from Australia who had the well documented starting stall issues that ended his career.

Marcus was lost for words but he did express a few, "It was special. It was a long time since I got feeling like this."

"He's just so special. Sean (Tarry) has kept this horse of the boil."

"This is the strongest group of milers we've had in years," referring to Cape Town's season for Legal Eagle.

Legal Eagle was bred by Avontuur Estate. He is by Grade 1 winning stallion Grey's Inn.