St Leger betting
It’s the oldest Classic in the history books and the last in the horse racing calendar, and you can count on William Hill to have all the St Leger betting angles covered.
Devised by soldier and MP Anthony St Leger, the race was first run in 1776 - beating the Epsom Oaks by three years - initially over 2m and eventually cut to the 1m6f spectacle we see today.
You’ll find the usual suspects of the flat among the entries, with Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien pulling off a few short-priced wins in recent seasons, after the Ballydoyle maestro had posted an eight-year winless spell in the race.
For the home team, John Gosden usually has a runner in the Doncaster spectacle and can rely on plenty of support, having banked a handful of St Leger victories and a sackful of top-three finishes during his illustrious career.
There’s a long time to wait between the Derby and Oaks and the St Leger, and a multitude of big-money races for the top three-year-olds to enjoy or endure, so expect plenty of movement in the William Hill betting markets as the summer stretches on.
A run in the Derby has proved a good omen of late for St Leger winners, although success at Epsom in early June and doubling up at Doncaster three-and-a-half months later is extremely rare.
Vanishingly few have reached South Yorkshire with a chance of landing the Triple Crown, particularly over the past century or so, but one or two superstars still slip through the cracks for a shot at making history.
William Hill will be there every step of the way as the season unfolds and the stayers start to emerge from the current crop of top three-year-olds.
The St Leger betting early value
Typically, St Leger winners have had at least one run as a two-year old and often two or more. Simple Verse and Harbour Law - neither of whom were trained at what would be considered the ‘top’ yards – were exceptions to this trend in 2015 and 2016.
Simple Verse and Harbour Law also share the distinction of debuting on Lingfield’s synthetic surface, a tactic that seems to work wonders for some St Leger contenders.
Conduit, Mastery and Arctic Cosmos all had at least one spin around an all-weather track en route to St Leger glory, the former and the latter doing so during their juvenile campaigns.
In Ireland, keep an eye on two-year-old maidens at The Curragh during July and August, with Aidan O’Brien pair Capri and Kew Gardens both debuting at the Kildare course ahead of taking the St Leger spoils in 2017 and 2018.
The St Leger betting market moves
With the last Classic of the year always so late in the season, there’s plenty of scope for seismic market shifts as the drama plays out.
Several recent St Leger winners had an unhappy time at Epsom a few months earlier, with Kingston Hill, Capri and Kew Gardens all defeated in the Derby, and Masked Marvel and Surprise both beaten in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Cup.
All five ran again before heading north to Doncaster, with Ascot often providing the buffer between the Classics and proving a fruitful stop-off for many on the road to St Leger success.
Following the Royal meeting, the St Leger betting market gets down to the business end as bettors judge which horses are shaping like they have the extra distance in their locker, and which look certain to come up short.
The market has proved a reasonably-reliable guide of late, with a smattering of short-priced winners masking the odd longshot. Visit news.williamhill.com to follow all the latest St Leger odds, betting tips and market moves.
St Leger trends to follow
St Leger winners generally manage to make the each-way places in the race directly before they head to Yorkshire, and have usually had their last run within two months of Doncaster’s big day.
At least two previous career wins is seemingly essential going into the clash, and a Group race victory or two tends to be a good look.
Stallion Sadler’s Wells is the dominant figure in the bloodlines of St Leger winners in recent years, as grandsire to Kew Gardens, Capri, Simple Verse, Leading Light and Masked Marvel.
Triple Crown
The difficulty of winning a trio of Classics at Newmarket, Epsom and Doncaster was brought home by the failure of Aidan O’Brien’s remarkable colt Camelot, who came up short in the St Leger by less than a length in 2012, when 2/5 favourite.
Given Camelot was only the fifth horse - and second colt - since 1935 to even stand a chance of taking the Triple Crown, having won the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby, the eyes of the bloodstock world are on his career at stud.
Nijinsky was the last colt to claim the Triple Crown in 1970, with Oh So Sharp the last filly in 1985.
Fillies or colts in the St Leger odds?
Simple Verse’s 2015 St Leger triumph was the first by a female for 23 years, so the boys seem to have this locked down, but keep an eye on entries from the filly’s trainer, Ralph Beckett, who also has a couple of Oaks winners in his back catalogue.
Trainers to watch
Some powerful yards have enjoyed plenty of success in the St Leger. Aidan O’Brien is a six-time winner, with the likes of Milan, Scorpion and Kew Gardens all coming out victorious.
Harbour Law’s handler Laura Mongan became only the fourth woman to train a Classic winner, and the second youngest behind 1,000 Guineas expert Criquette Head-Maarek.
John Gosden has won the race five times, most recently in 2019, when Logician stayed on strongly to win the first Group 1 of his career.
Despite plenty of success for Aidan, another O’Brien added his name to the list of winning trainers last year. This time, it was his son, Joseph, who saddled his first British Classic winner, Galileo Chrome.
Jockeys to watch
William Buick, Ryan Moore and Andrea Atzeni are all dual winning riders in the St Leger, while Frankie Dettori has bagged the Classic six times.
Buick could have the chance to notch a third St Leger winner this year. Adayar will be towards the top of the St Leger betting after his Derby win, but it’ll give trainer Charlie Appleby a decision to make. Will he give the ride to one of the Godolphin retained riders – Buick or James Doyle – or stick with Adam Kirby, who did the steering at Epsom?
Meanwhile, last year’s winning jockey, Tom Marquand, could have a plumb ride on Alenquer, who made it three wins from four in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
By a quirk of chance, jockeys have frequently bagged the St Leger two years running over the past couple of decades, with Frankie Dettori managing so twice, alongside Buick, Atzeni and Ryan Moore.
To keep up with all the latest news and tips ahead of the St Leger, visit news.williamhill.com.
