St Leger tips: Horse-by-horse guide to Doncaster Classic

Betfred St Leger Stakes (Group 1)

• When: 3.40 Saturday September 13
• Where: Doncaster Racecourse
• First prize: £396,970
• Going: Good to Soft, Soft in places
• TV: ITV1 & Sky Sports Racing (Sky 415)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook | Free bets

CARMERS (Paddy Twomey)

Form: 1112

Odds (Paddy Power): 5/1

Low-mileage Wootton Bassett colt who made it three from three on the track when beating Furthur, Rahiebb and Scandinavia in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot in June. Suffered the first defeat of his life when runner-up to the gelded Pride Of Arras in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur at York (Stay True and Lambourn behind) last time. Return to longer trip this weekend will suit and open to more improvement so has to be taken seriously.

FURTHUR (Andrew Balding)

Form: -15251

Odds: 12/1

Has a rather patchy profile, having been well held by Lambourn and Scandinavia earlier in the year before he pushed Carmers close at the Royal meeting over the Leger trip and bounced back with what looked a new PB to win the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer at Newbury last month. He’ll need a touch more to be competitive in Saturday's Classic but his sire Waldgeist got better with age and foolish to think Andrew Balding’s colt has now reached his peak.

LAMBOURN (Aidan O’Brien)

Form: -21115

Odds: 5/2

Dual Derby hero who flopped when odds-on favourite for the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur at York last month. Trainer strongly suggested that race was needed to sharpen him up again after six weeks off and he did box on quite bravely after being headed, going down by three lengths in the end. Looks like he’ll stay the Leger trip with no trouble whatsoever and he’s proven on soft ground too from his juvenile days so no shock if he bounces straight back with a big performance.

RAHIEBB (Roger Varian)

Form: 122234

Odds: 33/1

Frankel colt who didn’t made the track at two but has been making up for that in terms of this year’s appearances, gaining plenty of big-race experience since winning his novice on debut at Newcastle back in March. Second to Merchant (when conceding him 8lb) in a York handicap at the Dante meeting reads like good form and he didn’t get a trouble-free passage before finishing a one-length third to Carmers in the Queen’s Vase. Rain and messy flag-start the likely excuses in Goodwood’s Gordon Stakes last time but still looks a little bit out of his depth at Group 1 level on all known form.

SCANDINAVIA (Aidan O’Brien)

Form: 7-1511

Odds: 5/4 favourite

Has been something of a slow burner, ending last year without a win from three starts and, after breaking his maiden tag at Navan in May, he could manage only fifth behind a few of these rivals in the Queen’s Vase. The addition of cheekpieces appear to have turned things around, though, a striking win in the Bahrain Trophy backed up by a narrow success against some top-class older horses in the Goodwood Cup last time. Was getting a stone in weight from runner-up Illinois that day but he looks a major contender for all the big Cup races if kept in training next term and the horse to beat here (albeit unraced on soft ground).

STAY TRUE (Aidan O’Brien)

Form: 124

Odds: 7/1

Lightly-raced colt from the final crop of great sire Galileo. Unraced at two, he made a good impression this spring when winning a Leopardstown maiden (10f) before going down by a short-head to stablemate Puppet Master in the Lingfield Derby Trial. Looked a shade unlucky on that occasion and although not seen again until resuming in the Great Voltigeur, he shaped with abundant promise again at York (replay below). That recent run is entitled to have sharpened him up and every chance he stays this longer trip well enough to make his presence felt.

TARRIANCE (Andrew Balding)

Form: 31211

Odds: 33/1

A second potential runner for his trainer and clearly on an upward trajectory having won handicaps at Sandown and York (Melrose) since stepped up to a mile-and-three-quarters. Revised official rating of 101 still leaves him with a mountain to climb on the face of it but consistency looks a strong suit and won’t be lacking in terms of stamina (untried on ground worse than good although times suggest it was good to soft when he scored at Sandown).

Verdict

Seemingly another St Leger at the mercy of Aidan O'Brien, who has won the final Classic eight times including in the past two renewals with Continuous and Jan Brueghel.

Dual Derby winner Lambourn looked particularly rusty when reappearing in the Great Voltigeur at York last month and would love this to become a soft-ground test but SCANDINAVIA already appears to have progressed right up to his level - if not beyond - since the cheekpieces went on and he's going to be very hard to oppose after downing the older horses in the Goodwood Cup, a feat last achieved by a three-year-old in 2017 and the great Stradivarius.

He's unproven on bad ground but there had been plenty of rain when he won over two miles at Goodwood and a real slog would likely play to his strengths anyway. The 5/4 on offer at the five-day stage doesn't look a bad price all things considered.

Carmers will have his supporters and going back up in trip looks a positive step for him, although the one to take from the York race might be O'Brien third-string Stay True, who you wouldn't bet against staying this trip (by Galileo). He's got untapped potential but needs to raise his game massively to beat Scandinavia who rates a genuine Gold Cup horse for 2026.

Updated at 1040 BST on 11/09/25

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