The horse racing broadcaster provides his tips for Day 3 of the St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse, including picks for Saturday's racing at Leopardstown and Chester.
‘Sell in May and don’t come back until St.Leger day’ was an old City adage which may just have been an excuse for Brokers to disappear and enjoy the summer but also highlights how much the oldest classic was then part of the national sporting calendar. In those days six figure crowds flocked to Town Moor via Doncaster’s well connected train network with the post World War I crowds standing ‘fifty deep’.
Nowadays the final Classic of the season does not have the same lustre. The lack of fashion for a stallion to win over the trip has led to the Triple Crown rarely being attempted, whilst Ireland have hijacked the day with their high-profile card at Leopardstown. This year does mark the 250th anniversary however and the track have gone to great lengths to swell the crowd with close to 30,000 expected on Saturday, which would make it the best attended Classic of the season.
Sadly, from a domestic perspective stamina driven Group 1’s have very much become the domain of the Irish and specifically those with the surname O’Brien, with Aidan winning the last three renewals. That streak can be extended with PIERRE BONNARD 3/1 (15:35 Doncaster) who has not really lived up to pre-season expectations but can find enough progress at the trip to reverse the form with Derby winner Christmas Day. Action will be in the field to ensure a decent gallop and the biggest danger could come via another O’Brien in son Joseph who saddles Enceladus, who will be ridden by Billy Loughnane. The extra mileage can help offset the lack of turn of foot that has seen Pierre Bonnard fall short at this level so far this season and this is his opportunity to add his name to the longest Classic Roll of Honour.
The big handicap of the day is the Portland where APOLLO ONE 13/2 (14:20 Doncaster) looks set to take advantage of a handicap mark that has fallen markedly in the last year. He was runner up off a mark of 102 last season and lines up here off just 90. Apollo One has an uncomplicated run style and this is very much his time of year with many of his best performances coming in the Autumn. Runs behind Double Rush at Newmarket earlier in the season and last time at York shows he retains a good deal of ability, and he clearly looks the one to beat.
Finally at Doncaster the pace should set up nicely for MORE THUNDER 11/10 (14:55 Doncaster) in the Group 2 Park Stakes. His come from behind style can make it a white-knuckle ride but with Witness Stand and Qirat both likely to ensure a decent gallop, then Tom Marquand can deliver him in time. His closing sectionals in the Lockinge matched Notable Speech and he can use that turn of foot to good effect here.
ITV coverage also takes in two races at Chester and one at Leopardstown where BLUE BOLT 5/4 (15:55 Leopardstown) can maintain Andrew Balding’s excellent Group 1 record for Juddmonte in the Group 1 Matron. She, along with stable companion Kalpana, have both had stellar seasons and Blue Bolt can once again take the measure of the three-year-old division, who outside Diamond Necklace have looked far from a vintage bunch,
On the Roodee, STRESSFREE 17/2 (14:05 Chester) has looked to be building back up to something with a decent run in the Ebor and then at Haydock. He returns to the track for only his second appearance having won here back in 2024 and is another, like Apollo One, whose mark has fallen considerably this season.
Later on after the ITV coverage has finished, SIGLIOSA / (17:42 Chester) of Dan Horsford’s has had this Jump Jockeys race on his radar for some time and has drawn far better than on his first run for the yard at Wolverhampton where having to go back from his wide gate put him in a hopeless position when the field crawled.
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