Timeform's David Cleary with his early thoughts on Jan Brueghel's victory in the Betfred St Leger.
The 2024 renewal of the oldest classic produced a cracking finish at the end of a race that was hardly the out-and-out test of stamina that this contest can sometimes be. That said, the finish was still one where the winner had to grind things out, the unbeaten Jan Brueghel coming out narrowly on top of his stable companion Illinois, a neck between them at the line.
Before the race, the field looked a little substandard with the best of the summer's mile-and-a-half three-year-old colts missing. After he was beaten in the Guineas, the chance of City of Troy turning up in the St Leger was nil, but Los Angeles, third to that horse in the Derby and the narrow winner of the Great Voltigeur, would have been better off here than in the Irish Champion 15 minutes earlier.
In the event, despite doubts of the standard beforehand, the first two probably found a little improvement for going up in trip, making the race an average running, if not quite a superior one.
Jan Brueghel, making just his fourth racecourse appearance, looked as if his relative lack of experience might cost him in his tussle with Illinois, but, as in the Gordon Stakes, he kept finding despite looking still a bit gawky. As for his future, there ought to be more to come, though he had quite a tough race for a still raw recruit. It might be that plotting a four-year-old campaign at a mile and a half or further will be the priority. Jan Brueghel is a well-made colt who definitely looks as if he will be even better with another winter behind him.
