The St Leger is racing’s oldest Classic and the colours on the first three horses home here on Saturday were suitably steeped in tradition, but the sell-out crowd in the grandstand, the king and queen among them, was denied the fairytale result that so many had hoped to see. Desert Hero, in the royal colours, could finish only third behind Continuous, the 3-1 second-favourite, and the long wait for a Classic winner owned by the reigning monarch will go into a 47th year at least.
It was a case of close but not close enough for Frankie Dettori, too, as the soon-to-be retired former champion, in the pink, green and white of the Juddmonte operation, was just under three lengths behind Continuous in second place aboard Arrest, the 11-4 favourite.
The placed horses never seriously threatened the winner, however, from the moment that Ryan Moore fired Continuous into a clear lead with an impressive burst of speed a quarter of a mile from home. From there, the only question was whether Continuous’s stamina would hold out, and the answer was emphatic as he stayed on powerfully to the line.
Thirsk
1.50 It’s How We Roll
2.20 Macarone
2.55 Marie’s Secret
3.30 Zabriskie Point
4.05 Strip Out
4.40 Mezzo Soprano
5.15 Victoria Falls
5.50 Ey Up Its Jazz
Brighton
1.55 Concierge
2.30 Harry The Haggler
3.05 Send In The Clouds
3.40 Plus Point
4.15 Green Power
4.45 Iconic Knight
5.20 Voodoo Ray
Worcester
2.05 Fringill Dike
2.40 Hang In There
3.15 Little Peter
3.50 Basman Palace
4.25 Alright Dai
5.00 The Geordie Ginge
5.35 Ocean Reach
6.10 Classic Concorde
Kempton Park
4.52 Pinpoint
5.30 King Of Ithaca
6.00 Vultar
6.30 Heavens To Betsy
7.00 Green Team (nap)
7.30 King Of The Dance (nb)
8.00 Red Hat Eagle
8.30 Albus Anne
Aidan O’Brien paid tribute both to the royal presence at Town Moor and the jockey on the runner-up after welcoming his seventh Leger winner back to the winner’s enclosure.
“It’s so special that the king and queen were here, you could see the buzz around the parade ring and the passion from the crowd.
“Frankie is another who is special, he has been unbelievable. He’s beaten us in so many races, I cannot tell you, and I can’t wait until he retires. He’s the most unbelievable rider we’ve ever seen and a great fellow too, a very kind man, there’s no side to Frankie.
“He’s ridden a lot of big winners for us, but he’s beaten us more than he’s won for us.”
Continuous could now be a late entrant into the reckoning for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on 1 October, depending on how much O’Brien feels that Saturday’s win has taken out of him.
“There are a lot of possibilities,” O’Brien said. “It will be down to the lads [in the Coolmore Stud syndicate which owns Continuous]. The Arc is in two weeks and is a possibility, but we’ll talk to Ryan and see what they want to do.
“He’s a lot of class, this horse, and he does stay and he does handle soft ground. There is every chance he could [run in Paris], he’s a hardy horse and he could back up in two weeks.”
Doncaster 1.50 Richard P Smith, 2.25 Reminder (nap), 3.00 Oh Herberts Reign, 3.35 Cachet, 4.10 Raasel, 4.45 Charming Whisper (nb), 5.20 J R Cavagin
Musselburgh 2.15 Indispensable, 2.50 Sacred Falls, 3.25 Bulls Aye, 4.00 Princess Karine, 4.35 Smart Lass, 5.10 Haizoom, 5.45 Doomsday
The Arc would be a very ambitious target for Continuous, as no Leger winner has ever followed up at Longchamp a few weeks later, and Ballymoss, who took the final Classic in 1957 and the Arc in 1958, is the only horse on the roll of honour for both races.
But as he demonstrated here, the son of the Japanese stallion Heart’s Cry has a potent turn of foot, which is not blunted by cut in the ground, and Moore said afterwards that he had always been confident that Continuous would prevail.
“Over these trips you want the horse to be taking you and I knew a long way out that he was going well,” Moore said. “He’s out of a Galileo mare so I was always confident he’d stay. He showed a really good turn of foot to put the race to bed and then just had a look around in the final furlong.”
Continuous was cut to around 12-1 (from 33-1) for the Arc, in a market currently headed by Ace Impact, the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner, at 7-2.
