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By Ray Hickson

UK trainer James Ferguson regards Rosehill Gold Cup favourite Canberra Legend as a better horse than his St Leger winner Land Legend and isn’t surprised he’s attracted good support for his Australian debut on Saturday.

Trainer James Ferguson (Pic: Edward Whitaker/Racing Post)

But Ferguson warns it’s not simply a matter of going around and collecting the prize in the $750,000 Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m).

Canberra Legend won his first two starts and his best effort in four subsequent starts was a third behind Desert Hero in a Group 3 at Goodwood in August.

“I’ve always liked this horse,’’ Ferguson said.

“When he won a stakes race at Newmarket earlier in the year he was about fourth favourite for the Epsom Derby at one point.

“Things since then haven’t really gone his way. He ran a brilliant race at Ascot and a brilliant race at Goodwood but he’s got to that level now where if he’s not top class in the UK he’s got an opportunity to be top class here.

“He’s a quality horse and still maturing, we’ll probably see him at his best next year."

The four-year-old, who as his name suggests is raced by Everest winning owner Bon Ho, gets in with 53kg in the Gold Cup and Kerrin McEvoy takes the ride.

He opened as much as $8 and by Friday was $2.60 favourite with TAB.

His stablemate Land Legend had only won a Rating 75 event on the synthetic in the UK before his St Leger win on Everest Day so there is more depth in Canberra Legend’s form.

Ferguson said, though, he will require a reasonable staying test to be most effective.

“At the end of the day he’s a stayer and a bit like Land Legend he won’t want it to be turning into a sprint. We’ll be as positive as we can and we’ll leave it to Kerrin,’’ he said.

“I’d say from a form point of view he’s coming here with a stronger form line than Land Legend.

“With the weight he’s carrying it’s probably an easier race but he’s still got to do it. It’s not easy travelling across the world and running at the top level but if everything goes smoothly I’d say he will be hard to beat.”

Ferguson is no stranger to Australian racing, prior to going out on his own in 2019 he worked for Godolphin, where he got to know McEvoy, and he travelled to Sydney with Polarisation when that horse won the Sydney Cup in 2017.

He feels Canberra Legend is an ideal horse to bring to Australia, even if it’s not for one of the major feature races in the spring.

“That sort of horse in England can make so much more money down here, it makes a lot of sense to bring that calibre of horse here,’’ he said.

“So why wouldn’t you. These horses don’t have the same opportunities in England for prizemoney and I love having runners down here.”

McEvoy took the opportunity to get a feel for Canberra Legend in a jump out at Canterbury last month and is happy to back Ferguson’s judgment when it comes to how the horse is going.

Canberra Legend 👀

Two wins in just two starts in his short career, and he is impressive to win the Listed Fielden Stakes at Newmarket 🏆pic.twitter.com/cdT5qKIM2R

— GG (@ggcouk) April 19, 2023

He said the gelding’s form reads well if you ignore his last start failure in an unsuitable race.

“He’s got some nice form. I think you put a line through his last run where they went too quick, it was a hot speed and York and he folded up,’’ McEvoy said.

“James has a good handle on what’s required out here with travelling horses and I think he goes there with a nice chance.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Golden Eagle meeting at Rosehill Gardens