A Classic fairytale
RACING Mongan becomes first woman to train a St Leger winner as Harbour Law triumphs at Doncaster. By Nick Robson
IT HAS taken 240 years, but Laura Mongan became the first woman to train the winner of the Ladbrokes St Leger as Harbour Law swooped late in another thrilling renewal of the world’s oldest Classic at Doncaster. After the drama of 12 months ago, when Simple Verse won, then lost and was reinstated, everything looked straightforward at the halfway point, with odds-on favourite Idaho seemingly cruising.
However, little more than three furlongs out, as Seamie Heffernan angled for a run on Aidan O’Brien’s colt, he appeared to take a false step, went down on his knees and fired his rider into the ground.
The race suddenly opened up, with champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa seizing the initiative on Richard Hannon’s Ventura Storm, but all the way up the straight he had the attentions of another O’Brien runner, Housesofparliament.
Having finally seen that one off, Ventura Storm had nothing left as Harbour Law, second at Royal Ascot over two miles in June, hit top gear under George Baker and won by three-quarters of a length. Ventura Storm was second, with Housesofparliament third.
The winner was returned at 22-1 and also provided Baker with a first British Classic.
Thankfully, Heffernan appeared to escape serious injury, but was nevertheless taken to hospital as a precaution due to receiving a bang on the head. It meant he missed his later ride in the Irish Champ- ion Stakes at Leopardstown. Epsom-based Mongan said: “It was brilliant. I think I screamed a lot. I’m in shock. I’m so glad we came here and he’s proved that he can do it. We didn’t want to ride him like that, but George knows what he’s doing and all credit to him. We knew we could leave it to him.
“It was a really professional performance by the horse, we knew he’d go somewhere in life.
“It proves we can do it when we have the ammunition. It’s great to have a horse like this and bring him here for a race like this. It’s a bit surreal. I hope we are lucky enough to hold on to him. We’ll have to discuss what’s next, we genuinely haven’t thought about it.
“He’s not in at Ascot but he has an entry in France in October, the Prix Chaudenay.
“To go down in history as the first woman to win it is amazing, at least I’ve done something right. We’ve felt all along that whatever he did today, he’d be even better next year.
“It’s my daughter’s seventh birthday today, but she’s at home with my mum along with my seven-year-old son. I’d promised her a party tomorrow and it might be a bit bigger now.”
At Leopardstown, Almanzor won a thrilling race for the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes. The French Derby winner pounced on the outside under Christophe Soumillon, after being held up in the rear early on in a race run at a strong gallop, to continue a brilliant season for trainer JeanClaude Rouget.
The O’Brien-trained Found, second last year to Golden Horn, put in a strong challenge under Frankie Dettori, replacing the injured Heffernan, but Almanzor (7-1) was just too strong close to home. Minding, also trained by O’Brien, was third.
Soumillon said: “He’s a great horse. I’ve won on him a few times and I knew today he was going to run a great race. It was not easy before the race to think that we were going to win it, because it was a tough Irish Champion Stakes, but we got lucky that the pace was strong and he was relaxed.”
Rouget said: “We’ll see what the plans are now. He looks to have had quite an easy race, but it was still a Group One. When I saw the field before the race with all these champions, I thought 7-1 was too much, but after the race I think the betting was good. We’ll see if he goes to Ascot [Champion Stakes] or to Chantilly, for the Arc.”