Rainbow Bridge provides Sands with a fairytale Sun Met victory

Kenilworth: Sun Met (Grade 1)| wfa | 1m2f | turf | 3yo+

Rainbow Bridge provided a fairytale ending to a 15-year struggle for Eric Sands when producing his trademark tremendous acceleration to land the Sun Met – South Africa’s richest Grade 1 conditions race – at Kenilworth.

Sands, who learned his trade with Bruce Hobbs at Newmarket and with Liam Browne on the Curragh, trained a string of Grade 1 winners until a small number of his best horses were accidentally poisoned. He went out of fashion faster than last year’s Ascot hats and the battle to climb back up the ladder has been as difficult as it has been long.

Rainbow Bridge has appeared an unlikely saviour. At one time he was off for nine months with recurrent lameness and, although he showed plenty of ability, his future looked uncertain when his owner Chris Gerber died.

He would also get into the most terrible state as soon as he saw a horsebox. Today he had to be hosed down when he got to the course and again before he was led into the parade ring, jogging continuously and refusing to relax.

Anton Marcus, riding the four-year-old for the first time, said: “I had my reservations about the trip anyway and I took him down to the start a bit faster than he usually goes but then all my reservations went.”

The four-time champion, winning his third Met, rode a waiting race on the 17-4 shot and he still had the best part of ten lengths to make up a furlong and a half out when he pressed the button.

The effect was instant and he hit the front 25 metres out to beat the strong-finishing 6-4 favourite Do It Again by three-quarters of a length.

“In the last 100 metres I felt it would take something special to get to me,” said Marcus who had a profitable day, also winning the two R5 million sales races.

Sands said: “I never lost faith in myself but other people lost it in me. Rainbow Bridge is difficult but I have had a lot of help. At home he is a piece of cake and a gentleman – you could put a baby in his box. It’s only when you load him into a float [horsebox] that he plays up. But at home this morning he ate everything – I gave him four meals one after another – and I knew then that I had him right.”

Richard Fourie, who rode the runner-up, said: “Do It Again was a bit flat today and I struggled to get him where I wanted him to be.”

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