RACING ST LEGER NEWS:YEATS FACES seven rivals as he bids for glory in tomorrow's Irish Field St Leger at The Curragh. Aidan O'Brien's eight-year-old created history when he landed a fourth Ascot Gold Cup in June, but this Group One heat has not brought out the best in him in the past.
He has only once won the one-mile-six-furlong contest, in 2007, and has been beaten on two other occasions when sent off favourite.
Dermot Weld’s Melbourne Cup contender Profound Beauty leads the opposition, along with Godolphin’s Goodwood Cup victor Schiaparelli. British interest is also represented by the Roger Charlton-trained Clowance and Michael Jarvis’ All The Aces.
O’Brien also runs Moon Indigo, while John Oxx fields Alandi. Bashkirov completes the field.
Meanwhile, ante-post punters were left counting the cost as favourite Age Of Aquarius was ruled out of tomorrow’s Doncaster St Leger. Kite Wood now leads the market following the withdrawal of the ante-post favourite.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt headed the book for much of the week and had been well-supported before declarations time yesterday morning. However, the Grand Prix de Paris runner-up did not feature in the final field after failing to satisfy O’Brien, who confirmed: “We were not 100 per cent happy with him after his canter this morning and decided not to declare him.”
That leaves Johnny Murtagh to ride second favourite and Ebor runner-up Changingoftheguard, with Colm O’Donoghue aboard stablemate and rank outsider Von Jawlensky.
Godolphin’s Kite Wood is back as the new 9 to 4 market leader having been usurped by Age Of Aquarius, but Lawrie Inman, owner of 5 to 1 shot Monitor Closely, has warned you underestimate his horse at your peril.
Trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam, Monitor Closely finished fourth in the Dante before failing to shine at Royal Ascot and in a York Group Two.
However, he bounced back to form in style when beating fellow Leger candidates Mastery and Father Time in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York.
Many were disappointed by the no-show of hot favourite Harbinger that day, but Inman believes his colt was not given full credit.
He said: “I was pretty confident before the Voltigeur and if he stays, he must have a chance. I think the form of the Voltigeur has been underrated.
“We were always quite confident of his ability over a mile and a quarter but in the Voltigeur, the further he went, the better he went.”
Monitor Closely is not an obvious Leger runner on breeding as he is by top sprinter Oasis Dream out of a Selkirk mare, but Inman still retains plenty of hope.
“He’s by Oasis Dream so perhaps he’s not bred for a Leger trip but freaks of nature can happen and perhaps he is a freak of nature,” he added.
The late withdrawal of Age Of Aquarius caused a major reshuffle in the betting but both Ladbrokes and Boylesports will be offering refunds for ante-post bets on the O’Brien colt.
Mourayan is a leading candidate for John Oxx, although his rider Mick Kinane has opted to ride stablemate Alandi at The Curragh. Explaining his decision, Kinane said: “It was a difficult decision – the ground just swung it for me. It’s very testing at The Curragh at the moment.
“We’re getting the same weather you’re getting here (at Doncaster) and it’s going to dry but it’s still going to be very dead ground and they were talking about quick to firm ground here.
“It was a close call. If Mourayan had come straight off his Irish Derby run to here he’d be favourite and now he’s probably third or fourth favourite.
BETTING: (Irish Field St Leger): William Hill: 13-8 Yeats, 7-2 Alandi, 4-1 Profound Beauty, Schiaparelli, 9-1 All the Aces, 25-1 Clowance, 40-1 Moon Indigo, 150-1 Bashkirov.
Australian jockeys stage walkout
AUSTRALIAN JOCKEYS staged a mass nationwide walkout yesterday in protest at the introduction of new rules restricting the use of whips.
Race meetings in four different states were cancelled when leading jockeys refused to continue riding after the Australian Racing Board (ARB) rejected their plea to amend the new laws.
The ARB introduced rules at the start of last month implementing the use of padded whips and restricting the number of times jockeys can hit a horse in the last 200 metres of a race.
But the decision over the number of times jockeys can hit their horses has been widely criticised by sections of the racing community who believe the rules prevent horses from racing on their merits and the subsequent penalties and suspensions handed down to jockeys were unfair.
Jockeys asked to be allowed to use their own discretion over the last 100 metres of a race as long as they were in contention, but their request was rejected.
Yesterday’s walkout threatens to spill over into this weekend’s multi-million dollar Spring Carnival races but the ARB are standing by their new rules.
