Galileo Chrome shines brightest in St Leger

GALILEO CHROME provided jockey Tom Marquand with a remarkable first Classic victory in the Pertemps St Leger at Doncaster.

Marquand discovered he would be riding Joseph O’Brien’s colt barely 24 hours before the big race – after regular jockey Shane Crosse became unavailable because of a positive test for Covid- 19.

While Crosse had to begin his period of isolation in Ireland, Marquand took his place and prevailed by a neck at 4- 1 from 16-1 shot Berkshire Rocco, trained by Andrew Balding.

Pyledriver appeared set to make a bold bid for glory before wandering from a true line out on his own on the far side, eventually finishing third, a length further back. Just behind in fourth was Santiago, who was sent off the 5-2 favourite for Aidan O’Brien and Frankie Dettori.

Marquand, who lost the ride on English King to Frankie Dettori before the Derby, said: “My heart goes out to Shane Crosse. I can’t say how bad I feel for him because we’ve all been in situations where things haven’t gone our way and we’re both relatively young, so I can relate and he’ll be sat at home in pieces, no doubt.

“I guess in racing it all comes back round. No doubt he’ll have his time and I look forward to seeing him do it.”

He added: “I was told I’d got the ride on this horse just before I rode Sacred in the Flying Childers on Friday. It really is a dream come true. Classics in Britain are some of the hardest races to come across. Group One races in Britain are equally hard.

“To have my first Group One winner on UK soil in the St Leger for Joseph O’Brien, who when I was growing up was one of the best jockeys in racing and is now training and doing a similar job – it’s mind- blowing to get an opportunity like this.”

O’Brien, watching from home as a Covid-19 precaution, said: “It’s fantastic, a great performance from the horse – very tough, genuine and stayed very well. Tom gave him a fantastic ride. He’s obviously been riding extremely well for a number of years now all over the world – and when he was available, we didn’t have to look any further. “It’s very well-deserved.”