St Leger

[kompressaur]

Is the St Leger coming up? I don't really touch the horses these days barr the odd tip from here and from pals. Speaking to an old pal i aint seen for a while yesterday who seems to be doing ok with his horses (i gave him Albania and Southend for his footy coupon:) ) He was talking about next weeks big race and had strong feelings about a horse called Percussion or something. Anyone confirm that it is the st Leger next week and that there's a horse of a similar name in the race? Anyone got any fancies themselves?

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

St Leger Yep, St Ledger Sat 11th Doncaster 3.15. Im guessing you're after Percussionist.J.Gosden trained, good form up until last race. Won a Grp 3 race over 11 furlongs by 10 lengths. Second and third in that have gone on to have respectable runs. Came 4th in the Derby over 12f, getting beaten for a place on the line. It's last run came at the Curragh (over 12f)coming last of 12. Trainers explanation was it didnt like the ground(GF, other runs have been on Gd,Sft or GS) Reading the trainers details about its Ling win in the Grp 3 race I remember watching it. The horse was well clear and then veered across the track. Would have won by about 15 lengths otherwise. Apparently it was scared of a Ch4 camera. This raised some doubts to its Derby credentials and wether it would cope with such a large crowd etc. Didnt seem to cause problems though. My main concern is that the Ledger is 2f further than its raced before but that seems to be the case for most. ID be wanting ground GS or Sft as its worse run was on GF and it was caught late on Good. Yet was pulling away from a listed horse on GS. Most bookies seem to be going around 7 - 8/1 at the mo, about 5th in the market. Two of the horses ahead of it are the only two others from the Derby, the pair that got up to beat it on the line.

[Aykay1]

Re: St Leger Komp, the horse in question is PERCUSSIONIST. This horse has a major chance in my opinion and if we get rain this week i'll be betting it - i think you can get 8/1 widely available at the mo. He really wants soft ground but finished a good 4th in the Derby on Good ground so thats probably the firmest he wants it. (He trailed in last of 10 in his last race in Ireland and the trainer John Gosden blamd the good/firm ground for the crap performance) so it might be worth checking the weather forecast for the rest of the week before betting. Lets hope for a bit of rain!! He has won twice on softish ground this year, on the latter occasion he absolutely hammered the top class Hazyview by 10 lengths!! :eek . Hazyview has since won in Listed class so that form is very good. Its accepted that the horses strength is his stamina so although the St Leger is an extra quarter mile that any race he has run in before this shouldnt be a problem. Lets start the raindancing this week and we have a good bet i reckon. :ok

[Aykay1]

St Leger beat me to it WFTE :lol

[Guest TheTrebleKing]

Re: St Leger i'm gonna go for Rule of Law in the St Leger, seems to cope well on most ground, and i think this step up in trip will suit.

[Guest whoneedsrio]

Re: St Leger According to reports from John Sanderson the clerk of the course Doncaster have just finished a program of watering & the forcast for the week is for it to remain dry. The idea will be to have good safe racing ground which if the horse is good enough it will act on. This IMO is how it should be, do we really want to see them struggling hock deep, strung out like three mile chasers or do we want a race which the worlds oldest classic deserves? On the form in the book Percussionist is not good enough. The form of the Lingfield Derby trial is suspect, Hazyview is far from top class, on ground which was bad enough for North Light to be pulled out hazyview was never going to stay a mile & a half. A listed race win is nowhere near the form from Group 1 & 2. It may be that Percussionist runs a big race on good ground over this trip but there is more solid form in the book. Were it to come up soft the filly Quiff would have a major chance. The Yorkshire Oaks form is solid Group 1, however she hated the fast ground in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot & the stable are making noises about defecting to Longchamp on Sunday. The Derby, Irish derby & Great Voltiguer form is also solid Group 1 & 2. Rule of Law has beaten Let the Lion Roar fair & square in these races & in the Dante before hand on all types of going. Both of these finished in front of Percussionist in both Derbys & while I accept he hated the ground in Ireland unless they both fail to stay I see no good reason why he should turn around the form with both of them. There is however I believe a value bet in the race. Tycoon finished just in front of Rule of Law in the Irish Derby & was in the process of running a big race in the King george when stopped in his tracks & forced to switch. Ok he would not have beaten Doyen but this one is likely to be the champion middle distance horse in Europe this season. LTO he got stuck in the mud at York & with the forecast faster ground & the step up in trip he looks a fair bet to me at 10/1 when Rule of Law is as short as 2/1. All the best, Rio.

[kompressaur]

St Leger Cheers Rio. I'll ask him if i see him on what basis he fancied it. Was there any pointers to it's form on Saturday past? Could have a look at your Tycoon Rio.

[Guest Oddsfellow]

St Leger Front page of the RFO this week is the writeup for the selection of Percussionist. Trip suits, good word from connections, and good recent workout all cited as reasons for backing.

[Guest TheTrebleKing]

St Leger i think i'll attempt a R/fc on Rule of Law and Tycoon, there is certainly money to be made there. what stands out about Rule of Law is his form running against North Light, never more than 2 lengths behind, hopefully the ground will be soft enough in places in the leger so Rule of Law may get the upper hand, also its a pretty consistent horse. i'll be watching the weather forecast over the next few days, if enough rain (good to soft) then a big win bet on Rule of Law i think. only thing that concerns me is that Darsalam is a proven stayer, bred from stayers, and has already demolished this trip by 9 lengths on its last outing carrying an extra 2lbs, and its form gives a tug of the sleeve over in its direction. but i'll stick to my guns without hesitation, just cry later when i'm wrong :lol £50 R/fc for now :)

[Aykay1]

n/r Percussionist pulled out on account of the fast ground. Guess my raindance didnt work then :(

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Suez TrebleKing, just checked the RP entries. SUEZ Entered in the following races :- 18 Sep 2004 2:50 (Five Day) at NEWBURY, Watership Down Stud Sales Race (Fillies) 30 Sep 2004 2:25 (Five Day) at NEWMARKET, Sky Bet Cheveley Park Stakes (Group 1) (Fillies) I will indeed "keep an eye out". ;)

[Guest whoneedsrio]

Re: n/r According to this piece from the RP Percussionist misses the race because his bloods not right. "He does not run. His bloods are slightly off so at the moment we are monitoring them. If he were to do a nice piece of work next week he might run in the Arc Trial at Newbury," said Ben Sangster on Thursday. "I spoke to John Gosden this morning and his white cell count is high, quite how high I don't know, but he thinks the problem can be rectified over the weekend with a little bit of luck." However they may also be worried about the ground, there is rain forecast but enough to turn the going soft? The Dazzler has picked up the ride on Tycoon, this is a bonus because while Spencer is a good jockey he's the sort that can ride a race more like Frank spencer than a top jock. Unless a monsoon turns up I'm quite happy with what I've got. Rio.

[Guest TheTrebleKing]

St Leger Darsalam is still niggling me, available at 66/1 and the only horse in the race to run this trip, aswell as win over this trip. a value e-way bet methinks, 1/4 odds 1,2 + 3.

[Guest whoneedsrio]

St Leger thoughts Just a few after the race thoughts. I was working Friday night & again last night, I was up just before the race & watched it live & initially I was a little disappointed with the run of Tycoon. Off a steady early pace I thought that the horse had been given too much to do in the straight. However I have watched the race again this afternoon & while I still think Holland could have started riding a bit earlier I am now thinking that the horse was proving difficult to settle early & in the circumstances ran a fair race. The solid group 1 form came out on top & the performance of the filly Quiff on ground faster than ideal was exellent. Connections seem to be saying that they don't know whats left for her this year but she could stay in training next season. Only a couple of firms have her in the Arc betting & it may be we have seen the last of her this year. Rule of Law deserved to win a big one & stuck his neck out bravely when it looked like the filly had him, however the real eyecatcher here is the jockey. I have been watching this kid closely & I have no doubts now that this is the real deal. That was a piece of riding from the front that Steve Cauthen would have been proud of & I expect owners & trainers to be falling over themselves to put him up for the rest of this season at least. I shall be looking to see what he rides till the end of the season especially the rides from outside Godolphin. All the best, Rio.