Doncaster St Leger Meeting / Geoffrey Riddle / 10 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Ladies Day at Doncaster is underway, with The Miniver Rose scooping the Group 2 Park Hill, the feature race of the day. Geoffrey Riddle is still in the hot seat to talk you through the action and chatter from the Yorkshire track. E-mail him your thoughts, questions and tips on: theriddleratbetfair@gmail.com

5.20pm result:
1: Silver Wind
2: Hotham
3: Atlantic Story
4: Sunrise Safari
Well the first two home were drawn low, but I can't pretend it was the way I had envisaged. They tracked over to the stand's side and the far side wasn't even used. Ho Hum.

It's the Doncaster Cup tomorrow and Jamie Osborne sounded pretty upbeat about the prospects of Geordieland, his popular grey. "One is never confident, but it would appear that on his best form Geordieland has now got a very good chance. Even on his second-best form, he should win it."

It's going to be a cracker with Askar Thau, from the now in-form Marcus Tregoning stable in opposition. It's been a wonderful day on Town Moor. Join me tomorrow when the action cranks up another notch ahead of Saturday's St Leger.

5pm:
Right then. As highlighted at 12.45pm, the conundrum surrounding the lucky last seems to be that all the pace is on the far side, but the best horses are on the near side.

Derek, who was so helpful at Goodwood, has re-emerged from wherever he has been hiding. He writes: "Hi Geoffrey. I've got my punting boots back on. The draw is unlikely to have much of an effect in the lucky last. Doncaster's 6f is pretty fair. Point taken that the pace is on the far side. But Tagula Night looks a real improver, and that Windsor race couldn't have worked out better."

For the record, four horses have come out of the Windsor race that Tagula Night won in August, and six more have placed, just for good measure.

4.50pm result:
1: Fantasia
2: Shamwari Lodge
3: Say No Now.
A thrilling victory for favourite backers and the Kieren Fallon bandwagon continues. The layers had driven Fantasia's price right out to [1.9] at the off, but she oozed class in the final furlong. Forcast backers probably did ok, too, with Shamwari Lodge filling second.

Richard Hannon was of a sunny disposition after the surprising win of The Miniver Rose in the Park Hill Stakes. Hannon, who had not sent out the High Chaparral filly since her fifth in the Oaks, was keen to highlight how difficult it is to train the 'Fillies St Leger' victor

"I know it has been said before she's not an easy filly, but she's a bitch, but a good bitch," he laughed.
"She won't work as part of a string and the only thing that can go out with her is a four-wheeled motorbike, which works on her nearside every morning.

Jockey Pat Dobbs added: "I would say she would get further than today's trip and I think that two miles should suit her."

4.45pm
Fantasia went out to as big as 5/6 with one on-course layer before the flood on money duly arrived. She's around a 4-6 chance now here, as the field parades around the ring.

4.30pm
It's Fantasia time everyone. In today's Racing Post, their Trading Post guru James Pyman wrote: "If Fantasia gets as low as 1.7 pre-race, I'll be tempted to lay." That's where we are at now ladies and gentlemen. The mount of Kieren Fallon touched as low as [1.65], but now is roughly [1.75]. Shamwari Lodge is the second favourite at [5.3], whereas Royal Confidence, a record holder at this track don't forget, is [9.0]. It's boom or bust time.

4.20pm result:
1: In The Slips
2: Yurituni
3: Paleo
4: Bahamian Music
In the Slips came down the centre of the track suggesting that perhaps there is not such a biasd after all. Who knows with the infernal draw, eh?

4.15pm
Our friends at Timeform rate Yurituni and Water Biscuit as joint-top according to their wonderful figures. The former is considered the horse more likely to improve though. It is a surprise therefore, to see Richard Hannon's Paleo trade as the [7.4] favourite.

Swilly Ferry's win keeps on being played on the screens here, and I've only just noticed that the Barry Hills-trained colt came right across the track. Drawn in stall 21, he finished on the far side with the favourite Tajuub. That nails that then. The far side is the place to be in the lucky last, the big sprint. Low numbers all the way it seems, where all the pace resides.

3.45pm result:
1: The Miniver Rose
2: Starfala
3: Tanoura
4: Shemima
I'm afraid, David, that Perfect Truth came in stone last. But it would be fair to say that there was something wrong as she trotted home across the line. Tom Queally, aboard, Shemima, reckoned his filly ran a decent race, and wasn't inconvenienced by the going. "She ran a good race, I was pleased with her," he said afterwards. "She just failed to quicken."

Swilly Filly broke the track record in the sales race earlier on the card. This ground is getting quicker all the time. The crowd is getting drunker all the time, too. A hot day, and loads of alcohol is not a good mix for the Doncaster Belle. I heard these charming phrases between the paddock and the press room after the Park Hill. "Amy, do I LOOK like I'm wearing a bra," shouted one racegoer. "Sandra, my thong's giving me a wedgie," screeched another...

3.30pm
David writes: "It was good to see William Buick win that last race wasn't it? I mean he was jocked off Fanjura, and he goes and s***s up on Swilly Ferry to win his percentage of £183,000 for that sales race."

David reckons that Aidan O'Brien's Perfect Truth is a ludicrous price in the next. "Aidan O'Brien said in today's Post that she'll like the ground and the trip. What more do you want? An O'Brien runner trading at a double-figure price?"
Quite David.

I've got a bit of a thing for Shemima though. She's come all the way over here from France, and trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre must have know the ground was going to be riding fast well in advance. She's never actually run on soft, so there is no conclusive proof that she doesn't act on it. She's the only Group winner in the line-up, and she's been placed several times at Group 2 level.

3.25pm
Lawrie Inman, the owner of both Coordinated Cut and St Leger hope Monitor Closely, is frighteningly young for an owner. I'd hate to have to price up an age matchbet between him and Christopher Tsui, the owner of Sea the Stars.

Inman delivered an upbeat report on his Leger fancy. "I am pretty confident in Monitor, but we will have to wait and see," he said. "I think the ground will suit him. If he stays, he probably wins."

Oh the recklessness of youth. You wait. Give him a couple of years and he'll be trotting out lines such as "Monitor Closely is in good form. He has trained well and he comes here with as good a chance as any..."

3.15pm result:
1: Swilly Ferry
2: Tajuub
3: Lucky General
4: Fremont
Tajuub drifted like a barge and at the off, I think Richard Hills' mount was out to something like [3.3]. It went off 15-8 on course. Astonishing. I'm not sure Hills was particularly hard on his mount to be honest, and he was comfortable to hang on to second rather than bash away.

Interesting that the far side dominated which could be the key to the last race of the 5.45pm, the 20-runner sprint.

3.05pm
Muwatheeq to goes for the Cambridgeshire according to his trainer, Marcus Tregoning. The best price with the high street layers who have representatives here is 18-1. You can get [17.5] on Betfair.

What you're getting if you back Muwatheeq is a horse that certainly appreciates good to firm going, and will improve a hell of a lot. Don't forget he was good enough to beat Dunn'o, who was one of the early season star handicappers, last season as a three-year-old.

If it comes up soft at Newmarket though, you'll be stuck. Jockey Richard Hills was adamant that the soft going was the reason for Muwatheeq's defeat on his seasonal bow at Newbury at April.

Peter Chapple-Hyam, who saddled Coordinated Cut, intends to run the new Derby favourite back here on October 24th in the Racing Post Trophy. "That would be the intended target," said the trainer. "He is still a shell though, he's very weak," he revealed. "There's nothing of him yet. He needs to strengthen and if he does between now and then, I'll run him back here."

Chapple-Hyam exercised caution about the going, however. He said: "He's only ever worked on fast ground. I'd be worried if we met soft ground. It wouldn't bother me if he didn't race again this year."

Don't back Coordinated Cut for the 2,000 Guineas, either. "He will not be entered in the Guineas," he concluded. "Don't listen to the owner. The Guineas don't close until February, and I'll probably forget to put him in."

2.55pm
Muwatheeq goes for the Cambridgeshire according to trainer Marcus Tregoning. The best price with the high street layers who have representatives here is 18-1. You can get 17.5 on Betfair. What you're getting if you back Muwatheeq is a horse that certainly appreciates good to firm going, and will improve a hell of a lot.

If it comes up soft at Newmarket though, you'll be stuck. Jockey Richard Hills was adamant that the soft going was the reason for Muwatheeq's defeat on his seasonal bow at Newbury at April.

2.35pm result:
1: Muwatheeq
2: Eastern Aria
3: Fanjura
These stable lads, eh? Honest as they come. From about two furlongs out there seemed no doubt that Muwatheeq was fit enough was there? So it was Australia Day and Alfathaa who were the odds-on place lays then. Anyone out there get them?

Anyone in any doubt about the state of the going should have heard the jockeys after the first race. Alan Munro, who rode Arlequin said of the clerk of the course's efforts with the going. "He's done really well with the ground, it is lovely. The watering has taken the sting out of it."

If the going is really good to firm, then it was one hell of a performance from Coordinated Cut. The son of Montjeu broke the 2-y-o track record for colts set by Jack Dawkins in 2004. Coordinated Cut ran the mile in 1m37.99 which is 0.51secs inside the standard time.

Skybet have kept Coordinated Cut at 20-1 for next year's Derby, which is reflected on Betfair, which makes the colt [18.0] to back and [24.0] to lay.

2.15pm
I like the unconventional. Trainer Paul Webber has warmed up Australia Day for today's assignment in the 2.35pm with a 34-length success in a 2m Worcester hurdle at the weekend. If you look at the time of that race though, you'll see it was 6.3secs faster than standard. That's a hell of a performance in what was virtually nothing more than a training exercise.

Australia Day could easily get into a battle for the lead though with Fanjura, who is now ridden by Frankie Dettori. It is something the two horses managed when they last clashed at Sandown in July, with Fanjura coming out on top by just under two lengths.

But Australia Day gets a mammoth 13lbs pull for that defeat, which has got to bring him into the equation hasn't it?

Beware Mawatheeq. There is money for him, and he's now joint-favourite with Fanjura. I had a word with the horse's lad as well. "He's fit enough for this," he said. "He's in good order." Mawatheeq was good enough to beat smart handicapper Dunn'o last year.

2pm result:
1: Coordinated Cut
2: Tactician
3: Muwalla
Who allowed Coordinated Cut to drift out to [6.0] in-running? He looked like he was in trouble at about the halfway stage, but have we forgotten how jockey Kieren Fallon rides? The six-time champion likes to stoke the fire rather than press the button, and Fallon wound up the inexperienced son of Montjeu a treat. He hustled and bustled him along until he got the message and in the end Coordinated Cut won well.

Chain of Events didn't last the distance did he? Must have been all that hulabullo in the pre-parade ring.

1.50pm
Coordinated Cut is generally Evens with the on-course layers now. J Dee Racing knew a thing or two. The colt was the most expensive of the field that went to the sales ring at 325,000 Guineas. It was foaled on Valentines Day, too.

I went to have a look at the horses in the pre-parade ring. The Sir Alex Ferguson-owned Chain of Events looked very jumpy, perhaps because it thought Sir Alex would come and give it the old hairdryer treatment. But he was spooked and wriggled free of his lass. The colt charged about the parade ring, and even when it calmed down, and was reined back in, it broke loose again. A lot of nervous energy expended there.

Munsarim, who finished third to Godolphin's impressive Al Zir at Newmarket a fortnight ago, looked a bit skinny for my liking.

1.30pm
Linda Barker has just swanned into the press room, looking ravishing in a red off-the-shoulder number with matching fascinator. If you don't know who she is, she's one of the many ditsy reality TV show people who get contracts to advertise stuff. No wiser? She's the face of DFS, the sofa people who are sponsoring the card. Michael Owen was here yesterday. It's really the same is it?

My Timeform mole has e-mailed me their excellent ratings service for this afternoon's card. The Weatherby's sale race is really one that will polarize punters. Are you a backer or are you a layer of Taajub? The Gimcrack second is on the drift and now trades at [2.44].

According to Timeform's ratings, Taajub is well clear, with Spying the next in line. The interesting one could be Trailblazing, who beat Taajub last time out. Admittedly, it was largely down to racecourse experience, but at [34.0], can the Mark Johnston runner be ignored?

1.15pm
This Coordinated Cut in the first race, the mile maiden, is very interesting. Coral reported last night that the colt had been heavily backed for next year's Derby ahead of its run this afternoon.

Unsurprisingly, the mount of Keiren Fallon was heavily backed in the offices this morning. On Betfair's market, £72 was matched at [3.46], and now Peter Chapple-Hyam's charge is at [1.99].

On course, most of the layers here priced it at 10-11 when they went up around ten minutes ago. J Dee Racing on the other hand went Evens. When I asked the bookie why, he replied in the gruff manner that only a northerner can: "Do you see a rush to back this thing?" the layer said slowly. Quite.

1pm
Two more non-runners: Laterly in the 2.45pm and Oceana Blue in the 4.50pm.

The scratching of Laterly is particularly interesting because there are now five horses that trade at odds-on to finish in the first three in that 1m2½f handicap. That's two we can get beat at odds-on, which is always appealing. But which ones? Despite Frankie Dettori now being in the saddle, Fanjura has drifted all day. In comparison, rivals Eastern Aria, Mawatheeq and Alfathaa have all remained steady and there has been money for Australia Day.

12.45pm
I've been looking at the lucky last. All the pace seems to be on the far side of the track in this 20-runner field. Dancing Maite (stall 1), under Kieren Fallon, and Bajan Tryst (10), under Neil Callan, both like to force the pace, while Internationaldebut (2) and Maxwell Hawke (3) are strong pressers.

The trouble is, the best horses seem to be drawn low. Tagula Night (14) has proved himself as good as any of these already after just five runs and should improve a hell of a lot and the same applies to Ingleby Lady (16). Even old favourite Vhujon is drawn in stall 15.

With all the pace on the far side, perhaps it could be time for Hamoody (5) to put his best foot forward. Peter Chapple-Hyam's five-year-old likes to come off a fast pace, and should get the race run to suit.

12.35pm
I said something extraordinary might happen today. And the odds of that happening have increased in my opinion. Yesterday Strike The Deal broke the course record under a beautiful ride from Kieren Fallon. Although David William, the clerk of the course, put 4mm of water on the track last night, those who have walked the course reckon it is still pretty much how it rode yesterday.

There are two record holders here this afternoon. Royal Confidence, who tries to lower the colours of Fantasia in the 4.50pm holds the 6f110y record here, set when winning on this card two years ago.

Dream Lodge holds the record over the mile straight, but has been taken out of the 2.35pm due to a rash. With the ground riding how it is, we could get some very quick times indeed today. Four horses have been withdrawn due to the going, and an updated non-runner list is below. I am sad to have to report the death of Godolphin's Moonquake, however.
2pm:
Alfonso The Wise (Going)
2.35pm:
Dream Lodge (Rash)
Moonquake (Dead)
3.10pm
Itsthursdayalready (Vet's Certificate)
Ingleby Spirit (Not Eaten Up)
3.45pm
Clowance (Going)
Sevenna (Going)
4.50pm
Festoso (Going)
Select (Lame)

12.10pm:
Ooooh, don't you just love racecourse rumour? Chris, the intrepid Timeform audio guru, had to help Alain de Royer-Dupre's head lad declare his star filly, Shemima, who runs in the Park Hill (3.45pm).

The poor head lad couldn't speak English, and was not aware of who was due to be riding the apple of his eye in this afternoon's big race. When Tom Queally was mentioned, all he could say was "comment?"

It is not a good sign when the head lad doesn't know who the jockey will be, and the great French trainer is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he is on his way from France by helicopter. I wouldn't stay in Doncaster either if I could come from France by chopper.

Anyway Tom Queally rides Shemima, who, on form, is the best filly in the 1m6½f contest, although she has yet to prove her mettle on fast ground. Doncaster has been very open with the going conditions all week, so AdR-D must have known that it was going to be good to firm today.

The other jockey change to be announced is that Frankie Dettori takes the ride on Fanjura in the 2.35pm.

11.45pm
A warm welcome to you all from a sun-drenched Doncaster. Ladies Day, eh? Everyone's got one. The racecourse is awash with sunlight and there isn't a cloud over Town Moor right now. There were scores of people milling around outside the entrance when I arrived at the course around half an hour ago, ready to get stuck in to the wagering and alcohol on course. There's a real vibe here. Exciting things are going to happen today, I can feel it.

The racecourse is buzzing at the news that Age Of Aquarius has been pulled from the St Leger field. The Ballydoyle hope had been heavily backed this week once Johnny Murtagh was given the nod, but the colt was scratched just before 10am because trainer Aidan O'Brien was "not 100% happy with him". The Irish maestro wasn't 100% happy with Rip Van Winkle eirher before he won the Sussex Stakes, but that didn't stop the colt blitzing his opposition. Perhaps more will come to light later...

Godolphin's Kite Wood is [3.25] on Betfair right now for the final Classic of the season, and O'Brien's only entry on the race, Changingoftheguard, is [4.3]. Sesenta, who beat Changingoftheguard in the Ebor at York runs in the 3.45pm today, so that price could well change as the afternoon goes on.

Tags: Doncaster