Best bets for St Leger races at present from each our award-winning tipster and StarForm skilled
The second day of the iconic St Leger races takes place today in Doncaster. We’ll be bringing you all the best tips so that you can enjoy it every step of the way.
You can feast your eyes below on today’s suggestions from our racing editor and chief tipster Jason Heavey, along with our StarForm expert Neil Randon.
Jason Heavey’s tips
Sale Shark (2.25, nb) can gobble up his rivals in the speed test of the Carlsberg Danish Pilsner Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster.
Hugo Palmer’s two-year-old has been trading blows with some strong company and produced a career best when winning a Listed race at the York Ebor meeting last month.
The combination of the minimum trip and slow ground brought about improvement in the son of Bayside Boy and conditions will be similar at Donny today.
Waardah ridden by Callum Rodriguez on their way to winning the Betfred Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes on day one of the Betfred St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse.(Image: Nigel French/PA Wire)
With Oisin Murphy again in the saddle, Sale Shark can plunder the prestigious Group Two prize. The Betfred Howard Wright Doncaster Cup is a below-par renewal and if Queenstown and Caballo de Mar are near their best they should be hard to beat.
The way Caballo de Mar stopped so quickly in the Lonsdale Cup is a concern and I prefer the wildcard Winday (3.00) under Will Buick. The three-year-old is chucked into Group Two company after winning a maiden at Ffos Las by six lengths but trainer Emmett Mullins knows the time of day.
Silver Lake (3.35, trb) is progressing nicely with victories at Glorious Goodwood and the Ebor meeting. William Haggas’ filly showed plenty of tenacity to win at York and, off a 6lb higher handicap mark, can take the British Stallion Studs EBF Premier Fillies’ Handicap.
The nicely bred Forbidden Fire (1.15) is one of two fillies taking on the boys in the Listed Betfred Flying Scotsman Stakes and judging by the ease of her Salisbury debut success she looks to have inherited some of her mother Arabian Queen’s ability. She gets a handy bit of weight from Rock Montreal and Nabati.
When the ITV cameras have stopped rolling, Henley On Thames (4.45) and Fans Favourite (5.20) are fancied to score.
At Sandown Crown Ranger (3.47, nap) gets a confident vote to break his duck in the Sporting Times/Sri Lanka Nursery. His third to First Law is the standout form.
Best bets for today’s racing from our Starform expert Neil Randon
In what is not the highest quality renewal of the Group Two Betfred Howard Wright Doncaster Cup, there are two stand-out stayers in the field – and one of them has question marks hanging over him.
Which leaves Queenstown (3.00), who is hard to oppose in the staying feature. The six-year-old stepped up on his previous runs when chasing home three-length winner Caballo De Mar in the Group One Prix du Cadran last October and is 5lb better off with that reopposing rival this afternoon.
Aidan O’Brien’s gelding wasn’t seen again until 20 days ago, when trotting up in a Curragh Group Three by four and a half lengths. That sets him up nicely for today with a strong run expected under Ryan Moore.
Had Caballo De Mar not run a couple of stinkers on his last two starts, he would be on the short-list for sure, having scored a second Group One success at Longchamp in May.
The ground was probably too quick for him in the Ascot Gold Cup, when finishing last of the 11 runners, but it was the manner of his defeat last time in the Yorkshire Cup, when fading quickly in the closing stages to finish a well-beaten fourth behind Al Nayyir, that puts a strike through his chances.
The best bet of the day is Final Objective (2.25, nap) in the Group Two Carlsberg Danish Pilsner Flying Childers Stakes over 5f. The Wathnan Racing speedster won at short odds in a Thirsk maiden last month and ran a corker in the Gimcrack at York’s Ebor meeting three weeks ago, going down by three-quarters of a length to the unbeaten Arapaho Gold. That is top form and this improving sort will be in the mix.
Salamanca Bay (3.35) has done little wrong this term with three wins and two runner-up slots in five starts, including a silver medal in the Lanark Silver Bell at Hamilton last time. While she has a 2lb rise, the five-year-old is clearly flourishing and can go in again.
