St Leger Day: Best bet, each-way selection and treble
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Saturday marks the third and final day of Doncaster's flagship fixture, the St Leger Festival, and we have yet another excellent card to look forward to with seven races on the agenda.
Chief among them is the feature, the St Leger itself, and the O'Brien family dominates the entries, with Aidan and Joseph providing six of the 11 runners.
Among the thoroughly competitive supporting card are a couple of Group 2s, including the Champagne Stakes.
Here is everything you need to know about Doncaster's card on Saturday.
St Leger Day - Key info
First race: 13:10 Maiden Stakes
Feature race: 15:35 St Leger Stakes
Doncaster's St Leger Festival concludes on Saturday with the main event of the fixture.
An interesting maiden (13:10) gets us underway and Aidan O'Brien will lock horns with Charlie Appleby once again, and the Group 2 Champagne Stakes (13:45) follows swiftly afterwards. Impressive debut winner Desert Castle heads the field in that contest.
The thoroughly competitive Portland Handicap (14:20) is next and the Group 2 Park Stakes (14:55) is not to be missed. A smart field of eight has been declared for the 7f race.
Our main event is the St Leger (15:35) and Aidan O'Brien will be bidding for a fourth consecutive win in the race. His son Joseph will be hoping to end the winning streak.
The Pertemps Network Handicap (16:15) looks set to be an interesting puzzle to unlock and the action concludes with the PJ Towey Handicap (16:48).
Best bet of the day
Pierre Bonnard to win the St Leger Stakes (15:35) @ 3/1
The St Leger has been Aidan O'Brien's race for the last three years and it would be no surprise to see that trend continuing here.
He will be represented by four runners and the most interesting of the bunch is PIERRE BONNARD.
It was expected that he would be this yard's leading Derby hope off the back of his very impressive performances as a two-year-old, but for whatever reason, things have not gone to plan this season.
However, the St Leger should be the ideal test for him and he can bounce back.
Winning three times as a two-year-old, Aidan O'Brien's colt took out a 1m2f Group 1 in France and longer trips were always going to be his cup of tea on that evidence.
His third in the Irish Derby was a good effort and he was not disgraced when second at York last time out.
Best each-way bet of the day
Dubai Bling in the Portland (14:20) @ 28/1
LiveScore Bet offers five places in this race, and an outsider at a big price could well run into one.
Hugo Palmer's DUBAI BLING landed a valuable 5f handicap at Ascot earlier on in the season and currently finds himself on a 2lb higher mark.
That form received a boost from runner-up Behike next time, as he went on to land a Listed contest in France.
He probably ran better in the Stewards' Cup than his 10th position suggests and was third in Listed company at Newmarket when last seen.
The extended 5f will be fine and he should be capable of making his presence felt off this sort of mark.
St Leger Day acca
Everyone loves an accumulator so we have combined three strong fancies into treble, which pays out at 15/1 with LiveScore Bet.
Bet 1: Back Desert Castle to win the Champagne Stakes (13:45) @ 1/1
Charlie Appleby's colt made an impressive start to his career when winning nicely at Newmarket and you can expect him to take a big step forward from that.
He has a smart pedigree and the early evidence suggests he is up to competing at this level.
Bet 2: Back More Thunder to win the Park Stakes (14:55) @ 11/10
More Thunder was second in the Lockinge on seasonal debut and went on to fill the same spot in the Queen Anne, where he was only half a length behind the winner.
Most of his best form has come over this trip and the 2025 Hungerford Stakes winner should be in the mix.
Bet 3: Back Pierre Bonnard to win the St Leger Stakes (17:35) @ 3/1
Aidan O'Brien's Pierre Bonnard looks like he may be a Cup horse next year if connections decide to keep him in training and he could be hard to beat on his first start over 1m6f.
