St Leger is pedigree - Aidan O'Brien runs the rule over his favourites for the 250th renewal of Doncaster classic

The Master of Ballydoyle is bidding for a modern day record tenth win in the world’s oldest, longest and final of the five English classics on Town Moor today.

He has four of the 11 runners in this afternoon’s Group 1 Betfred-sponsored showpiece, due off at 3.35, including the Derby winner Christmas Day and also a filly in the shape of Amelia Earhart.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post from his hugely-successful Co Tipperary base on Wednesday, O’Brien said he was happy with his string ahead of today’s race.

He said: “Christmas Day I suppose is the favourite and everything is well since York [the Great St Voltigeur]. I am very happy with him. He obviously hasn’t gone that trip [Leger] yet, but we always thought he would get it .

“Pierre Bonnard I ran at York as well [Voltigeur] and he finished in front of Christmas Day, but he had no penalty.

“We think there’s a chance he gets the trip but it’s not guaranteed and we are not sure, but he could.

“Action is a possible front-runner for us. He is happy to go forward and is in good form."

O’Brien’s filly Amelia Earhart was a surprise pick to run against the colts in her final bid for Classic glory.

The daughter of Camelot was sent off the favourite for the Oaks in June – having won the Cheshire Oaks – but came home sixth for Ryan Moore and hasn’t won in three races since.

But the trainer still has faith in her, as he explained: “She ran a good race the last day [finishing second at Cork] and although it is unusual, it is the last Classic and we thought she would get the trip and it was worth her taking her chance.

“We think she is a good filly and we haven’t got what we thought we might have got with her by this stage, but maybe it is the distance she wants.

“She did well at Goodwood and we will see what happens, but we are very happy with her.”

O’Brien can make history if one of his horses wins today, equalling Malton trainer John Scott’s achievement of four successive wins between 1838-41, although Scott had an incredible 16 Leger wins in total compared to the Irishman’s nine.

The famously modest trainer, who is happy to give credit for winners to everyone ahead of himself, is perhaps unsurprisingly, not thinking about making history.

Asked if he had thought much about the four-timer, he replied: “Not really, no. We don’t ever think of those things.

"We always kind of take each race at a time and try to do the best by each horse and that is our motive, really, and hopefully look back on these things in the years to come.”

O’Brien insists the Leger, often viewed as the supreme test of a horse’s stamina, still has a vital part to play in racing.

"The Leger has to be there because it kept the pedigree through its length and stamina-wise and that has to be,” he said.

“The Guineas tries them for speed, then the Derby the middle-distance, but the Leger is vital for the breed going forwards because at the end of the day, stamina is always going to be the most important thing, even though speed can be very fashionable and it is usually cheap and does not last too long.”

He is referring to the current fashion of buying speedy two-year-olds in the hope of making quick returns and went on: “I think that is life in general now, isn’t it? But like I say, that is fashion but the other will stand the test of time and there will be proof in the pedigree forever.”

One racing accomplishment even O’Brien has failed to achieve in his storied career that he would still like to tick off, is the fabled Triple Crown.

It’s 56 years to the day since Lester Piggott – an eight-time winner of the race – rode Vincent O’Brien’s (no relation) Nijinsky into the record books.

O’Brien came closest in 2012 when the aforementioned Camelot – also the sire of Christmas Day and Pierre Bonnard – was denied by 25-1 outsider Encke.

He admitted: “I think it would be – but it is a very difficult thing to do.

"Obviously, we have tried a lot of times and haven’t been successful ever.

“It is so difficult and that is what makes it extra special.

"If it was one of those things that was being done regularly, it wouldn’t mean as much.

“It is hard, especially in this part of the world.”

Indeed, Christmas Day is bidding to become the first horse to do the Derby-Leger double in 39 years since Reference Point, giving some indication of how hard it is to find and train a horse that can win two legs of the treble, let alone three.

“Absolutely, it is next to impossible to do. It is so competitive racing, at all levels and distances now.”

His brilliant Leger run started in 2001 with Milan, Brian Boru followed two years later and Scorpion in 2005.

He had to wait eight years for his next winner – Leading Light – ridden by his son Joseph – who saddles the fancied Enceladus and Highwayman today.

Capri followed in 2017 for Ryan Moore, who followed up 12 months later with Kew Gardens. Moore completed his hat-trick with Continuous in 2023, it was the turn of Jan Breughal in 2024 and Scandinavia, 12 months ago.

He said: “Scorpion and Leading Light would be very high up there and obviously last year’s horse, Scandinavia would too, but Leading Light was very special for us.”

Unfortunately, O’Brien won’t be at the course as the meeting clashes with Constitution River’s run at the Irish Champions Festival.

But the quest for winners does not dim: “This is what we do and we keep working hard at it. It is a 24 hours, seven-days-a-week job and all you can do is your best and hopefully you can get some results.”

​A potted history of the Doncaster St Leger – 1776-2026

​The St Leger is the world’s oldest and longest Classic and was first run in 1776 after being established by British politician and soldier Lt Col Anthony St Leger (1731-86), who lived on the Park Hill estate at Firbeck near Rotherham.

It is run over one mile, six furlongs and 115 yards and is the final leg of both the colts and fillies Triple Crown, which consists of the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger for the former and 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger for the latter.

The first race, over two miles, was held on Cantley Common and was won by a filly, Allabaculia, before being named after St Leger and moved to Town Moor in 1778.

The most successful trainer in the race was Malton-based John Scott (1794-1871) who won the Doncaster showpiece 16 times and 40 English Classics in total. He also won a record four races in succession from 1838-1841. His brother, jockey William “Bill” Scott (1797-1848), also lived in Malton and won a record nine Legers – all for his sibling – and was in the saddle for each leg of the historic four-timer.

Scott also trained Western Australia – the first winner of the Triple Crown, as it became known, in 1853.

The last horse to complete the Triple Crown was Nijinsky (4-11 fav) on this date in 1970. Trained by another fabled Irishman, Vincent O’Brien at Ballydoyle and ridden by Lester Piggott – who won the race eight times – the horse went on to suffer a narrow defeat in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

In 1985, Sir Henry Cecil’s Oh So Sharp was the last horse to complete the fillies’ Triple Crown.

In 2016 Laura Mongan became the first woman to train the winner – Harbour Law (22-1).

John and Thady Gosden’s Logician (5-6 fav) is the fastest winner in St Leger history. Owned by the late Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte operation and ridden by Frankie Dettori, the son of Frankel just failed to break the three-minute mark coming home in 3 minutes, 0.27 seconds in 2019.