Courage wins the day for Atticus

IMPRESSIVE: LAIRD-TRAINED GELDING FIGHTS ON GAMELY TO CLAIM R6M BETWAY SUMMER CUP

- Jack Milner

I wanted you to see what real courage is. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. That is the advice Atticus Finch, the chief protagonist in Harper Lee's iconic novel, gave to his children.

He could have well been talking to the racehorse that bears his name. The five-year-old Master Of My Fate gelding, trained by Alec Laird and perfectly ridden by Calvin Habib, displayed every bit of that courage at Turffontein on Saturday to win the R6-million Betway Summer Cup.

Going off at 20-1, Atticus Finch got a dream run down the inside rail and kicked on beautifully to capture the Grade 1 race over 2000m on the Standside track.

He beat a gallant Purple Pitcher (14-1) by 1.10 lengths with Rule By Force (33-1) a further 0.75 lengths back in third. Fourth place went to 100-1 KwaZulu-Natal raider Madison Valley, and with the more fancied runners, See It Again (5th), Royal Victory (6th), Frances Ethel (9th) and Main Defender (10th) all finishing out of the top four, the carryover Quartet paid out a massive R224,457.50.

The race proved a triumph for trainer Alec Laird, who last won the Summer Cup in 2006 with Malteme. Habib also notched up his second success in this iconic event as he triumphed aboard Flying Carpet in 2021.

Atticus Finch was fancied to win this race last year but suffered serious interference at a vital stage and ended up midfield.

This year, although largely ignored, he came back to do it all again. Habib always felt his mount was in with a chance. "Last year I was super-confident, but Picture: JC Photographics he got done during the race," said Habib, "and this year I wanted to make amends for that.