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| Staff Writer |
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When recalling Masked Crusader’s hard-charging and narrow miss against Nature Strip in last year’s Everest, it’s difficult for owner Rupert Legh to not draw comparisons to the monster moves once displayed by his brilliant, now-retired Chautauqua.
And then …
“I think, honestly, Masked Crusader is a world-class horse,” Legh said. “We've said this is going to be his preparation. He has now matured into a real horse. Has he improved to win the Everest? “He will have to. Is he as good as Chautauqua? I don't think so.”
Being more elite than an obvious legend of a racehorse like Chautauqua who ran second to Redzel in the inaugural Everest in 2017 isn’t of concern for Legh. Being competitive with Nature Strip is.
Legh and his connections are optimistic with Masked Crusader as Oct. 15 approaches at Randwick. It isn’t by accident, either. His sire, Toronado, had outstanding credentials himself. Legh was hooked after seeing him defeat American shipper Verrazano in 2014, Queen Anne Stakes, at Royal Ascot.
“I thought Toronado was just a great racehorse,” Legh recalled. “He was a magnificent specimen of a horse. He was masculine, very strong and athletic.”
So when a close acquaintance, breeder Rick Jamison from Gilgai Farm invited Legh and trainer John Hawkes to have a peek at the yearling, Legh formed a small group to do their homework. “Cameron Cooke (bloodstock agent) was kind enough to go up there as well and have a look,” Legh recalled. “They all gave him a massive tick of approval. So to do the right thing by Rick, rather than buying him from the farm, I put together a group of friends before we went to the (2018 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale).
“We thought we'd have to pay a lot more than the AA$340.000. Fortunately for us, his sire Toronado, was relatively new to the sire ranks. “We didn’t care what price we paid for him, he was coming home with us.”
And AAA$3.9 million in earnings later? Well, that makes Masked Crusader in the upper echelon of sprinters as a 6-year-old.
As Legh explains first-hand, a career as a successful owner requires a strong team.
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He’s learned from his days as a police officer up to then becoming a Financier, that to give yourself a chance of being successful, it is extremely important to surround yourself with good people. I have done this my whole life and in doing so, place a lot of trust and faith in these people to make the right decisions. A good example is when I’m looking at a yearling to purchase, I do not have the same skill set as our trainers and during this process I am guided by there decision making. I can look at a catalogue, but they are more experienced in looking at the atributes of a yearling. I have some idea, but no way near do I have the experience that they have. I have always put my trust in there decision making.
Legh believes that Chautauqua is in a different league of his own and that Masked Crusader is a top line sprinter in his own right. We had been lucky enough to have had a horse compete in each of the previous five runnings of the Everest, and whilst we have been unlucky on several occasions, we believe Masked Crusader has the ability to compete at this level. Nature Strip is an out and out champion, but I believe with a little bit of luck in running, we might make a race of it.
Nature Strip is entitled to be worlds best sprinter, but Masked Crusader definitely made his own statement last year in this race. Unfortunately, being a back marker you often encounter traffic jams, whilst leaders make there own luck.
Legh, who hails the Everest as a “successful concept believes that is getting bigger and bigger and is anxious to see if Masked Crusader can take that next step and participate in the lion’s share of the AAA$15 million purse winnings.
“You just hope for a fair track, fair transit and may the best horse win,” he said.