Five horses to follow at Doncaster on Thursday
By Alex Scott
Last Updated: Wed 9 Sep 2026
Dave Nevison, Graham Clark, Andy Stephens (RaceiQ) and Alex Scott all share selections for the first day of the St Leger meeting at Doncaster.
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1.50 Doncaster: Night In Vegas
Tipster: Andy Stephens.
Best odds: 5-4.
Night In Vegas boasts the best form in this valuable Sales race but, by dint of the race conditions, also has one of the lowest weights to carry.
He got a Time Index of 7.1 when the meeting average was 5.5 when beating Zigazig Ah in a similar race at Newmarket last time, with his final furlong of 12.02sec being classed as “very fast”.
None of his rivals could get near the 23.21sec he took to complete the final two furlongs, with only two of them dipping under 24sec.
The runner-up had previously landed the Super Sprint (Time Index of 8 when the meeting average was 5.9) but it's hard to see how him turning the tables on 5lb worse terms, even if their respective draws suggests he has a 0.57 length advantage.
Enjoy our RaceiQ pace maps
2.25 Doncaster: Knights Charge
Tipster: Race iQ nap of the day (Andy Stephens).
Best odds: 7-2.
Knights Charge signed off with two very fast furlongs when winning at Nottingham last time, having shown similar late dash when previously beating the now 89-rated Cyrano De Bergerac by five lengths on level weight at Lingfield.
His opening handicap mark of 91 may underestimate him and he has a plum draw in stall 1. RaceiQ's Pace and Draw map, based on 14 years of evidence, points to that giving him a 0.85 length head start.
Another Eclipse and Davydenko have both won from gate 1 since 2018, while five winners since 2017 have been drawn 4 or lower.
In addition, trainer Roger Varian’s Actual versus Expected (A/E) at Doncaster is a glowing 1.58 (meaning his runners at the track have exceeded market expectations by 58% over the past year) and you would be in profit had you blindly backed all his 400 runners at the track since he started training.
3.00 Doncaster: Cameo
Tipster: Alex Scott.
Best odds: 18-1 (each-way).
Three-year-olds have an excellent record in the Betfred Park Hill Stakes and this year there are only two fillies from the Classic generation.
One of those, Prizeland, is vying for favouritism, but the other, Cameo, is 18-1 despite having beaten her more fancied rival by almost five lengths at Lingfield in May.
Of course, a lot has happened since then, but there is reason to believe Aidan O'Brien's daughter of Wootton Bassett is capable of much better than she has shown since.
The ground was probably too testing in the Oaks itself and the trip clearly too short at Navan the time after, but last time she was only beaten two and three quarter lengths last time when not ridden to best effect over a mile and a half.
She appears crying out for a stronger test of stamina, and that is exactly what she gets here. She has each-way claims at big odds, with Ryan Moore taking over for the first time since her emphatic Oaks Trial victory in the spring.
4.45 Doncaster: Storm Blade
Tipster: Graham Clark.
Best odds: 4-1.
The switch to nurseries should see Storm Blade to a much better effect, and with Andrew Balding’s team in flying form he is taken to defy an opening mark of 81.
After running slightly green on his second start at Sandown Park on his first go over seven furlongs, the Night Of Thunder colt shaped much better last time out at Chester.
Although he still showed some signs of immaturity, the penny is clearly starting to drop given the way he finished and he can take another step forward here.
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5.20 Doncaster: Itica
Tipster: Dave Nevison.
Best odds: 11-2.
Itica won a seriously valuable seller at Goodwood to break his maiden last time out and might well be able to follow up under a 6lb penalty now that he is switched to handicaps for the first time.
The Andrew Balding gelding has obviously returned from a midsummer break in very good form and was evidently well suited by the step up in trip on easier ground last time out. He obviously goes well for Oisin Murphy and is off bottom weight here.
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