Something special
Robin Oakley
Ilove Doncaster on St Leger day. There are plenty of good racecourses in Britain, and making them work isn't exactly rocket science. You need good viewing facilities, clear signposting, decent catering, clean loos, an informative public address system and friendly staff. Doncaster has those, with some added ingredients. It is not just the pleasant walk under the trees to the welcomingly open saddling boxes or even the vast red-carpeted main betting hall, which throbs like a 1960s rock and roll ballroom. It is the sheer buzz of a jam-packed crowd determined to respond to the invitation to enjoy itself. The back-pocket wads are thicker at Doncaster. the beer goes down faster and the frills, feathers and diamante whatnots are gloriously over the top. A pundit once advised inexperienced lady punters to 'back anything which winks at you in the parade ring, unless it's Kieren Fallon, because that probably means he's looking straight down your cleavage'. Given what was generously displayed at Doncaster, it is a wonder the parading jockeys didn't fall out of the saddle.
Some people want to change the St Leger, the final three-year-old Classic of the year at a mile and three quarters, opening it to older horses or even shortening the race. I see no reason to do so, not while Doncaster is attracting the crowds it does and while the oldest Classic of them all provides such a cracking race as it did on Saturday.
There was admittedly something special for the Doncaster crowd, with Bollin Eric coming home as the first Yorkshire-trained winner since 1973, a wonderful moment for octogenarian owner-breeder Sir Neil Westbrook and his wife after 40 years of loyalty sending horses to the Easterby clan, who own a fair chunk of the county. It was a first Classic success for Tim Easterby and a first British Classic for jockey Kevin Darley, a naturalised Yorkshireman. Not that the Easterbys were going over the top. Was Tim off to the local to celebrate that night? 'Let's get home first.'
Bollin Eric's form figures this season before the race read 32233. As I shared a taxi from the station beforehand with one of the country's most knowledgeable punters, he and I had eliminated Bollin Eric from our calculations on the basis that 'he just doesn't seem to win', even though we were agreed he was a horse it was good to have on your side in a scrap. But he has only been campaigned at the highest level, and the Leger is contested mostly by horses trying the distance for the first time. The extra 2 furlongs does make a difference, and Bollin Eric had stayed on well enough in the Great Voltigeur to suggest, as he did, that he would beat Bandari and Highest next time out. Sir Neil told us afterwards that he hadn't been confident about Bain Eric's chances before the race but that Kieren Fallon, who missed the ride through suspension, had assured him the horse would have no trouble staying the distance. The great big Shaamit colt not only stayed but accelerated past Bandari at the 2-furlong pole and never looked like succumbing to the challenge from Sir Michael Stoute's Highest, leaving the Newmarket maestro still short of one Classic in his trophy cupboard despite his three entries this year.
Everybody in racing loves to see a race like the Leger go to owners like the Westbrooks. After the race I asked Tim Easterby if he saw any reason to change the Leger. 'Never' was the succinct reply. And when I asked John Sanderson, Doncaster's chief executive, if any consideration was being given to changing the race conditions, he used the same word. Hurrah for that.
Two other outstanding performances at Doncaster, though, did come over the shorter distances. James Given has been touted all season in this column, and his Wunders Dream paid yet another compliment to his talents by winning the Group Two Flying Childers Stakes over 5 furlongs. It was her fourth victory in a season encompassing no less than seven runs, after she had come to hand early. She has grown again since finishing behind Russian Rhythm at York, says her trainer. 'She is phenomenally speedy and does nothing but improve.' The 6-furlong question will now wait for next season. For the moment there are plenty of nice races over 5.'
The new one to put on your list is Ego, winner of the opener for a quietly twinkling Geoff Wragg. Owner-breeder Lady Tavistack does not gush about her horses and so you take note when she says of two-time winner Ego: 'From the moment she was born I said that this was the most exciting horse I've ever bred. She just has such a special attitude.'
From 2 furlongs out you could see that it was only a matter of when jockey Ted Dur
can pressed the button. 'At Newmarket the race was over in three strides,' said her delighted trainer. 'This time it was over in a stride and a half as soon as he pulled her out.' The combination of cruising speed and acceleration which Ego possesses promises much. She will take some beating in the Cheveley Park.
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