When ante-post favourite Sea Moon lines up on Town Moor to contest the St Leger on September 10th, great memories will be evoked of our oldest English Classic. For many, the decline in popularity and prestige of this once great race is a sad indictment of our Flat Racing tradition- which goes back 235 years in the case of this historic race. To what extent its decline was heralded by the Bloodstock Industry’s accent on ‘speed’ rather than ‘stamina’ is open to debate; likewise the pre-eminence in the calendar of other ‘more important races’ like the Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe and The Breeder’s Cup Series. One thing is almost certain.....we are unlikely to see another Triple Crown winner in our lifetime. Great twentieth century trainers like George Lambton, Frank Butters, Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, Noel Murless, Dick Hern, Henry Cecil, John Gosden always targeted the race and doubtless had great respect for its traditions. In many ways its history is littered with more incredible stories than our other famous Classic, the Epsom Derby. We all know the successes in the race of the great trainers above, but how many have heard of the ‘Wizard of the North,’ John Scott- or his brother Bill? John trained 16 St Leger winners from his tally of 40 English Classic wins, and Bill was successful 8 times as a jockey in the Doncaster marathon. John’s twelfth winner, West Australian, was our first Triple Crown winner in 1853, and one of his other winners, The Baron, subsequently won that same year’s Cesarewitch carrying only 7st 9lbs! Perhaps some of the race’s most amazing anecdotes concern the nobleman and politician, Lord George Bentinck (1802-1848)- one of the most amazing characters in the history of The Turf. In 1826 he suffered losses of £30,000 on that year’s St Leger- well over two million pounds in today’s money. Later he formed studs at Doncaster, Danebury, and Goodwood, and later had as many as sixty horses in training. His costs would far outweigh his prize money; hence gambling was a logical way for many to redress the balance. In 1835 he had to endure a “duel at dawn” over defaulting on a bet of £200 to a Squire Osbaldeston who had intentionally ‘held his own horse back’ in a trial gallop – before winning a valuable race which Bentinck deemed “robbery,” thereby causing the affront which led to the duel. Lord Bentinck survived the encounter, but he had his own ‘ruse’ for the following year’s St Leger... He owned a very good colt called Elis, but in those days racehorses tended to be ridden or walked to their local tracks- for the obvious reason of lack of mechanical transportation. When the bookmakers heard that Elis, though entered in the Leger, was still housed at his Goodwood stables two days before the race, they pushed his odds out to 5/1. How on earth could he be ridden/walked all the way to Yorkshire and still be fit to compete? Bentinck, however, had secretly designed the first horse-drawn van transporter and, pulled by four horses, Elis was sent to Doncaster. Elis won the 1836 St Leger easily- and netted £61,000 for Lord Bentick (about £4.5million in today’s money). Tragically, Bentinck’s death at only 46 was shrouded in mystery, and it was even rumoured that he was poisoned by some “shady characters of the turf.” Without doubt, one of the most remarkable St Leger winners has to be the quadruple 1902 Classic winner, Sceptre. She started the season by finishing second in the Lincoln, carrying only 6st 7lbs, and then proceeded to break the track record in winning the 2000 Guineas- and following up with the 1000 Guineas two days later. Quite an astonishing fact! She ran in the Derby with a badly bruised foot (finishing 4th) but still won the Oaks two days later. After defeats in the Grand Prix De Paris and Ascot’s Coronation Stakes, she still ran and won two days later at the latter meeting’s St James’ Palace Stakes. On to Goodwood where she lost the Sussex Stakes but won the Nassau Stakes at the same venue. When she won the St Leger and completed the Triple Crown, she was winning her fourth Classic and having her eleventh race of the year- and yet still managed to run, though unplaced, in the Park Hill at the same meeting. Quite an advertisement for her sex, she puts to shame many modern-day thoroughbreds who are lucky to see the racecourse a dozen times in their total campaigns! It’s so very sad that our oldest Classic has lost its once great appeal, and perhaps it would be fitting if either Blue Bunting or Wonder Of Wonders were to succeed in this year's race- as the only two fillies entered in the race originally inaugurated to match the fairer sex with the colts.
Brilliant and fascinating write up Tam. I still hope that one day a triple crown might be ours to savour. I think it needs to be a horse in the ownership of someone less concerned with stud value and more with racing excellence. I think Prince Khalid Abdulla springs to mind as someone who might be brave enough to take on the challenge. How brilliant it would be to see somebody try and just imagine the publicity. It would be just what racing needs. And if one person is bold enough to give it a go then perhaps others will follow suit. It may be wishful thinking but we can but dream.
To develop Zenyatta's point further I really think Sea the Stars would have scooped the Triple Crown two years. An opportunity missed you might say but then with stud values etc seemingly dropping for Flat winners over this far you can understand their reasoning for bypassing the St Leger en route to the Arc. But Sea the Stars would have won it in my book, you'd be hard pressed to say he could not have coped with Mastery et al that year. The thing about Sea the Stars, was of course he never annilihated opponents, but they never got near the bottom of him either. The way he came home in the Derby and Arc (i.e. idling big time) suggests that old maestro Kinane could have switched him off, let him hack along until the 2 marker, then woke him up to go about winning his races. Basically just the same way he did in all his other races! It might be a while before we see another one so capable of achieving the Triple Crown as Sea the Stars was.
Zenyatta/Beef, yes, Khaled Abdullah is the type of owner to try for the Triple Crown. Or even Godolphin - they have always subscribed to the Leger. I'm pretty certain Sea The Stars would have won it, but no doubt winning the Arc carried more stud value. Whether the Triple Crown carries more "historical prestige" depends on your point of view. Also, many owners in past years would have been undaunted by tackling two big races in three weeks; certainly Sceptre's owners wouldn't have blinked at the challenge! That's modern racing for you, though. Personally I feel there's too much 'cotton wool' knocking about.
I think the major disappointment is that a horse who has proven themselves top quality over 8f and 12f will lose stud value by attemtping 14f on one occasion. I cannot understand why proving themselves even more versatile detracts from their value, but them i am not one of the fickle breeding community! I think one major obstacle is the races proximity to the Arc, which is widely regarded as Europe's premier race. With only 3 weeks between the two it is perfectly feasible for a horse to leave their race at Doncaster if attempting the Arc. Perhaps if the Leger was moved forward a week or two then it would be more attractive because it would be easier to take in both the Leger and the Arc. Sea Moon is touted as attempting both this year but it might be that a horse such as Nathaniel would run as well. It would seem logical to give a potential triple crown winner the best possible chance of proving themselves the best in Europe too. Just a thought . . . Also, have to agree with all the comments made. I don't think Sea The Stars was a stayer at all but he would surely have had more than enough quality and class to see him home. And what a story it would have made. The Sheikhs would appear the most likely to take up the challenge. I really believe that it is a case of one owner being brave enough to take on the challenge to set the ball rolling. I am sure that the resulting media coverage would incentivise others to follow in their footsteps.
I don't think the timing of the St Leger should have affected Sea the Stars schedule that much though. His preference was for the Irish Champion Stakes held in early September with the St Leger only 7 days later (5 September and 12 September respectively) so it was viable for him to have run in the St Leger instead. I concur with the thinking though that 1m 6f trip could have been considered potentially detrimental to his Arc chances. Though didn't Sixties Icon do both in recent times? This years renewal is looking as tasty a St Leger we've had in a while. Blue Bunting is a cracker of a filly and the competition headed by Sea Moon, Brown Panther and O'Briens multiple entries add strength in depth to it. It will be a good winner this year I feel.
A week makes a big difference and the extra 4 furlongs would have made a big difference too. I think with the 1m6f trip a break in excess of 3 weeks would be strongly preferable. I am not for one minute saying that it is impossible but if we wish to attract the best 3yos to run in the Leger then they need to have every opportunity to excel in the Arc as well. Whilst their remains a question mark the best will never run because the Arc is a more prestigious target. It might not make any difference but possibly an idea worth pursuing. The problem is that if you move the Leger then the 'Leger prep races' are too close to the big day and so on. Schedule changes are never easy!
Great stuff Tamerlo. Coincidentally I was reading about John Scott this evening in an old racing encyclopaedia I picked up at a recent car boot sale. He is described as follows: "In many ways a likeable and entertaining man, he was inclined to be just a bit too crafty at times." He won 40 Classics so must have been more than "a bit crafty"! He was born near Newmarket and made the unusual move to Yorkshire - people normally move the other way.
You're pretty much spot on Zenyatta in terms of your views about the scheduling of the race, reflecting the Arc. But in the case of Sea the Stars I don't think the timing of the race had anything to do with him missing it.
The Leger is one of my favourite races, mainly because I've backed more winners of that race than any other race in the calendar but there's no doubt that the race has become devalued in recent years. There was an interesting article about it in the Racing Post on Saturday, the writer making the point that it's probably the only Group 1 race where connections of fancied runners in the ante-post betting market seem to be so reticent to commit their horses to it. How about this for an idea (please feel free to shoot it down in flames if you like): The St Leger distance is reduced to a mile and a half, the Derby/Oaks are both reduced to a mile and a quarter. This makes the Triple Crown a lot more achievable in reality. A very valuable bonus is offered to any horse who can complete the 2000 Guineas/Derby/Leger or the 1000 Guineas/Oaks/Leger. If the Leger trip is reduced, then it's also quite possible that a horse could be prepared for both the Leger and the Arc as it seems to me that a lot of trainers simply don't want to stretch their horses to running over a mile and three quarters if they've also got one eye on the Arc. Chances are that we'd have a much more competitive St Leger as a result. The Arc trials are usually run on Leger weekend so most trainers don't seem to have an aversion to running their Arc horses there and then turning them out again 3 weeks later. The reduction in the distance of the St Leger could also provide much more of a "narrative" to the new Triple Crown. Take Frankel, for instance. If the Derby was run over 10 furlongs, he'd have been far more likely to turn up at Epsom, rather than him having to take the drastic step up in trip from a mile to a mile and a half. If he'd done the business at Epsom, he could now be on his way to Donny to try to land the Triple Crown if the Leger trip was over a mile and a half. There's no doubt that the St Leger and the Triple Crown has completely lost its lustre. For both Nashwan and Sea The Stars, I would imagine that the Leger wasn't even given a moment's consideration by their respective connections after they'd won the Guineas and Derby, and the same thing will happen if we get more dual 2000 Guineas and Derby winners of the future if the race continues in its present format.
Ohhh...controversial Chance Gardener. Reduce the Derby to 10f, hasn't that been done somewhere not that far away to great dismay
Yes it has been done, but that was wedged into the French racing calendar with no real purpose or objective. The reduction of the Epsom Derby distance would be part of an overall framework which would also include reducing the St Leger distance and would see the Triple Crown becoming a more realistic and achievable target and provide us with a "narrative" (that dreaded word!) to the 3yo classic campaign.
Chance, while there's a logic to your suggestions, I grew up loving the staying races eg. Ascot Gold Cup, Ascot stakes, Queen Alexandra, etc- and the great horses associated with them...Sagaro, Pandofell, Trelawny, Grey of Falloden, etc. To now see what those staying races have become makes me cringe- they're an affront to the great stayers of the past. OK, we have to live in the present, but I think the 'death of the stayer' is the greatest loss to Flat Racing. It's one of the reasons why my affections have swung dramatically to National Hunt in recent years. Another is the ever increasing monopoly of Coolmore and Godolphin- whose operations are geared to breeding, not racing. Mark my words, the Group One field with only their runners is just around the corner- or even a two horse race.
Tamerlo, I can see your point about staying races not being what they used to be but that's the way that breeding has unfortunately gone these days. Before we start criticising Coolmore and Godolphin too much, it's worth remembering that some of the best stayers we've seen in the past 10 -15 years have run under the ownership of Coolmore (Yeats) and Godolphin (Kayf Tara). It's also worth pointing out that a lot of commercial breeders are concentrating more and more on producing precocious early-maturing speedy types who are unlikely to train on and become classic horses or cup horses. That's why I hate those big money restricted sales races for 2yo's that we're increasingly seeing, where the emphasis is on producing a horse that can win a massive payout and never be heard of again. It could be argued that if it wasn't for Godolphin and Coolmore in particular (as Sheikh Mohammed seems to have shot himself in the foot by boycotting their stallions), then the quality of horses in the middle distance division might be in a far worse state than it is, as the two most outsanding horses of the past ten years, Frankel and Sea The Stars, were sired by Coolmore and Godolphin stallions respectively. Stallions like Montjeu, Galileo and Sadlers Wells before them have ensured that middle distance bloodlines will continue to be strong.
There is no way I would want to see the Derby over 10 and the Leger over 12. We would just be copying the French and the yanks, 2 country's I detest. The problem with the Leger is the time of year it is run, may e they should move it say 5 weeks after the Derby. They could still have the big Doncaster meeting at the end of the season, with the rest of the races on, just move the big one to a one off day earlier in the year. This would allow horses to run in the Leger and the Arc, after winning the Derby. Because as things stand the Arc and Leger are to close, and if another Sea The Stars comes along then there always going to choose the Arc. The only problem with this idea is it could affect races such as the Ascot Derby, Irish Derby and Eclipse, that are also available to talented 3yos around the same time. Though I stil think it's worth consideration
Very nice piece Tam, I really enjoy learning about some of the wonderful deeds of the past, thanks for the effort mate. As for the demise of the staying events, you are not alone here. It's happening right across the planet, and it's a trend that will only be accelerated by the passing of time. We can all try and lay the blame at the feet of the major breeding institutions, but I'm not sure that it's that easy. They, like every one else, are just one part of the overall picture. Are they just catering to the needs of racing today, or driving it? Personally, I think it's the former. It seems to me that they are just trying to catch up to the rest of the world. Godolphin and Coolmore are huge entities, but when compared to the number of horses and people involved in the game, around the world, they are of next to no importance. The average person buying a horse in the Europe, US, Africa, South America, Asia, the Middle East or here in Australia, are just hoping to make ends meet, they can't afford to spend six figures trying to win a Black Type event. So they want an animal that they can send around week in, week out. And to do that, they need short course horses. I'm sorry to be the bearer of ill tidings folks, but the UK is risking becoming the dinosaur of world racing. Speed is the need. So cast off those old staid, boring, fossilized ideas of the past, where thirteen mile races were the norm, and learn to embrace the here and now. I promise, it won't hurt too much.
Chance, your points are well made, both about the two year olds and Coolmore's middle distance stallions. Perhaps they should just scrap the long-distance races and be done with it, and maybe I'm trying to hang on to something that's dead and buried. Shergar, your suggestion is fair enough re. adjusting the calendar, but does that really matter? Top trainers will still keep their horses in cotton wool and, at the end of the day, the Triple Crown seems top have no real meaning for them any more. Cyclonic, thanks for your kind comments. I've come to the conclusion that I'm the dinosaur, not UK racing. Nevertheless I'll carry on thinking it's sad that top races have become so dominated by so very few trainers, and I detest these multiple entries from AOB and even having effectively more than one pacemaker in a race. I ask you....what has sport really come to when you have pacemakers in a race? Yes, they do it in athletics as well. Somehow it makes a mockery of what a sport should be! Tamerlo, you just have to RIP - like the stayers of old! No flowers please. All donations to my betting fund. PS. I think Sea Moon has the same profile as Provoke did all those years ago, and that he will p-ss the Leger! (there I go again-referring to the past!) Good morning everybody.I've woken up- and cheered up now!. Time for my cup of coffee and look forward to my game of golf.
Thanks everyone! But listen (sorry, AOB), I played my worst golf of the year today but we still managed to win our fourball- thanks to my 73 year old partner who shot net 3 under! What's more, he went a walk round the Belfry on Monday; found 82 golf balls; £90 in cash lying in the grass; and another £10 on the pavement on his way to golf today. I asked him to give me a tip for the horses, but he said he'd never backed a horse in his life. I said "Don't. Just take me for a walk next time you go out!" Some people are just born lucky!
