The final British Classic of the season is looming large, with the St Leger Festival 2024 at Doncaster coming up in the middle of this month. The Town Moor extravaganza is of course centred around the St Leger itself on Saturday 14th September, with an off-time of 15:35.
Doncaster puts on a show, with the ‘Leger Legends’ race raising a lot of money for Jack Berry House and various other racing-related charities. The race saw 20-time Champion Jockey AP McCoy make his one and only return to the saddle when successful in the race aboard Gannicus for former weighing room colleague Brendan Powell back in 2015.
St Leger Festival 2024: Classic Action at Doncaster
Aidan O’Brien’s Illinois is the antepost market leader in the wake of his close second in the Great Voltigeur at York last month. He was pressing stablemate Los Angeles hard in the closing stages and the extra stamina test at Doncaster could be just what he wants, given he was a convincing winner at Royal Ascot in June over 1m6f.
O’Brien also has an option to run the York winner Los Angeles, but he is seemingly headed in a different direction and so the Ballydoyle supremo could instead look to Jan Brueghel as his supplementary contender. He remains unbeaten after three career starts and was last spotted taking the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. The Irish trainer is bidding to win the St Leger for the fourth time since 2017 and could also send Grosvenor Square to Doncaster, the Galileo colt having won an Irish St Leger Trial at the Curragh in August by 20-lengths.
St Leger Festival 2024: Contenders
Charlie Appleby’s Ancient Wisdom looks the main British-based contender on paper going into the final Classic of the season. The Dubawi colt won the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy Stakes at Newmarket in July over 1m5f, rebounding from a poor run in the Derby at Epsom. David Menuisier’s Sunway has close form ties with Los Angeles and could be one to note, while Deira Mile was fourth in the Epsom Classic in June and went close at Windsor in a Listed event on his only start since. The Camelot colt is a possible player for Owen Burrows.
St Leger Festival: Action-Packed 4 Days
Away from the Leger, itself, the Doncaster meeting is laced with quality action across the four days. The St Leger Festival kicks off with a bang on Ladies Day on Thursday, the ultimate in glitz and glamour, and billed as Yorkshire’s biggest social occasion. The Doncaster Cup is the oldest race currently run under the rules of racing and final leg of the Stayer’s Triple Crown and it takes centre stage on day two. Trueshan won last year for Hollie Doyle in a memorable finish.
St Leger Festival: Classic Success
Then comes the main event on the Saturday, the final test of their Classic credentials for the three-year-old crop. As the saying goes: “The fastest horse wins the Guineas; the luckiest the Derby – and the best horse wins the St Leger” – who will be crowned king at Doncaster this time? And rounding off the event will be day four, on Sunday, including the Leger Legends charity race for ex-professional jockeys.
By Jack Ogalbe
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