The juvenile triple crown is still alive for jockey Hugh Bowman who is confident King’s Legacy has what it takes to deliver him the final leg of the series.
With different horses and trainers taking out the Golden Slipper (1200m) and Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), Bowman is the only one still in the running for a clean sweep of Sydney’s three Group One, two-year-old races.
Bowman won his first Slipper aboard Tulloch Lodge colt Farnan last month before adding the Sires’ Produce on the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained King’s Legacy, who he sticks with in Saturday’s Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.
It has been fortuitous that Bowman finds himself on the brink of triple crown glory.
He picked up the rides on both colts late in the piece, Farnan a month out from the Slipper while King’s Legacy was on his radar early and came back into play when Victorian jockey Damian Lane was not permitted to ride in Sydney due to coronavirus.
“I sat on this colt about two months ago and he gave me a really good feel,” Bowman said of King’s Legacy.
“I guess I was lucky to get on him when he won but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
The Snowdens set King’s Legacy for the longer races in the juvenile series, running him first-up in the Slipper as a springboard.
He finished midfield behind Farnan but relished the extra distance and a solid tempo to win the Sires’ at double-figure odds.
Favourite to add the Champagne Stakes to his record, Bowman says King’s Legacy has a will to win that will carry him a long way.
“He was 20-1 the other day but he was a better chance than a 20-1 chance, we were confident he could run a good race,” Bowman said.
“You can see his determination. That’s something that can’t be trained into horses, they either have it or they don’t and he’s shown he’s got it.
“It was a bit of a funny race the other day, they went a frantic pace early, it was a really fast-run race. It was run to suit him but I think he’s a quality horses and I don’t think it’s as strong a field as the Sires’ field.”
Bowman renewed acquaintances with King’s Legacy at trackwork on Tuesday and said the youngster was in top order.
He is one of two Champagne runners for the Snowdens, along with $8.50 chance Aim, while Hawkes Racing colt Ole Kirk ($4.20) and Holyfield ($7.50) for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace are regarded as the main dangers.
