Will Hurricane Blow Away O’Brien’s Four-Pronged St Leger Attack?
There is a feast of top-quality horse racing over the weekend. On Saturday Doncaster stage the oldest of Britain’s five classics, the St Leger. The one-mile six-furlong contest was first run in 1776. This year the St Leger card is complimented with two Group 2 contests. Across in Ireland, day one of the Longines Irish Champions Weekend will see over €2.13 million in prize money distributed over a Saturday card which features an additional five Group races.
Be Prepared to Be Blown Away by Lane in the St Leger
Hurricane Lane is set to go off odds-on favorite in the St Leger, a race that has attracted ten entries. A five-time winner from six career starts, the star’s only defeat came in the Epsom Derby. Charlie Appleby’s three-year-old made amends by taking the Irish Derby three weeks later and, on his most recent start, he was a very impressive Group 1 winner in France.
Hurricane Lane is odds-on to emulate Capri by winning the Irish Derby and St Leger in the same season. ©TimGoode-Pool/Getty Images
His chief rival would appear to be Ottoman Emperor who hails from the burgeoning Johnny Murtagh yard in Ireland. The former jockey successfully plundered a Group 3 prize at Glorious Goodwood with this horse and, unbeaten on turf, there is no clear indication of how good Ottoman Emperor might be.
In what appears to be a scattergun approach another Irishman, Aidan O’Brien, saddles four horses in the famous race. Having won the St Leger six times in the past the trainer’s representatives – High Definition, Sir Lucan, Interpretation, and The Mediterranean – should all be taken seriously. Nevertheless, they are all priced between 10/1 and 25/1.
High Definition was a late supplementary entry into this race. It means his connections had to fork out £50,000 for him to take his place in the field. That could be a tip in itself. The booking of Frankie Dettori is also eye-catching as O’Brien and Dettori – a jockey so successful he has an online slot, Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven, named after him – famously combined to win the 2005 St Leger with Scorpion.
Ultimately Hurricane Lane, bidding to emulate Capri who won both the St Leger and Irish Derby in 2017, has looked very special. The BetVictor sportsbook offer 8/13, the industry top-price, about William Buick’s mount who will surely be very difficult to beat on Saturday afternoon.
Who Will Be the Champion of the Champion?
Aidan O’Brien could easily land a Group 1 prize at Leopardstown where he has the favorite in both Group 1 contests on a stunning Longines Irish Champions Weekend card. In the Champions Stakes – a race the trainer has won a remarkable nine times in the past – the multiple champion trainer saddles St Mark’s Basilica.
Unbeaten in four consecutive Group 1’s, the three-year-old colt has looked as impressive as the Venetian cathedral after which he is named. However, the Dermot Weld trained Tarnawa has been equally brilliant. This lady is unbeaten in her last five starts all at Group level. Her winning haul includes the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keenland last November.
Tarnawa is unbeaten in her last five starts and landed the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Keenland last November. ©BobbyEllis/GettyImage
Not to be outdone, Poetic Flare is a third genuine Champion Stakes contender. His credentials include victory in the English 2000 Guineas and Royal Ascot’s Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes.
There may be just four horses going to post for this €570,000 to-the-winner event, but with or without a financial interest in the race, it is not a race to miss.
Mother for Matron Glory
Earlier in the day the Group 1 Matron Stakes has a far bigger field. Short-priced favorite Mother Earth has 12 rivals to contend with, but this O’Brien runner has the definite form edge over all of them.
Unspectacular in a two-year-old career that yielded a single win from eight starts, Mother Earth landed the 1000 Guineas on her seasonal debut. She added a second Group 1 to her resume when landing the Prix Rothschild in France a month ago.
Stateside there is some European involvement in the Grade 2 Franklin-Simpson Stakes. Staged at Kentucky Downs race track, the race is due off at 11.18 pm GMT.
British jockey Adam Beschizza, who is now based in America, has been booked to ride Bob’s Edge for local trainer J. Larry Jones. More importantly, the small Irish Ken Condon yard has shipped out Miss Amulet to contest the prize. French jockey Julien Leparoux takes the ride on the Group 2 winning three-year-old who finished third in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf contest.
