A recent edition of Private Eye included a column by “Flunkey”, the magazine’s royal-watcher, which suggested that “a sense of drift” has already descended on the reign of King Charles III. Evidence of this, the writer pointed out, included the fact that the new king “has spent just two nights abroad on state business … [and] against advice, he attended all five days at Royal Ascot. When Prince of Wales he would only go to the first two, declaring it an indulgence when there was ‘real work’ to be done.”
So the royal advisers will presumably be seething that both King Charles and Queen Camilla are expected to be at Doncaster for the St Leger on Saturday, when their colt Desert Hero will attempt to become the first winner of an English Classic in the historic scarlet and purple royal colours since Dunfermline in the same race in 1977.
Had the new king and queen heeded the advisers and skipped day three at Royal Ascot, they would not have enjoyed the compelling, first-hand excitement of Desert Hero’s last-gasp success in the King George V Handicap, under a brilliant ride by Tom Marquand. As the king joined members of his family gathered in the winner’s enclosure afterwards, both to celebrate the success and remember the late Queen Elizabeth II, who bred Desert Hero, the monarch was, as one report put it, “visibly moved”.
If it was a “bittersweet” moment at Ascot, as Zara Tindall, the late queen’s granddaughter, put it, it will be doubly so at Doncaster if Desert Hero can bridge the 46-year gap in the list of royal Classic winners, only a few days after the first anniversary of his breeder’s death. There are only five Classics on the British turf, all restricted to three-year-olds in order to establish the leaders of every fresh generation, and a Classic winner is the ultimate dream for every owner and breeder.
It requires boundless optimism to spend a lifetime racing and breeding thoroughbreds in pursuit of a Classic success, and a deep-seated immunity to regular disappointment. It is a sign of how rare and elusive a target it can be that Dunfermline’s St Leger success, three months after her victory in the Oaks at Epsom, was Elizabeth II’s sixth Classic winner – and also her last.
Desert Hero will go to post with the best chance of any royal runner in a Classic since Carlton House, the 11-4 favourite, was beaten by less than a length in the 2011 Derby. And that is very much not what many in racing expected to see when the king inherited around 100 thoroughbreds – of a wide variety of ages and at various stages of their careers – from his mother last year.
The late queen insisted on a copy of the Racing Post with breakfast every morning, and that Derby day and Royal Ascot should be blocked off on her calendar before any other engagement could be added. Her son’s interest in the turf has never threatened to reach such heights.
Fears that the royal bloodstock interests might be steadily dismantled only increased when the Royal Stud sent nearly 20 fillies and mares – the bedrock of any owner/breeder’s operation – to the annual breeding stock sale at Tattersalls last December. But Desert Hero has changed the mood and, perhaps, the narrative.
“I think it would mean the world to everyone in our industry [to win],” William Haggas, Desert Hero’s trainer, said this week. “We have been fortunate for so long to have such stoic royal patronage, and anything that can enhance that will be good.
“From that point of view, I think ‘Racing plc’ will be hoping Desert Hero goes very well and, as much as we all want to win, I think even connections of other runners would enjoy a victory for the king and queen.”
The first four Classics came and went without Desert Hero, but he has improved rapidly since early June, developing a crowd-pleasing, late-finishing running style with the bravery, as Marquand puts it, to “wedge himself into a gap and not take a back step out of it when it gets tight”.
However the royal runner fares on Saturday, the sight of the historic gold-braided silks jostling for position in the St Leger field will be an immediate and vivid link to the past.
But if it also can also highlight the wealth of potential that is the legacy of Elizabeth II’s passion for racing and breeding, it could increase the chance that the colours created by the king’s great-great-grandfather, Edward VII, in the 19th century will have a successful future, too – whatever the royal advisers might say.
Meanwhile, Trueshan did his best to do everything wrong in the Group Two Doncaster Cup here on Friday. Fortunately for his backers, Hollie Doyle, his jockey, did everything right.
Trueshan took a keen hold of the bit from the off, and was pulling – and wasting precious energy – throughout the first half of the two-mile contest. The seven-year-old seemed to be throwing away his chance, until Doyle decided that enough was enough and allowed Alan King’s gelding to make rapid headway to lead on the turn for home.
She then steered a lone patch towards the middle of the track in search of better ground while her four rivals kept to the rail, until Sweet William emerged from the pursuers to join Trueshan just over a furlong out. This was the moment when his earlier antics might have told, but instead Trueshan showed his Group One-winning class to find more and move a length-and-a-quarter in front at the line.
“That was definitely not Plan A,” Doyle said afterwards. “It’s not the first time he’s given me a rodeo either, but he can still win because he’s so superior.
“I’d walked the track and spoken to the clerk of the course, who had told me that the better ground was up the middle. I dread to think what Alan was saying on the way round, he was probably cursing, but thankfully it all worked out.”
Earlier on the card, in a return to juvenile company Big Evs returned to his dominant best in the Group Two Flying Childers Stakes, and Mick Appleby’s two-year-old is now likely to head straight to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita in early November.
“Five furlongs at Santa Anita should be ideal,” Appleby said. “If he can get the rail, he could be difficult to peg back.”
Continuous has Classic look in Leger
The celebrations will be long and loud if the royal colours are carried to victory in a British Classic for the first time since 1977 at Doncaster on Saturday, but the unsentimental truth from a punter’s point of view is that Desert Hero’s price of around 11-2 for the St Leger is very thin for a horse coming off a narrow win in a Group Three with a slight question mark over his stamina.
All the attention being directed at Desert Hero, though, may mean that his main rivals for Saturday’s race go off at slightly bigger prices than they should, and Continuous (3.35) in particular could prove to be an excellent bet at around 4-1.
Aidan O’Brien’s colt had just four rivals to beat in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York last month but he did so with real authority, finishing nearly four lengths clear of the runner-up with the previously unbeaten Gregory, who re-opposes on Saturday, back in third.
Continuous stayed on strongly at York after racing some way off a strong gallop, has a couple of pacemakers to give him a target and could well find further improvement for the step up to the Leger trip.
Doncaster 1.50 Richard Hannon has a strong recent record in this juvenile Group Two and Rosallion is very difficult to oppose after an impressive success at Ascot in late July, not least as the form was franked when the runner-up won a Listed race next time up.
Chester 2.05 A significant drop in class for Bluestocking, who should win with something to spare if she is anywhere close to the form of her half-length second to Savethelastdance in the Irish Oaks in July.
Doncaster 2.25 Tees Spirit has taken a few runs to find his form this season after a prolific 2022 campaign, but he is well handicapped on his decisive success over five furlongs at this track last summer and ran his best race of 2023 at Haydock last time. He has a decent draw in stall 22 and Mia Nicholls takes off a handy 7lb.
Bath 1.40 Man Of The Sea 2.15 Quickfire 2.50 Rocket Warrior 3.25 Princess T 4.00 The Cola Kid 4.35 Suanni 5.10 Bantry 5.45 Kenstone
Doncaster 1.50 Rosallion 2.25 Tees Spirit (nap) 3.00 Spycatcher 3.35 Continuous (nb) 4.10 Lightening Company 4.45 Redhot Whisper 5.20 Sonny Liston
Lingfield 1.58 Almaty Star 2.33 Capricorn Prince 3.08 Ambiente Amigo 3.47 Birkie Boy 4.20 Regheeb 4.55 Saturnalia 5.30 Brora Breeze
Chester 2.05 Bluestocking 2.40 Sweet Reward 3.15 Thanks Forever 3.52 Due For Luck 4.25 Urban Outlook 5.00 Momaer 5.35 Compliant
Musselburgh 3.42 War Defender 4.15 Seahorse Syd 4.50 Secret Command 5.25 Dianara 6.00 Ascot Adventure 6.35 Lechro 7.10 The Grey Lass
Chester 2.40 Heavy ground at Goodwood last time may have exaggerated Sweet Reward’s superiority but it was still a new career-best and he may be able to overcome a 7lb hike.
Doncaster 3.00 Karl Burke’s string could scarcely be in better form and Spycatcher is very much the one to beat having been touched off in a Group One contest at Deauville last month.
