St Leger Festival Tips: Rhys Williams fancies Fahey juvenile on nursery debut on Day One

• Likely to be suited by longer trip

• Looks to have primed for this race

• Eartha is overpriced at Doncaster

Doncaster - 13:50 - Back Eartha

Eartha makes her nursery debut in the opening race and she looks to have been primed for this race.

She ran well on debut when chasing home Bountiful who has since gone on to finish fourth in a Group 2. Eartha ran on well that day and she did the same when getting off the mark at Wetherby on her second start. She took a little while to hit top gear before finishing strongly and she looked likely to benefit from a longer trip on that evidence.

Having been off for 84 days, she returned at Southwell over five furlongs and ran well in defeat to finish a close third. Given that she was running on strongly and the end of 5½f at Wetherby, the trip at Southwell was always likely to be sharper than ideal and I expect that race was used as a run to qualify and put her spot on for today.

While the distance is an unknown, the way that Eartha finished the race at Wetherby suggests that she could improve for it and she's likely to have a good pace to settle in behind with Skellig Isle drawn on the near side. As a result of that, I think she has the potential to improve from a mark of 79 and any 7/18.00 or bigger appeals.

Doncaster - 13:50 - Back Oolong Poobong

At a big price in the same race, I think Oolong Poobong could run well having been very disappointing at Wolverhampton last time.

She never looked to be travelling that day and it may be that the track was an issue or something happened that led to her seeming to move poorly.

Prior to that, Oolong Poobong had shown ability on her first two starts. She was very green on debut when finishing second at Haydock and built on that with a fairly comfortable victory at Newcastle where she cruised into contention before having to be driven out to win by a length.

Maybe whatever caused the performance at Wolverhampton will show up again and there will be a repeat of that but I think the market has overreacted to one bad run and any 16/117.00 or bigger appeals.

Doncaster - 15:00 - Back Anshoda

Desert Flower has looked smart in two starts and she could be too classy for her opposition in the May Hill but a couple of rivals stepping up to a mile for the first time appeal at the prices against her.

Anshoda did well to win on debut at Lingfield considering how green she was and she built on that with a very good run in defeat in Listed company at Sandown. From the widest stall, she was dropped out and switched to race on the rail at the back of the field. She looked a bit green around the bend while making some headway and although she was first to come under pressure with three furlongs to go, she kept responding well to ran on strongly up the hill to finish second.

She was strong at the finish again on her latest start at Goodwood when winning the Prestige on soft ground, with the conditions looking to help turn it into the greater test of stamina that she wants.

The step up to a mile looks certain to suit Anshoda and this race is likely to be fairly well run which should help her cause too. The ground being on the soft side is clearly no problem for her and I think she could be a bit more of a danger to the favourite than the market suggests. Any 8/19.00 or bigger appeals.

Doncaster - 15:00 - Elsie's Ruan

In the same race, I think Elsie's Ruan is another filly who is likely to be suited by stepping up to a mile for the first time.

On her debut at York, she made taking headway on the near side, despite being hampered, and finished strongly to get the better of Praetorian while pulling five lengths clear of the rest.

Elsie's Ruan was stepped up to Group 3 company for the Sweet Solera last time and ran well to finish third. She showed signs of greenness through the first half of the race and was one of the first to be shaken along but she responded well to pressure to run on and finished third.

The way that she finished off the race at York and Newmarket suggests that a longer trip could bring improvement from her and she will hopefully be more professional in the first half of the race today.

The ground is an unknown for Elsie's Ruan and I'm a bit concerned that she might be better on quicker ground but I think she's a little overpriced and any 18/119.00 or bigger appeals.

Now read Mark Milligan's Thursday tips here.