Park Hill and May Hill provide the feature contests as Doncaster’s St Leger meeting begins
Doncaster’s St Leger meeting gets under way with a pair of high-quality Group Two races on the opening day, where a mix of established performers and promising youngsters are set to take centre stage.
3.00pm – Betfred Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes (Group 2)
The Park Hill draws a compact but strong field of fillies and mares, several of whom bring notable form from last season and the current campaign. Danielle and Consent headline a line-up of nine.
Danielle finished fourth in this race last year and closed that season with a wide-margin Listed success at Doncaster in November. She returned this year with a victory in the Bronte Cup but was below expectations at Goodwood and will be ridden by William Buick as her connections look to regain momentum.
Consent, a neck second in the Park Hill twelve months ago, subsequently claimed top-level honours in the Prix de Royallieu. She has found consistency harder to come by since that Group One success and will wear cheekpieces for this assignment.
Andrew Balding’s Prizeland arrives on the back of a comfortable success in the Galtres Stakes at York and looks an obvious each-way contender. Waardah, who finished ahead of both Danielle and Consent at Goodwood, could be effective if the ground eases and will wear a hood for the first time. Fairy Glen, having been narrowly beaten in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier in May, is another on the return to consider if fully tuned up.
3.35pm – Betfred May Hill Stakes (Group 2)
The May Hill brings an unbeaten juvenile into a higher grade as Musical Times steps up after two impressive victories. Trained by Charlie Appleby and partnered by William Buick, she tops the market having shown a clear turn of foot on both starts to date.
Scommessa Sicura, who re-opposes having finished behind Musical Times on debut, has been consistent in her juvenile campaign with several top-two finishes. Ballyskeagh, trained by Joseph O’Brien, ran a strong race to finish second in a Group Three at the Curragh over a mile and offers place claims stepping up to this around Doncaster’s testing trip. Speckles, who finished fifth in that Curragh contest, could also improve on what was a solid performance.
1.50pm – Weatherbys £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes
The big juvenile contest earlier in the card features Night In Vegas, a colt who arrives with a notable summer formline. Having placed fifth in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, he returned to win the valuable Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes and heads a large field aiming for the substantial prize on offer.
There are a number of intriguing opponents. Mithaaly, a Shadwell colt trained by George Boughey, built on his first outings to deliver a comfortable win at Windsor and will be watched closely in the betting. Zigazig Ah, winner of the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury, has mixed recent form but finished ahead of Night In Vegas at Newmarket earlier in the season and could bounce back.
Seven Nation Army, an experienced juvenile from Joseph O’Brien’s stable, completes the shortlist of likely contenders in what shapes up to be a competitive heat.
Other racing of interest on Thursday
- Sky Sports Racing’s cameras will also cover action at Lingfield and Worcester. At Lingfield, Marquessofanglesey seeks to convert near-miss form into a win under Rob Hornby.
- Worcester features former Cheltenham Festival runner-up Crebilly, who teams up with jockey Harry Cobden to face the hat-trick seeker Youdecide and Snipe for the Skelton stable.
- There is also British representation at ParisLongchamp in the Group Three Prix Gladiateur, where Midak travels from Ian Williams’s yard to take on international rivals including former Group One winner Double Major.
The opening day at Doncaster sets the tone for a week of festival racing, combining established mares and improving juveniles in contests that will have implications for autumn campaigns and future pattern-race targets.
This article may have been prepared in whole or in part with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
