Doncaster St Leger Festival Day Two Preview

The race that kicks off day two of the St Leger Festival is the Fillies Nursery Handicap and the two year old that has caught our eye is the John Quinn trained Keep Busy.

This 78 rated youngster has raced to a high standard in her short career racing five times winning two of them and placing in another two.

Her latest run can be overlooked at Ripon when stepped up in class and finishing last of six but back in a Class 2 makes her really appealing at an each way price being unbeaten on good to firm and having her perfect conditions.

One of the feature races of the day on Thursday is the Group Two Park Hill Stakes over a marathon distance and the favourite Enbihaar is very hard to look past.

The John Gosden trained four year old has been superb this season winning three of her contest and finishing second in the other but her last two runs have really shown how good she is.

Two starts ago at Haydock she took the Group Two Lancashire Oaks in great style and when stepped up in trip was even better at Goodwood taking the Lillie Langtry Stakes.

Again this is another tough test but Gosden has been very precise and patient with her this season and if performing anything like her last few runs you can't see anything beating her.

Another big race for the two year olds at the meeting is the Weatherbys Racing Bank 300,000 2-Y-O Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs and with such a big field we have two selections.

The first runner for us is Joseph O'Brien's Unforgettable and the jockey booking of Frankie Dettori catches the eye here with the pair joining up with there first runner in history.

The filly has been very consistent on all three of her starts with figures of 312 and her second last time out in a Group 3 means that stepping down to a Class 2 should be easier for her.

Another runner at a bigger price is the Karl Burke trained Rayong who has shown so much potential but has also been frustrating and if the best of the juvenile turns up he should enter the place frame.

The May Hill Stakes is the other Group Two on the card and this contest over a mile sees some very handy juveniles go to post but Boomer for Tom Dascombe looks to have a smart chance.

The filly has raced three times in her career making her debut at Haydock in a sharp Class 4 taking her time to get the hang of things.

However, in her last two races she has used her experience from her debut and won both her events in great style, digging deep last time out in a Group Three with the form of that run being franked.

Stepping up to a Group Two is another big task but she is a constant improver and should be in the mix.

The Class 3 Lady Riders Handicap over six furlongs sees 17 runners go to post and Nigel Tinkler's Normandy Barriere seems to have a lot going for him in this contest.

The seven year old gelding is a previous course and distance winner that seems to come into his own around this time of year and although not being at his best this year loves this course.

He is also a massive fan of this meeting finishing second in a similar race to this last year and with conditions to suit on Thursday he looks to have a big chance.

The penultimate runner of the day is the Chris Wall trained First Sitting who we believe is massively over priced in the market and worth a punt on.

James Doyle picks up the ride and has won twice on him before showing he can get the best out of him and when looking at this horse compared to the favourite he seems to have a fair bit going for him in comparison.

The eight year old looks very well treated down to a very low mark which is 13lb lower than his last victory which also came on ground similar to that of Doncaster on Thursday.

The lucky last sees one of our best chances of the day with the Roger Varian trained Mutamaasik in the Dfs Class 2 Handicap over seven furlongs.

This three year old gelding has shown class in abundance since taking to the track with a second on debut and a hat-trick of wins in his four outings to date.

Varian won the race back in 2017 with Lahore and has a great chance of doing so again with this gelding who although being 10lb higher in the weights looks to be a class act.

He could turn out to be a Group horse in the making with his form being franked ever since his debut run and he is certainly a Hamdan Al Maktoum horse to take seriously.