St Leger Festival: Preview and betting tips for day one including views of Sky Sports Racing presenter
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
The £300,000 Weatherbys Scientific Two-Year-Old Stakes is the richest race on the day one card, which also features the Group 2 May Hill Stakes and the Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes, also a Group 2.
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Hide AdRacing gets underway at 1.50pm on Thursday with a class two nursery contest before the first day of racing comes to a close at 5.50 and below, you can discover the latest tips and a full day one preview of Doncaster’s card courtesy of Betway, with Sky Sports Racing presenter Callum Helliwell also previewing the two Group 2s on the card.
The opening contest on the card sees the fillies take centre stage in the 16-runner Nursery contest over the six furlong trip (1.50). A field of 16 are set to tackle the opener, with preference heading the way of the William Haggas-trained Art Design, a progressive type who overcame a poor position to land a Southwell nursery contest last time out and should be suited by this longer trip. Toomuchforme rates the main danger here for trainer Karl Burke, a winner of a Ripon novice earlier this season who chased home a stablemate of the selection in this one last time out at Newbury.
The richest race on the card is the second of the day at 2.25, with 20 runners heading to the start to try and bag the whopping £192,643 top prize in the Weatherbys Scientific Two-Year-Old Stakes. This race looks tailor made for Caburn, trained by Jack Jones, a winner of the Super Sprint at Newbury in July before a midfield finish in the Group 2 Gimcrack at York last month. Powerhouse trainer Aidan O’Brien will likely have the favourite come post time with Camille Pissarro but he is easy to oppose off the back of his Gimcrack sixth last time and is 4lb worse off than Caburn here.
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Hide AdThe Group 2 May Hill Stakes marks race three of the afternoon (3.00) with ten two-year-old’s taking on the mile. Sky Sports Racing presenter Callum Helliwell has picked out the Aidan O’Brien-trained Ecstatic as his selection, saying: “Desert Flower is the favourite, having run very well in two races at Newmarket. She is clearly the one to beat, she’s got form with Flight as well who she has beaten.
“The question is whether the two Aidan O’Brien horses, Ecstatic and January, are both going to take another step forward. Ecstatic looks absolutely made for this and would probably be my selection in this race. She looked very smart last time out and should step forward again.
“Quick shout out to Anshona if you want an each-way play in this race, she’s a really likable filly, cost an absolute pittance as a yearling and has since changed hands for, I imagine, a fair chunk of change.”
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Hide AdThe second Group 2 of the afternoon is up next at 3.35 with the Park Hill Stakes for three-year-old’s over one mile and six furlings. The preference here heads to Scenic for trainer Ed Walker, with Helliwell saying: “This is an interesting race and a fascinating contest as well but over the years, it has been very tricky to pick a winner of.
“The market is headed by Night Sparkle who ran a monster race in the Lonsdale Cup at York last time out and this is a much easier contest for her so you can understand why she is favourite.
“But I am going in a different direction with Scenic - she will be a really good play in this race. She was just touched off over in France in a two-mile contest when she was just outstayed but bounced back to win last time out and she pumped one of her rivals in this race, Nakheel, that day. She will relish stepping up in trip and is very, very dangerous.
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Hide Ad“Keep an eye out for Oxford Comma, the unexposed runner in this race who is very inexperienced, this is a big step up in grade but Ralph Beckett knows what he is doing with staying fillies, he has one in the St Leger with You Got To Me, the same owners as Oxford Comma, so be very much aware of her in this one.”
Ten runners will head to the start for race five of the afternoon, with preference heading the way of Promethean in what is a good quality three-year-old handicap contest (4.10). The David Menuisier-trained runner shaped well when runner up at Newmarket last time out and is back up in trip so gets the edge over Victorious Street, who got off the mark for trainers Simon and Ed Crisford after ten months off when scoring in a 14-runner maiden at Southwell in early August.
Back In Black, trained by James Fanshawe, looks the one to beat in race six of the afternoon (4.50), who showed a lot of promise when runner up on both his first two starts before landing the odds in a Yarmouth maiden on August 19, so is sent handicapping for the first time here with more improvement expected from the two-year-old.
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Hide AdThe penultimate race of day one sees seven runners taking on the mile nursery contest in class four (5.15) and the nod goes to the Andrew Balding-trained Best Adventure off the back of a strong fourth in a Sandown maiden in July, while the finale (5.50) can go the way of David O’Meara’s Percy Shelley, eased down in the weights having run with credit in much stronger contests than this in recent weeks.
Doncaster selections - Thursday
1.50 - Art Design
2.25 - Caburn
3.00 - Ecstatic
3.35 - Scenic
4.10 - Promethean
4.50 - Back In Black
5.15 - Best Adventure
5.50 - Percy Shelley
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