2023 Thursday Doncaster Leger Meeting Tips – DS
2023 Thursday Doncaster Leger Meeting Tips
It was a bit of a struggle for us on Saturday but we at least landed a nice ante-post bet. Get Ahead arguably got to the front far too soon but she still grabbed 2nd in the Flying Five, advised e/w at 66/1. This week the focus switches to the North of England for the St Leger Festival. We’ll be covering the first three days, check out Dave Stevos’ 2023 Thursday Doncaster Leger meeting preview below.
1.50 – Nursery Handicap (Class 2)
The ground is currently described as soft at Doncaster. There is no rain forecast between now and the start of racing tomorrow so you’d imagine it’ll be closer to good to soft. That sort of ground is an unknown for the 3/1 favourite Chic Colombine. George Boughey’s charge hosed up at Haydock last time out (7f gd) and she is now 6lbs higher. If she handles the ground, she should be thereabouts.
Her odds of 3/1 don’t make any appeal though and at a bigger price, Misemerald is guaranteed to handle the conditions. Phil Kirby trains this daughter of Zoffany and like so many of his progeny, she enjoys getting her toe in. Her maiden win did come on good to firm at Beverley back in June but she arguably showed much better form the next twice on good to soft.
Ayr Novice
In an Ayr novice in July she scored under a penalty over 6f (gd/sft), beating Beechwood Star by a head. Then she stepped up to 7f (gd/sft) at the same track and she found just Francophone too good by 2.5L. She was conceding 6lbs to the winner and she is clearly highly regarded as she runs in the G2 May Hill later on this card.
This filly made her handicap debut off a mark of 81 at York at the end of last month (7f gd/fm). Prominently ridden on her previous three runs, this time she was held up and she was far too keen. She moved into the race pretty well but those early exertions took their toll and she ended up 11th, 7L behind the winner.
She was dropped a pound for that run and I’m willing to put a line through it. Quite often young horses can find things tough when making their handicap debuts in big fields and this should be a bit more manageable. I’m hoping that Andrew Mullen can get away quickly and ride Misemerald more aggressively today. If he does, she can make a bold bid on ground she loves at odds of 33/1.
2023 Thursday Doncaster Leger Meeting Tips: Misemerald e/w @ 33/1 (4 places)
2.25 – Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2yo Stakes (Class 2)
I have a shocking record in these sales races but that has to change some time, right? Hopefully it is today and the horse that is going to be burdened with the weight of Stevos’ cash this time is Grey Cuban.
My main angles for fancying this horse are the rain softened ground and the form of his first two runs. He has had just the three runs and his first two, both on good to soft, were his best. On debut at Newmarket he finished a fine 2nd behind Les Bleus, a 14/1 poke for the G2 May Hill.
At Nottingham (6f gd/sft) he went down by 0.5L to Angel Of England. The Coffee Pod and Crimson Spirit finished 3rd and 4th and they both won class 2 contests next time out. On his last run, Grey Cuban ran in a big sales race at York (6f) and he didn’t seem to act on the fast ground.
He was 7.75l behind the winner but he was only 2L off third so it was still a pretty decent effort. Today’s good to soft ground will be much more to his liking and not only does the booking of Danny Tudhope catch the eye, Hugo Palmer’s horses are really starting to hit form too. His stablemate Balon D’Or should give him a nice tow into the race so at odds of 40/1, back Grey Cuban e/w.
2023 Thursday Doncaster Leger Meeting Tips: Grey Cuban e/w @ 40/1 (4 places) nb
3.00 – May Hill Stakes (Group 2)
The first stakes race of the week at Doncaster and the trip is a mile for the juvenile fillies. Darnation has won her last two starts on soft, including a G3 at Goodwood (7f) last time out.
By Too Darn Hot, she has the best form in the book by a country mile and it is no surprise to see her chalked up as the 13/8 favourite. This is a new trip but the extra furlong should pose no problems on what we have seen from this filly so far.
Karl Burke’s charge will be tough to beat if her progression continues. However, there’s plenty of unexposed types in here and at 14/1, Les Bleus could relish this step up to 8f. In the Sweet Solera at Newmarket she overcame a lot of adversity to finish third. She was a step slow away, she lost a lot of ground when her jockey switched her but she stayed on pleasingly to just get up for black type.
Strong Form
Fallen Angel won that race and she landed a G1 at the Curragh last weekend. The 2nd Soprano was an unlucky loser in the Dick Poole next time and the 5th has since landed a German G3. In France last time, Les Bleus got outpaced but still ran on pretty well for fourth.
A mile on easy ground could be just what she needs and she should also get a strong pace to aim at from the back. Ryan Moore looks a significant booking so back Les Bleus e/w at 14/1.
2023 Thursday Doncaster Leger Meeting Tips: Les Bleus e/w @ 14/1 nap
3.35 – Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes (Group 2)
We backed Sumo Sam last time out when she hacked up at 25s in the G2 Lillie Langtry at Goodwood. The Coles’ charge made all and scored by 8L on bottomless ground (14f) but I’m not sure she’ll be quite as dominant on this ground. If it is properly soft she could be hard to peg back but on good to soft, she may not have it all her own way.
To be honest, this race isn’t really floating my boat. Nine of the ten fillies are priced up at 12/1 or shorter and it isn’t easy to make a strong case for backing any of the double figure priced horses.
Shamwari is mildly interesting upped to this trip for the first time and Lmay is out of a half sister to C&D Leger winner Logician, but both horses would need to improve plenty to figure here. With lots more races to come this week, we’ll sit this one out. No bet.
