Unfashionable Leger still has some charm

By Alan Conway

As with many walks of life what is currently in vogue will always be popular with people. What is not in at the moment will be discarded and left to one side. In many respects this is what has happened to the St Legers due to be run at Doncaster and The Curragh respectively this weekend. Once races full of prestige they have now become, for many trainers, an afterthought after a busy season. It’s a shame but the fact is that for many the St Leger has lost its standing as one of best races in the world and has been looked over ahead of more important races in the autumn.

Yet the St Leger has provided us with some magical moments. Think Lester winning his 30th classic on Commanche Run, or on the majestic Nijinsky to capture the triple crown in 1970. More recently there was Pat Eddery landing his 3000th winner aboard Silver Patriarch, Frankie Dettori bagging a classic for Coolmore and who could forget Sir Michael Stoute banishing his St Leger hoodoo when Conduit won.

All great memories, but sadly the St Leger has slipped from the public conscious. Rarely these days does a St Leger winner have an aura about him. Apart from Conduit none of the Leger winners in the past number of years have progressed after winning the race.

The race demands so much of a horse. Not only are they racing for a mile and six furlongs but they also have to face a four furlong run-in which would test the mettle of the best of horses. It may be one of the reasons why connections of Sea The Stars decided to skip Town Moor and head straight for the Arc last year.

In years gone by a St Leger winner was a valuable commodity. Now the winner of the race can be guaranteed a life of covering jump mares, while the winner of a Derby or a Guineas can cover the best flat mares around. How has this happened?

The trend over the last number of years has been to focus a lot more on speed. Horses who can stay a mile and a half but who also have the speed to win over a mile and a quarter, like High Chaparral for instance, become hot stallion prospects.

Yet a horse like Milan or Scorpion who both won the English St Leger are banished to the jumping wing of Coolmore Stud. It cannot be good for the breed of the flat horse if everyone is focusing on speed all the time to the detriment of stamina. There has to be some balance in the breeding shed.

Maybe in time the current bias to speed will tip back in favour of stamina but for the moment it seems that the Leger will continue to suffer from a prestige and racing point of view. It makes the effort of the team at Doncaster to rebuild the brand of the St Leger even more praiseworthy. I hope their hard work is rewarded with a fantastic race on Saturday. The oldest classic deserves nothing less.

By Alan Conway