An estimated crowd of 2500 punters made a welcome return on the opening day of the St Leger Festival on Wednesday as part of a pilot scheme for sporting events.
It was the first time since March that paying customers in Britain had been allowed back onto a racecourse, and they were spread out across several different zones with strict protocols in place.
But less than an hour into the card, the course were informed that the pilot event would be scrapped due to a rise in coronavirus cases.
But racing goes ahead today on the final day of the festival, with the first at 14h15.
Frankie Dettori has picked up the plum ride on joint favourite Santiago, pictured above, in the St Leger and the 49-year-old, riding for trainer Aidan O’Brien, is seeking his seventh triumph in the world’s oldest Classic.
O’Brien’s principal jockey Ryan Moore will be at Leopardstown, where he has opted to ride Japan – rather than last year’s winner Magical – in the Irish Champion Stakes.
Neil Morrice writes on the Hollywoodbets Sports Blog that the Final Classic has attracted a bigger field than usual, reflecting the wide-open nature of the contest.
As expected, Aidan O’Brien throws his weight behind the contest with three contenders, and his son Joseph with one. SANTIAGO looks the pick of Aidan’s trio with Frankie Dettori in the hot seat, and the Queen’s Vase winner lost no caste in defeat when finishing third to Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup.
Joseph’s GALILEO CHROME brings a strong staying pedigree to the table, and after three straight wins at an admittedly lower level is very much the joker in the pack.
PYLEDRIVER looked the real deal by way of his runaway triumph in York’s Great Voltigeur Stakes, having flopped in the Investec Derby prior to that.
His earlier triumph at Royal Ascot provides him with sufficient evidence to make him the form pick. However, the one with more room for improvement is HUKUM, who can set the seal on a stellar year for owner Sheikh Hamdan.
The Sea The Stars colt is far better than his narrow margin victory in a Royal Ascot handicap implies, and when taking out the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury did so in eye taking style. That was only a Gr3, but hinted at far better to come.
Read more on the Hollywoodbets Sports Blog – click on the image below
