Crossword Genius

As former England captain, David brought authority to a race (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

platt

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'as former england captain david brought authority' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'a race' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'race' could be 'tt' and 'tt' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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