Ladbrokes St Leger Odds and Preview – Horse Racing Betting September 10

O'Brien and Idaho holds all the aces in final classic

Horse Racing Betting

Ladbrokes’ sponsorship of the final, and oldest, classic of the UK Flat season comes to an end this year and there appears little prospect of it being extended.

Under new British Horse Racing Authority regulations, bookmakers must be a preferred betting partner of the BHA to sponsor races that come under their jurisdiction. Ladbrokes have declined to join the scheme so the St Leger will be looking for a new sponsor next year.

All new customers, via online-betting.me.uk, can receive a free £50 bet from Ladbrokes. Sign up (using promo code F50), deposit and place your a single bet with a stake of £5 or more to receive a free bet up to £50 bet.

Conditions state that free bet will be credited when initial bet has been settled. The stake is not returned on winning free bets and it’s only one free bet per customer. The free bet must be used within 7 days, otherwise it will expire.
All you need to do is register with site via their homepage and deposit your money. Once you place your first single bet Ladbrokes will match this to the value of the bet.
All participants must be 18 or over. Minimum bets are £1 with the maximum stakes will depend on the odds offered. Terms and conditions apply, please see full detail directly at Ladbrokes.

Incidentally, Ladbrokes are also offering money back as a free bet on losers if Idaho wins – that’s some consolation!

The St Leger continually strives to match the profile of the Guineas and Derby meetings and has often fallen out of favour. Few colts attempt the Triple Crown of 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger nowadays and those that do often come up short and dent their reputation. In these days of multi-million pound sires and breeding operations, every defeat can affect stud values.

But, thankfully, there are some leading trainers who continue to give the St Leger whole-hearted support. One of those is Aidan O’Brien, who will probably be on Town Moor this Saturday even though there is a big meeting at Leopardstown taking place at the same time.

St Leger History

Aidan O’Brien has won the St Leger four times previously with Milan (2001), Brian Boru (2003), Scorpion (2005) and Leading Light (2013) – he has three of the nine runners this year including hot favourite Idaho. Laura Mongan will be hoping to make history by becoming the first woman to train the winner of the £700,000 race when she saddles Harbour Law.

The Ladbrokes St Leger is the oldest Classic in the world having first been staged in 1776. The race is named after sportsman and gambler Anthony St Leger, who lived at Park Hill near Doncaster and had the idea of a race for three-year-olds, with colts carrying 8st and fillies 7st 12lb, over two miles.

A field of six lined up for the inaugural St Leger with an unnamed filly by Sampson (later called Allabaculia), owned by Prime Minister the Marquess of Rockingham, beating Colonel St Leger’s unnamed filly by Trusty.

The Classic did not have a title until 1778, when Rockingham proposed that it should carry St Leger’s name, and the same year the event moved to the present site on Doncaster’s Town Moor, with the first two runnings having been staged on nearby Cantley Common.

Trainer/jockey John Mangle, known as ‘Crying Jackie’ for his habit of bursting into tears when beaten, won it five times in the 18th century. Champion, in 1800, became the first Derby winner to go on to St Leger glory, helping enhance the race’s stature. The distance was shortened to one mile, six furlongs and 193 yards in 1813.

West Australian became the first winner of the Triple Crown in 1853, a feat that only 14 other horses have achieved since, most recently Nijinsky in 1970. The legendary Ormonde was one of Fred Archer’s six St Leger winners. The First World War saw the St Leger run at Newmarket from 1915-1918, while during the Second World War it took place at Thirsk in 1940, Manchester in 1941, Newmarket from 1942-1944 and at York in 1945. The only year the St Leger was not staged was 1939 but it was moved temporarily to Ayr in 1989, when the ground was considered unfit on Town Moor, and to York in 2006 when Doncaster was being redeveloped.
Lester Piggott won the Classic eight times but none of his winners was better than the Vincent O’Brien-trained Nijinsky. Masked Marvel set a new course record in 2011, handing trainer John Gosden a third victory in five years and a fourth in all. Gosden’s other successes came courtesy of Shantou (1996), Lucarno (2007) and Arctic Cosmos (2010) and the Newmarket maestro saddles Muntahaa this year.

I was at a Cheltenham preview night in Doncaster earlier this week. The expert panel all agreed that Idaho has the best form in the race. He collared pace-making stablemate Housesofparliament in the Great Voltigeur at York and won going away. That race is recognised as the best trial for this and Seamie Heffernan’s mount had earlier been placed in both the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby. I’ve got to be honest, I just can’t see beyond IDAHO (a best 4/5 with Betway) but you’ll needto stake plenty to make backing him worthwhile.

Frankie Dettori was on that expert panel and was one of a few who put forward Ballydoyle’s third runner Sword Fighter as an each-way alternative at a best 14/1. Frankie isn’t riding at Doncaster this Saturday but knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the oldest classic as he rode Conduit to victory in 2008.

Sword Fighter beat Harbour Law over 2m in the Queen’s Vase at Ascot in June and is a promising stayer who would relish the forecast rain but I can’t get interested in Muntahaa, who struggled to win a Listed handicap atChester last time when apparently well handicapped. If I was going to oppose the favourite, Ventura Storm would probably be my choice (20/1 with Betway) as he beat Ormito in Germany in July and followed that up with victory in a Group 3 at Deauville – he’s come on in leaps and bounds since well beaten in the French Derby.

St Leger Current Best Odds

Idaho (4/5), Muntahaa (9/2), Housesofparliament (7/1), Sword Fighter (14/1), Ventura Storm (20/1), Harbour Law and Ormito (25/1), Harrison (50/1), The Tartan Spartan (100/1)