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Ladbrokes St Leger Remains Number One Target for Dandino
12/08/10

The trials season for the £500,000 Ladbrokes St Leger is in full force with the Gordon Stakes having taken place at Goodwood just over a fortnight ago and York set to play host to the Great Voltigeur Stakes on Tuesday, August 17.

Dandino went down by a head to Rebel Soldier in the Group Three Gordon Stakes over a mile and a half at Goodwood on July 27 and may continue his preparation for Doncaster with a crack at the Great Voltigeur Stakes next Tuesday.

Trained in Lincolnshire by James Given, the Dansili colt has won four of his five starts in 2010, with his biggest victory coming in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot in June. He is currently rated a 7/1 chance for the Ladbrokes St Leger by the sponsor.

Although Dandino could head to York next week, Given is keen to stress that the Ladbrokes St Leger, run at Doncaster on Saturday, September 11, remains Dandino’s number one target.

The trainer said today: “We confirmed Dandino for the Great Voltigeur Stakes today and will have a look at the race, but his primary target is the Ladbrokes St Leger.

“When you look at the history of horses which have run well at Doncaster having come from the Gordon Stakes, the trend you see is that those horses have generally not had another race in between.

“Leaving him in the Great Voltigeur leaves our options open as who knows what might happen between now and next Tuesday, but the Ladbrokes St Leger remains his number one target.

“I have been very happy with Dandino since his run at Goodwood - I wouldn’t have changed a day. He does not want soft ground. In fact, the ground at York next week might be a bit too firm for some of the others, so that is another factor to consider when we decide whether to run in the Great Voltigeur.”

A total of 16 of the 18 six-day confirmations for the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes also hold entries in the Ladbrokes St Leger including the Aidan O’Brien-trained Midas Touch and Godolphin’s Rewilding, the current 9/2 joint-favourites with Ladbrokes for the Doncaster Classic. Midas Touch was last seen out when runner-up to stable companion Cape Blanco in the Irish Derby on June 27 while Rewilding has not been seen out since coming third to Workforce in the Investec Derby at Epsom on June 5.

Other horses to hold entries in both races include Godolphin’s Group One German Derby victor Buzzword, Group Two King Edward VII Stakes winner Monterosso from the Mark Johnston stable as well as Corsica and Harris Tweed who filled the first two places in the Group Three Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket in July.

114 FOR RACING POST TROPHY

The £200,000 Racing Post Trophy, staged at Doncaster on Saturday, October 28, has attracted 114 entries. The mile contest for two-year-olds frequently provides Classic clues for the following season and is the final Group One race of the British Flat turf season. Since the turn of the century, three future Derby winners have landed the Racing Post Trophy in their juvenile season - High Chaparral (2001), Motivator (2004) and Authorized (2006) - while the 2002 victor Brian Boru went on to claim the St Leger at Doncaster in 2003.

Aidan O’Brien has won the Racing Post Trophy five times, including in 2009 with St Nicholas Abbey, and has 32 entries this year including Zoffany, successful in the Group One Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on August 8.

Richard Hannon has carried all before him with his juvenile runners this season and he has entered King Torus, successful in both the Group Two Superlative Stakes at Newmarket and the Group Two Vintage Stakes at Goodwood, and also General Synod, owned by the Queen, who is an unraced Invincible Spirit colt from the family of Group One scorer Right Approach.