Illinois leading O’Brien’s team for glory in world’s oldest Classic

Aidan O’Brien holds all the aces as Illinois, Jan Brueghel and Grosvenor Square bid to give him an eighth victory in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.

Successful with Continuous 12 months ago, the master of Ballydoyle has taken home the trophy for the world’s oldest Classic three times in the last 10 years.

Illinois is attempting to do what Leading Light (2013) and Kew Gardens (2018) have done in the past and follow up victory in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot with Classic glory on Town Moor.

Last seen finishing a neck second to stablemate Los Angeles at York, he will be partnered by Wayne Lordan – who having twice won the 1000 Guineas on a Ballydoyle second string, now gets first pick with Ryan Moore required at Leopardstown.

O’Brien told the sponsors: “We’re very happy with him. We always thought he’d stay, he won at Ascot over a mile and six and he ran very well in the Voltigeur which we felt was a lovely trial for him.

“Wayne rode him that day and was very happy with him. Nice ground is important to him, he’s closely related to an Arc winner (Danedream) so he has a lot of class, we think and hope the Leger will suit him well. We would have run him in the Derby, but City Of Troy was there. We’ve had the Leger in mind for a long time for him.”

Another rider picking up a big-race opportunity for O’Brien is Sean Levey who spent his formative years based with the Tipperary handler and has excelled this season for his primary boss Richard Hannon aboard Rosallion.

He has already steered Lake Victoria to Group-level success for Ballydoyle this season and now partners the unbeaten Jan Brueghel, who showed plenty of fight to grind out victory over Andrew Balding’s Nashville Derby hero Bellum Justum at Goodwood last month.

O’Brien said: “He was very green the last day at Goodwood when the track didn’t really suit him, which can happen, but he got the trip well despite being the first off the bridle.

“We think he has improved a good bit since Goodwood. The form has worked out, it was a tough race for him but he dealt with it and was on top at the line. A long straight will suit him.”

The final piece of the O’Brien jigsaw is Grosvenor Square, an emphatic winner of the Irish St Leger Trial, and with stamina assured, he could attempt to put his rivals to the sword from the front.

“He could be very different, a difficult horse to deal with if you are riding against him,” added O’Brien.

“If you let him go he might not come back and if you let him go he might kill you. He’s unbelievable, he has an awful lot of stamina, a very high cruising speed and very genuine. He’s a very rare horse and I think he’s very exciting for people to watch.

“He will make the Leger a very tough race, I think people will want to watch him from everywhere because he wears his heart on his sleeve. We always felt making the running would suit him but he was too weak to do it earlier in the season.”

The sole filly in the field is also the only Classic winner heading to post, as Ralph Beckett’s Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me lines up against the colts having been supplemented at a cost of £50,000.

It was ironically her effort when narrowly beaten in the Yorkshire Oaks that convinced connections to consider this contest and with her handler happy with both conditions in South Yorkshire and the filly’s well-being, the decision was made to roll the dice.

“All things considered it seemed the right move and it was all to down to the filly’s well-being really. Ralph gave that the thumbs up just before supplementation time,” said Alex Elliott, racing adviser to Valmont, who own the filly in partnership with Newsells Park Stud.

“We go there with solid chance of hitting the board I think and if she could be placed or better in another Classic then all power to her.

“After the Curragh, Hector (Crouch, jockey) and Ralph felt they had a good handle on her moving forward and it looked that way at York. It was just about a career best at York.

“She’s had quite a long year, but if Ralph is happy and thinks she’s happy then we’re all for having a go. Hopefully the ground will hold and we’re all really looking forward to it.”

Deira Mile was fourth behind City Of Troy in the Derby, but Owen Burrows has always felt staying would be his forte and the son of Camelot now has the chance to prove his handler right.

“There’s only five Classics each year, so they’re hard to win. I was fifth in the Guineas and fourth in the Derby, so hopefully we can go a few places better on Saturday,” said Burrows.

“It’s always good to have a runner in a Classic and if he could reproduce his fourth in the Derby then I think he will have an each-way chance.

“Staying looked his strong point in the Derby and he had to make plenty of ground up so I think the move up in trip will suit him.

“It was a messy race at Windsor and only over a mile, three and a half. So I’m hoping this trip will suit him more. It wasn’t the end of the world to get beat and he has taken a nice step forward at home.

“It would have been a long wait to not run from the Derby and the Leger and he would have had to go and have a racecourse gallop somewhere, so I’m much happier to have got a run under his belt. Fingers crossed that has done the job and we go there with a nice each-way shout I hope.”

It would be fitting in the week Burrows’ mentor Sir Michael Stoute announced his impending retirement if he could follow in his footsteps and lift the St Leger trophy aloft.

Burrows added: “I was working for Sir Michael when he won it with Conduit. The only thing is it took him about 20 attempts to win it, so I hope it doesn’t take me that many! That was a good day and if we could get our name on the trophy it’d be great.”

Also bidding to honour their former boss is David Menuisier who spent time with John Dunlop before forging his own successful training career and after a year of near misses in the top contests, will saddle Sunway.

Speaking before this British Champions Series race, he said: “It would mean the world to me to win a Classic, and especially the St Leger, as it’s the oldest Classic and is the representation of what I really love – those nice, middle-distance staying races. Also it’s a race my old boss John Dunlop won a few times, with Moon Madness, Silver Patriarch and Millenary.

“I’m trying not to think about it. We try not to get ahead of ourselves, as we’ve burned our fingers before and it will be hard to win, with Aidan sending some proper horses, and a filly (You Got To Me) who could be good too, but it’s a challenge we are keen to grasp.

“He’s had a mini break (since Ascot) and a bit of a chance to grow into himself, and I’d like to think he’s in the best possible shape. I think if anything the extra distance could be a plus, although he’s not really bred for it.”