Saint George

Saint George put up a big performance to finish second behind Gregory in the Queen’s Vase. Always travelling well in mid-division along the inside, he got a nice gap on the inside early in the home straight and he made good progress easily as Gregory kicked for home from the front. He moved into second place inside the two-furlong marker and, as he angled out, it looked like he was a real threat to Gregory, he traded at 1.25 in-running. In the end, he couldn’t overhaul his talented and gritty rival, but he ran him close, and he pulled well clear of third-placed Chesspiece.

It was a really good run by Andrew Balding’s colt, to get as close to the warm favourite and the new St Leger favourite as he did. He travelled like a high-class horse, and he was fastest of all through the third last and second last furlongs. He is seriously progressive, he won a novice stakes at Southwell in April and he won a handicap at Doncaster in early June off a mark of 84. This was obviously a big step forward from that, and it was only his fifth run ever, so he has lots of scope to continue his progression. The fact that he is one for one at Doncaster, over the St Leger course and distance, is obviously a positive if connections decide to target the St Leger now.
Ascot, 21^st June 2023