Within 40 minutes of each other, the final Classic races in England and Ireland for 2011 were contested. Both renewals were classified as Group 1 events and were run over a distance of around 1 ¾ miles (the Doncaster St Leger race is half a furlong longer). The main difference between the two however, is that the English version is strictly for 3 year old colts and fillies, whereas the Irish equivalent is open to older horses.
The English Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes at Doncaster
On a grey, breezy afternoon, in front of a very noisy, sell-out 31,000 crowd on Doncaster’s Town Moor, 7 colts and 2 fillies went to post, hoping to achieve a Classic victory to add to their résumés. None of the field had previously been successful at this Group 1 level, except that is for the Godolphin owned and trained Blue Bunting, who was going for a Triple Crown of sorts, after her previous wins in the English 1000 Guineas and the Irish Derby.
Sir Michael Stoute’s Sea Moon was all the rage before the race, going off as 2/1 favourite, with the aforementioned Blue Bunting, whose chance was available at 7/2. These were followed by Census at 11/2 and Masked Marvel at 15/2.
The Race
After an even break from the stalls, Robert Havlin riding Buthelezi, set an unrelenting pace just about followed by Godolphin’s pace-maker Rumh. This remained the case until the main protagonists made their play at around the 3 furlong pole.
Coming into a strong headwind in the 4½ furlong straight, Aiden O’Brien’s Seville, ridden by his 18 year old son Joseph, was the first to put in an effort, but his rivals were queuing up on his tail, ready to pounce. 2 furlongs out, Masked Marvel, attempting to gain back-to-back victories for the John Gosden stable, took up the running and soon enough jockey William Buick pushed the button and the son of Montjeu pulled away, winning by 3 lengths in a course record time of 3 minutes 00.44 secs.
Brown Panther stayed on well to get 2nd, whilst favourite Sea Moon also stayed on, a further ½ length behind. Blue Bunting seemed to struggle for most of the journey, at the rear of the field.
1 Masked Marvel (John Gosden) William Buick 15/2
2 Brown Panther (Tom Dascombe) Kieren Fallon 15/2
3 Sea Moon (Sir Michael Stoute) Olivier Peslier 2/1 Fav
The Irish Field St Leger at The Curragh
Meanwhile, over in the Emerald isle, on the wide expanses of County Kildare’s The Curragh, a disappointing size field of only 6 had been declared to fight out the Irish equivalent of the race. After recent rain, the yielding to soft going most likely took its toll on entries. But what was lost in size, had been more than made up for in quality, with Aiden O’Brien’s 2009 Irish Derby winner Fame and Glory taking his place at the head of the queue.
To encourage larger fields, this event was opened up to older horses in 1983 which in the case of this years’ renewal was just as well, as all the participants were aged 4 or older. Also noticeable was that half of the runners were raiders from the UK, leaving a home entry of 3, which must give cause for concern to both Irish racing authorities and racecourses.
Fame and Glory went off the odds-on favourite, followed by the British pair of Jukebox Jury at 4/1 and Duncan a point further away.
The Race
A steady early pace was set by both Jukebox Jury in the lead and Duncan sitting close behind on his tail. Into the straight and Fame and Glory lying a good way behind, started to give off distress signals and his challenge faded away.
The two at the front were giving everything in their fight to reach the line ahead of the other. Both Johnny Murtagh on Jukebox Jury and Eddie Ahern on Duncan, threw anything and everything at their charges and in a thrilling finish, they flew by the line together.
After what seemed like an eternity and with both jockeys reluctant to look confident of the win, a dead-heat was called by the judge, giving Irishman Ahern his first Classic success aboard the John Gosden trained, Montjeu colt.
Noticeably, the first 3 home were the horses trained in the UK.
1 (DH) Duncan (John Gosden) Eddie Ahern 5/1
1 (DH) Jukebox Jury (Mark Johnston) Johnny Murtagh 4/1
3 Red Cadeau (Ed Dunlop) Tom McLaughlin 12/1
Most trainers, jockeys and horses never experience the thrill of winning a Classic. In the space of less than an hour, trainer John Gosden and sire Montjeu had the thrill of winning two.
Sources
- Racing Post Online
- TV: Channel 4
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