Trainer Dermot Weld will skip St. Leger with Harzand (Photo credit: © Lukas Blazek | Dreamstime.com)
With the upcoming St Leger horse racing meeting now just a matter of weeks away, the news that previous favourite Harzand will not be making an appearance at Doncaster has come as a disappointment to many. Trainer Dermot Weld is believed to favour October’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, for a horse that has ran out the winner in four out of five starts to date.
With Harzand now the 6/1 favourite for the race at Chantilly with bookmakers Betway, there is little to separate the frontrunners for the St Leger.
Record breaking trainer Aidan O’Brien unsurprisingly looks set to throw everything at a win at Doncaster, with the Irishman entering a total of sixteen entries from the forty-two strong field. Prized assets US Army Ranger and Idaho currently lead the way in the horse racing odds from Betway, and having ran out second and third respectively in the recent Derby at Epsom, they could well be worth backing come race day.
Elsewhere for O’Brien, the likes of Housesofparliament, Sword Fighter and Even Song will all be in with an outside chance, with the latter hoping to be in contention despite disappointment in the Irish Oaks just over a week ago. It could well be a family affair at Doncaster, with Aidan’s son Joseph chasing a first British classic runner in the St Leger. Three-year-old Arya Tara could well be an option for the younger of the two trainers, who won the same race back in 2013 with Leading Light.
With Idaho and Housesofparliament at 4/1 and 10/1 respectively from the at-a-glance odds at Betway, John Gosden trained Wings of Desire looks likely to offer the biggest threat to another O’Brien victory. Gosden is currently searching for a fifth win of the season in the final classic of the campaign, and Wings of Desire and Muntahaa look most likely to provide such a success, with odds of 5/1 and 10/1 respectively from Betway
Elsewhere, having completed a successful run at Saint-Cloud last week, Red Vernon could well be the leading candidate at Doncaster for trainer Ed Dunlop. The three-year-old is also given horse racing odds of 10/1 by Betway, with little separating the leading contenders at this point.
