Doncaster St Leger Day Four Preview

The first event on the final day of the Classic meeting is a competitive Class 2 Handicap mile and the progressive Matthew Flinders looks the one to beat.

The three year old for Ed Walker has been very consistent this term, putting in some smart performances since makinghis debut back in June.

The son of Siyouni finished third at Haydock on debut before getting off the mark over 1m2f at Doncaster in a Novice Stakes.

He then went to York and ran another cracker to finish behind the highly talented Roberto Escobarr and on his final start to date he was a solid third in a Class 3 event at Sandown, just fading late on.

He sets the tone for the race with his form this season and if still being progressive should go close once more, handling all types of ground.

The first big race of the day is the Group Two Champagne Stakes over seven furlongs which over the last two years has been won by the likes of Threat and Too Darn Hot.

Richard Hannon has another star in his ranks for this race and Chindit is a two year old heading in the right direction being unbeaten on both is starts so far during his career.

The juvenile made his debut over course and distance at Doncaster back in July winning nicely and then he backed that up at Ascot, with second, third and fourth since going on to frank the form.

The Portland Handicap sees a familiar field of sprinters take on one another once more and the Charles Hills horse now seems to be down to a mark he can strike from.

The seven year old has been midfield in most of these types of races but last time out when dropped to a mark of 93 finished a solid third at Glorious Goodwood.

That form has since been franked with the second landing a big fielded handicap at York and with our horse dropping a further 2lb, he looks a nice bet at 7/1.

Another classy Group Two on the card is the Park Stakes over seven furlongs and this field is full of star quality and the three year old that takes the eye getting weight off most the field is Wichita.

The Aidan O'Brien trained colt has come on leaps and bounds from his juvenile career, finishing second to Kameko on his seasonal debut in the 2000 Guineas.

From there he was a narrow third in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and has since been thrown into the Sussex Stakes and Prix Maurice De Gheest where he has been outclassed.

Dropping back in grade and down to seven furlongs having faded in his mile runs could make for good reading.

The feature race of the meeting is of course the Classic Group One contest the St Leger and this year we have sided with the William Muir trained Pyledriver.

The three year old has been a real success story for the fairly small yard having made his seasonal debut in June when finishing second at Kempton, but since then improving with every run and showing he is a real black type contender.

He headed to Royal Ascot for his second start of the season and he was a shock winner of the Group Two King Edward VII Stakes seeing off the likes of Mogul for Aidan O'Brien.

He was given a Derby entry and went to Epsom but having being bumped in the big field early on he ran no race and as a far as Muir was concerned that can go down as a blip.

He proved how special he can be last time out when taking the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes at York's Ebor meeting, being eased down in the final stages and with the winner of the St Leger using that race for his prep run last season, it reads very well.

The penultimate event of the four day meeting is a Class 2 Nursery Handicap over a mile and the stand out horse in the field looks to be Legend Of Dubai.

The Roger Varian trained juvenile has done everything but win so far in his career, finishing third on debut in a hot novices event that has since been franked and then coming second next time out.

That second saw the two year old stepped up to a mile for the first time in his career and he revelled in the extra trip, if improving for that run he has to be the one to beat.

The Magners Dark Fruit Cider Handicap over 1 mile 4 furlongs is the final event of the festival and to go out with a bang we are selecting the 10/1 outsider Toronto.

The colt looks to be overpriced in this five field race having finished a really smart second last time out at Haydock behind a nice type for Simon and Ed Crisford.

His price dismisses him from getting involved all together but looking like an improving horse and being ex Ballydoyle makes him an interesting runner.