St Leger preview: quotes from connections plus big-race tip
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Fri 11 Sep 2026
It is exactly five years to the day the famous Niarchos silks were last carried to Group One victory and Enceladus will attempt to put the sky blue cross belts back where they belong in the 250th Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.
The Niarchos family, now racing under the banner of Flaxman Stables in Ireland, have had to wait for a horse capable of taking them back to past glories, with Discoveries their last winner at the top table in the Moyglare Stud Stakes in 2021.
But with Joseph O’Brien’s improving three-year-old, the family have a chance to go one better than Minds Music managed when he chased home Classic Cliche in the world’s oldest Classic in 1995.
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“It would mean so much to the family to see these colours successful again,” said racing manager Aurelien Voileau. “The family haven’t won a Group One for five years now so winning here, in a Classic and a legend of a race with 250 years of history, would be a very exciting moment.
“After winning the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood we were wondering whether to go to the Great Voltigeur on the way to Saturday, but Joseph was quite happy to give him a bit more time and his preparation has been very good.
“He is very happy with the colt and he is in good form and he just put the cheekpieces on for the first time to make sure he stays sharp for the entire distance.
“It is the first time over this trip and it will be interesting to see how he handles that. Joseph is quite happy to go to a mile and six furlongs on Saturday as a first step, but he would also be very happy to come back in distance in the future.”
Billy Loughnane has replaced the currently sidelined Dylan Browne McMonagle’s after the latter’s fall at Bellewstown robbed the colt of his regular partner.
“It is not great news that Dylan is not aboard, but we have secured a great jockey and we are very pleased to have Billy Loughnane riding,” said Voileau.
O’Brien has a second contender as he tries to land a second win in the race following Galileo Chrome in 2020, with the improving Highwayman set to give Saffie Osborne a first ride in the race.
She said: “I’m very excited to ride in the Leger on Saturday. I’m very honoured to be riding for Joseph and his connections.
“It’s obviously a very competitive race, as you’d expect for a British Classic.”
Osborne will be one of the riders trying to thread a path through the massed ranks of Ballydoyle, with Aidan O’Brien fielding a quartet of runners as he seeks to land a 10th Leger and a fourth consecutive win following the recent triumphs of Continuous, Jan Brueghel and Scandinavia 12 months ago.
Pierre Bonnard and Christmas Day were separated by two and a quarter lengths when second and third behind Maltese Cross in the Great Voltigeur and O’Brien told sponsors Betfred there may be not much between them on Town Moor.
“The whole team has wanted Christmas Day to stay in the Classics and to go from the Derby to the Leger is very special. Very few horses have done it. He’s shown he has the class to win a Derby and he had a lovely run in York as a trial where we were very happy with him,” said O’Brien.
“We’ve always liked Pierre Bonnard a lot and he’s a very classy horse. He finished second in York, but we’ve always thought the world of him and he ran very well and we think the Leger trip will suit him. We don’t believe we’ve seen the best of him yet.”
Andrew Balding leads the home challenge in numerical terms, fielding two colts in Galiyan (Danny Tudhope) and Hatteen, who will provide a first ride in a Classic for former Qatari champion jockey Faleh Bughenaim.
Hatteen takes a significant step up in class from a Goodwood handicap to Group One company, but having secured entry via a ‘win and you’re in’ race at Doncaster earlier in the season, his trainer is happy to let the horse take his chance.
“I thought he ran very well at Goodwood in a strong handicap,” said Balding. “He has improved with each start and while one mile and six furlongs will be a question mark, if he stays, he’s going in the right direction to run a really good race.”
Galiyan was 21 lengths behind Maltese Cross in fifth in the Great Voltigeur and looks to have it all to do to turn around form with both Pierre Bonnard and Christmas Day.
But Balding believes there are reasons to be hopeful, adding: “Stamina should not be an issue. He ran very well in the Bahrain Trophy and I am hoping we can leave the York run behind us.”
Alderman is another looking to prove recent form wrong, having been a fast-finishing fifth in the Derby.
“We were delighted with Alderman’s run in the Derby,” said trainer Richard Hannon. “This has been the target all year since that run. The ground was much too firm when he ran in the Bahrain Trophy.”
North Yorkshire trainer Karl Burke runs Golden Story, who could be an improver over the trip with the course likely to suit.
“Karl wasn’t sure where to go with him, he was in the Leger and while we looked at a few other races, the one thing we know is he’ll appreciate a galloping track,” said Philip Robinson, racing manager to Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum.
“Sheikh Rashid was happy to let him take his chance and see how he gets on. We’re not 100 per cent he’ll get a mile and six, but we’ll find that out on the day and that will tell us where to go.
“He showed a good attitude at Goodwood to win, but did too much early on at Ascot. We always had ideas he might be a Leger horse early on.”
Faye Bramley’s outsider Rebel Rocker completes the 11-strong field.
RaceiQ: Your ultimate guide to the St Leger and forecast 1-2-3
The drying ground will suit the fluent moving Enceladus, above, and this galloping track should suit him even better than Ascot and Goodwood. He can improve again, with Christmas Day the obvious threat among those certain to line up. Hatteen also merits attention for each-way purposes.
1 ENCELADUS 2 CHRISTMAS DAY 3 HATTEEN
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