Town Moor 2YOs

As one door closes, another opens. While the Betfred St Leger (3.35, Saturday)will bring down the curtain on another British Classic season at Doncaster, the four-day meeting itself can be seen as marking the beginning of a whole new show that could lead to Classic successes next year.

The European two-year-old picture this term is a muddled one as we move from summer to autumn but a fair bit more clarity may yet be forthcoming at Doncaster and elsewhere. Coming weeks will see juvenile Group races aplenty and the eventual crowning of champions. 

Doncaster’s likeliest contributor in this respect is the Betfred Champagne Stakes (1.45, Saturday), but the same sponsor’s May Hill Stakes (3.35, Thursday) and the Flying Childers Stakes (2.25, Friday) hold Group 2 status as well. There is a strong supporting cast also. 

The Champagne has gone to colts of the calibre of subsequent 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean and subsequent champion milers Bayside Boy and Too Darn Hot in the last decade. Last year, it went to Puerto Rico, who won twice at Group 1 level in France later in the autumn.

Puerto Rico was trained by Aidan O’Brien – one of his three winners of the Champagne – who may hold the key to this edition also. There are five O’Brien colts among the 13 entries, including 110-rated Haffner and 109-rated Florida Bay, both only a little shy of the 113 figure typically required to prevail in this.

Haffner gets his figure from a narrow second at Group 2 level at Goodwood and a Group 3 win in the Acomb Stakes at York, but he does look as if he will benefit from further than this 7f sooner rather than later.

Florida Bay has had more racing but is still not exposed, having beaten the classy Folsom Blues in a Group 3 at Leopardstown then seemed not to be all out when pipped by his shorter-priced stablemate Giant Sequoia in a Group 2 at the Curragh.

Neither may be favourite, however, judged on the fact that Desert Castle already holds that position for the Dewhurst Stakes later this year and the 2000 Guineas next. 

You cannot make the form of Desert Castle’s one run and win at Newmarket especially good (the second and third have been beaten since) but the sectionals were tidy, as were the visuals. He will surely improve on a starting figure of 102.

It is a similar deal with Desert Castle’s stablemate Musical Times in the May Hill. She has won both her starts, beating little last time while posting some sharp sectionals, and did claim the scalp of 96-rated Scommessa Sicura at Newmarket on her debut. Sectionals put Musical Times on 97 with more surely to come. 

There is a significant Irish challenge in the form of the first, second and fifth in a Group 3 at the Curragh recently – Sea of Rain, Ballyskeagh and Speckles – but they were much of a muchness in that race, with that trio running to ratings of 98, 96+ and 91+, respectively.

Slightly better still was the effort of the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained Eabha in finishing second to Light of Dawn in a Group 3 at Goodwood recently. Light of Dawn had been third to Libertango and Sun Goddess in a red-hot Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, and Eabha left her nursery form well behind with a 100-rated effort.   

That is 6 lb shy of what it usually takes to win a May Hill, but it is good enough to get placed more often than not, and I can see Eabha managing just that on underfoot conditions that promise to be similar here.

It is not entirely clear what will run in Friday’s Flying Childers at this stage, with Pershaada (rated 107, plus her 3 lb allowance) heading the market despite having been well beaten against older horses in the Nunthorpe at York last time. 

Her win in the Group 3 Molecomb at Goodwood before that gives her a definite chance in a race that typically takes a 108 rating (or 105 from a filly) to come out on top. However, Carry The Flag boasts similarly strong claims if you factor in his sectionals when second to star filly Senorita Bonita in the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville last time.

Carry The Flag went too fast that day, as he had three times at the Curragh previously, including when nearly holding on against Great Barrier Reef on one occasion. The return to 5f, at which distance both his wins have come, should suit him. 

The likely presence of the Gimcrack runner-up Final Objective and the promising (until bombing out last time) Flann Sunna, both trying the minimum trip for the first time, make this look a strong renewal.    

That may not be the case with the Betfred Flying Scotsman (1.15, Friday) at 7f earlier, unless the much-vaunted Monogram unexpectedly takes his place. Nabati (rated 106) and Dover Street (105) lead the way on ratings in a race that once went to Frankel before it had Listed status and more recently to Tip Two Win, Molatham and Dancing Gemini, all running to 111 or 112. 

There are four nurseries in all over the four-day St Leger Meeting, including three on the opening day on Thursday. Three well-handicapped youngsters, as I see it, are Angel Sense (runs Thursday), Midgham Man (ditto) and Pride of Toledo (jocked up on Friday).

The first-named beat rivals rated in the 70s easily at Wolverhampton last time and is about 7 lb well-in off a mark of 80, though with conditions an unknown. Midgham Man has about the same in hand of his 83 mark judged on how he demolished modest rivals in a decent time on soft at Chepstow. And Pride of Toledo is nearer 90 than the 85 mark off which he will run judged on a Salisbury defeat of a next-time winner then a fourth to the smart Sun Goddess at York. 

Aidan O’Brien has a smattering of choicely-bred types entered in the two valuable juvenile maidens on Friday and Saturday, including 92-rated Exceptionally – a half-sister to City of Troy, no less – and the €1.2 million buy Kingdom of Camelot, though some of them also have entries nearer to home in Ireland. The aforementioned Dover Street would command maximum respect if lining up in that British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes (1.10, Saturday), having found only 106-rated Alfred Wallace too good for him in a Group 3 at Sandown last time.

Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown and the Curragh features a trio of juvenile Group 1s, the 9f Golden Fleece (effectively a new race) plus the Moyglare Stud Stakes and the National Stakes, both at 7f.

I will be trying to pick the bones out of it all – at Doncaster and further afield – in an Expert Analysis retrospective column next week. There will be a lot to look back on then, and there is a lot to look forward to right now.