Logician One of 11 Declared For William Hill St Leger
By
Gavin Beech
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2 mins
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Frankie Dettori and John Gosden could be the toast of punters once again this weekend after red-hot favourite Logician was one of 11 horses declared for Saturday’s William Hill St Leger
Dettori and Gosden have been mopping up in big races all summer and the unbeaten son of Frankel is now an even-money chance (from 5/4) with the sponsors to provide his trainer with a fifth success in the Doncaster Classic.
William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: “We’re absolutely delighted with the strength in depth of the entries for the William Hill St Leger on Saturday.
“Logician is a worthy favourite having landed the Great Voltigeur at York last time out and with Frankie Dettori on board, he is sure to be well supported.”
However, John Gosden warned punters that, while Logician has plenty in his favour, the Group 1 contest is no formality.
He said: “He has been in great form since York. He is a very relaxed character and he has a lovely big long loping stride. I thought then (back in May) this might be a Leger horse.
“He has come a long way in a short time. The nice long straight at Doncaster should suit him well.
“But it will not just be Aidan and our one horse there are other horses in play and I’ve mentioned one that won at Goodwood (Sir Ron Priestly). It has more depth to the field than people are making out.”
O’Brien Declares Six Contenders
If Logician is going to maintain his unbeaten record then he is going to have to see off up to six Aidan O’Brien contenders, the pick of which looks to be Sir Dragonet who attracted support last week.
The Derby fifth will attempt to provide the Ballydoyle maestro with a third consecutive win in the race after Capri (2017) and Kew Gardens (2018), and his trainer issued an upbeat bulletin on Morning.
O'Brien said: “We're very happy with Sir Dragonet. He had a break after the Derby and then the plan was to go to the Curragh and then maybe we would look at the Arc after that run.
“But now Japan and Magical are there and things are changing all the time.
“The William Hill St Leger is a very important and prestigious race and we felt like there was a good chance that he would get that trip.
“He was just ready to start at the Curragh and he got a little bit tired which he was entitled to do as I was being very careful and gentle with him.
“It was also the first time he had run over that trip. He'd always been over a mile and a half.
“He's not short of class and he's not short of pace so it will be interesting.”
A veteran of two decades in the sports journalism industry, Gavin Beech is a very experienced horse racing writer, sports betting content producer and tipster for the likes of MailOnline, Gambling.com and the Racing Post. Not restricted to racing, he also writes about football.
