Dettori picks Coronet for St Leger
CORONET has been clipped to 13-2 for tomorrow’s William Hill St Leger after Frankie Dettori opted to ride the filly rather than John Gosden-trained stablemate Stradivarius.
Royal Ascot’s Ribblesdale Stakes winner Coronet has since finished fourth to stablemate Enable in the Irish Oaks and runner-up to her in the Yorkshire Oaks.
Coronet is bidding to become the second filly to win the St Leger in three years after the success of Simple Verse in 2015.
Stradivarius, winner of the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and Goodwood Cup, had been shorter- priced in the ante- post betting but Dettori’s decision prompted the colt’s odds to be eased to 15-2. He will now be ridden by James Doyle.
Rain- softened ground at Doncaster influenced Dettori’s decision as he seeks his sixth win in the £700,000 St Leger.
‘Every race Coronet has finished strongly and she has been racing in Group Ones most of the year,’ Dettori said. ‘Stradivarius has won over two miles but his best form is on top of the ground.
‘With showers forecast it is not going to dry. It was a hard choice and I left it until the last minute.’
Eleven have been declared for the final Classic of the season. Aidan O’Brien runs four, headed by Irish Derby winner Capri (4-1), the mount of Ryan Moore. Sir Michael Stoute-trained Crystal Ocean, winner of the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood and the mount of champion jockey Jim Crowley, is 7-2 favourite.
Meanwhile, trainer Karl Burke has his sights on next year’s French Oaks with Laurens after the imposing filly stayed on strongly to land the Group Two May Hill Stakes at Doncaster yesterday. Most bookmakers issued 1,000 Guineas quotes for the daughter of Siyouni but Burke stressed that the initial priority with the PJ McDonald-ridden winner would be across the Channel
Owner John Dance paid £220,000 for Laurens and Burke was adamant that it looks money well spent after the two-year-old held off the strong-finishing Dark Rose Angel by a head with Nyaleti a close third.
Burke said: ‘She’s the best filly I’ve had at this stage of her career and she can only get better, she’s still very green.’
If Laurens runs again this season, the likely race would be the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket on October 13.
Burke already has a Group-One winning two-year- old in Unfortunately, who beat stablemate Havana Grey to win the Prix Morny at Deauville. Havana Grey lines up in the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster today.