Eagle swoops to victory

Weight-carrying star Intrepid Eagle built on his impressive record with a strong win on Sandown Lake on Wednesday, January 29.

The Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained five-year-old brought up his fifth victory from just 24 starts finishing best in the Sportsbet Race Replays Handicap (1200m).

Intrepid Eagle carried 61.5kg in the win off a 57kg minimum with Luke Currie in the saddle.

The trainers have worked out to keep the gelding fresh and with two wins from his past three starts, the program is working.

After beginning soundly in the field of 12, Currie allowed Intrepid Eagle to slowly improve and was able to settle behind the leaders turning for home.

He pulled the gelding to the outside as the field straightened then asked for a final effort past the 200m.

Intrepid Eagle ($17) answered and arrived to win by a long neck from Duel Venture ($5) with Girl ($21) a head away third in a busy finish.

The son of Alpine Eagle also has notched 10 placings and is paying for the consistency with big weights, but they haven’t stopped him picking up stakes, now totalling $234,465.

Rayan Moore, Racing Manager for McEvoy Mitchell Racing, said Intrepid Eagle was a model of consistency.

“We kept him nice and fresh from his previous run at Moonee Valley,” Moore said.

“He is a very consistent horse and hardly puts a bad run in.

“That was a 10/10 by Luke Currie from the draw.

“The secret to his form is to keep him fresh and around the 1200 metres. He has got a really good turn of foot and once he lets rip, as we saw today, he can put a race away.

“The race looked a bit messy midway, but Luke got a nice cart in and at the top of the straight I thought he was right in it.

“It was a fantastic result for a great bunch of owners, Steve Whyte and his crew, there were a few here today and hopefully they got the big odds.

“Intrepid Eagle is a picture of health and a pleasure to deal with and as long as they are winning it is hard to turn them out.”

Winning jockey Luke Currie said the win was a nice present for his daughter Miley.

“She turned five today and there is a present for her,” Currie said.

“Tony and Calvin have got the key to Intrepid Eagle and keep him a bit fresh.

“He jumped well today and was able to hold a spot. There was a muddling tempo mid-race, but he was able to flow three-wide then get on the back of the favourite and come into it.

“He’s got a short turn of foot and off a steady tempo he was able to get there and hold it.

“He was a bit fresher today and it worked wonders.”