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By Ray Hickson

You could forgive Keagan Latham for wondering what surprise Crafty Eagle has in store for him at Randwick on Saturday after the promising gelding not only blew away his rivals but the jockey with his first-up win.

Jockey Keagan Latham

Both Latham and trainer John Thompson have been uncertain about what the four-year-old’s best trip will be, he’s won up to a mile in his six starts so far, and his easy Midway win over 1200m only confused the matter.

Crafty Eagle broke quickly from the gates, put himself on the speed then raced away when Latham asked him to go so he’s looking forward to what might unfold in the Racing And Sports Handicap (1400m).

“While we knew he’d be fresh first-up and John had trained him to run well we were quite surprised how he won,’’ Latham said.

“We thought the 1200m would just catch him a bit sharp especially from an awkward barrier.

“He’s a horse that’s just on the up, he keeps getting better and better, and he obviously needed the relevant time to mature. It was an impressive win and the step to 1400m won’t be a problem.’’

Latham said there was no sense of fluke in the first-up win and it has changed his view of what Crafty Eagle’s future might hold from a distance perspective.

“I actually thought he’d get further than a mile but it looks like he has quite a bit of natural speed,’’ he said.

“Quite often you get milers or stayers pop up over 1200m but it’s normally because they’ve gone too fast and they’ve come over the top.

“That wasn’t the case in his last run, he allowed me to let him roll near enough outside the lead and showed plenty of speed to hold his own.

“He quickened away like a horse that would definitely not be a stayer.”

On the wish list for his second-up run from Latham is a genuine tempo but with proven gate speed and an inside barrier he’s confident he’ll be able to handle any scenario in what will be a solid test coming away from Midway company.

It’s been a deliberate move from Latham to take advantage of opportunities in the city while the leading jockeys are interstate so he hopes Crafty Eagle, $3.30 with TAB on Thursday, can deliver another city win.

“He’s a keen horse at home and he can get a bit hot under the collar,’’ he said.

“He carries his head a bit awkwardly so you’ve got to let him flow a little bit. If you restrain him too much he tends to fight you. Because he’s a big animal you end up losing that battle with him.

“We’ll jump and let him roll, I’d prefer if they didn’t slow it up too much but it is a 1400m race so I can’t imagine they’ll go too slow.’’

If rising eight-year-old Purple Sector is going to find something like his best form this time in Latham is adamant it will be happening soon and warns he shouldn’t be underestimated in the Drinkwise Mile (1600m).

A plucky first-up run behind Opal Ridge in the Luskin Star at Scone suggested the gelding had returned well but he wasn’t as sharp when midfield behind Cisco Bay over 1400m two weeks ago.

Crafty Eagle wins at Randwick on May 27

“I think he’s not too far away and I do expect him to run a nice race,’’ he said.

“They went hard last time and he’s not a young horse any more so he doesn’t show as much speed as he has earlier in his career.

“With older horses sometimes second-up is a little bit of an okay run but normally third-up is where they come to the party so hopefully he can do that on Saturday.

“The step up to a mile will be in his favour and he has a pretty low weight again. He was flat out early on but he wasn’t beaten all that far so if we can sit a bit closer he should run a nice race.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Randwick meeting