Sporting Bygones: Spencer’s St Leger triumph on Brian Boru may have occured a decade ago but the jockey still manages to divide opinion today

When this naturally-gifted horseman’s timing and tactics pay-off, Spencer is mercurial. When they do go awry, the 33-year-old leaves himself wide open to criticism, such as when the winning line came a stride too soon for York Glory in the Beverley Bullet sprint just 10 days ago.

The son of former County Tipperary National Hunt trainer George Spencer, whose Winning Fair landed Cheltenham’s Champion Hurdle in 1963, he was destined for greatness when he won his first Classic – the 1998 Irish 1,000 Guineas on Tarascon – at the tender age of 17.

Ireland’s champion apprentice the following year, the jockey’s career was in the ascendancy when he arrived at Doncaster on September 13, 2003, to ride Aidan O’Brien’s 5-4 favourite.

However Brian Boru’s win was no formality. Even though he came to prominence when winning Doncaster’s 2002 Racing Post Trophy under Kevin Darley, he was a disastrous 16th out of 20 in the Derby behind Kris Kin before finishing fourth in the Irish equivalent under Spencer, and then second in York’s Juddmonte International to Powerscourt.

Half a mile out and Brian Boru was last of the 12 runners but Spencer appeared nerveless – his ice-cool demeanour has not changed with the passing of time – and the favourite quickened in the final two furlongs to foil Martin Dwyer on High Accolade by a length and a quarter to become the sixth Irish-trained winner of the world’s oldest Classic that was first run in 1776.

There was disappointment for racing aficionados when Pat Eddery, one of the winning-most Flat jockeys of all time, could only finish 10th in his final Classic before retirement aboard Westmoreland Road.

However Eddery was instrumental in Brian Boru’s win. “I said to Pat Eddery after two furlongs that we were going quick and he replied: ‘Too fast son, too fast’,” said a smiling Spencer as he was presented with the cap traditionally awarded to the Leger winning jockey. “So I kept waiting and waiting. I knew he had a kick and he’s done it for me. He’s very tough and credit to Aidan O’Brien and his staff.”

Within weeks, Spencer had usurped Mick Kinane as Ballydoyle’s stable jockey with the prospect of riding the very best thoroughbreds in the British Isles.

Yet, while Spencer enjoyed a winning start to his new role when Brian Boru won the Alleged Stakes on his reappearance in March 2004, ironically the horse’s last victory before being retired to stud, he struggled to handle the pressure of expectation and his association with O’Brien ended after just one frustrating season. He was succeeded by Kieren Fallon.

Both Spencer and O’Brien now concede that they could have handled matters differently but Ballydoyle is a stable where only Group One success matters because of its association with the Coolmore stud – and the breeding potential of champion horses.

That said, O’Brien’s 20-year-old son Joseph is flourishing in the role and his successes include wins on Camelot in last year’s 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby on Camelot who was subsequently denied Triple Crown immortality when beaten in the St Leger by Encke, a horse that subsequently became embroiled in the Godolphin doping scandal.

Queen’s Vase winner Leading Light is likely to be the Ballydoyle standard-bearer in Saturday’s Ladbrokes St Leger.

But it will also be a time for quiet reflection. Spencer dedicated his win on Brian Boru to his close friend Kieran Kelly who died a month before the 2003 St Leger following a fall over jumps at Kilbeggan. “It was a classic for a classic fella,” he said at the time. “It’s all for you, Kieran.”

Racing never forgets its fallen – or seriously injured – and this year’s meeting begins on Wednesday with the feature Clipper Logistics Leger Legends Charity Race seeing retired jockeys from yesteryear don their riding silks once again.

Proceeds will be split between the Jack Berry House that the Injured Jockeys’ Fund is now building in Malton – it will be a rehabilitation and fitness centre for riders and the wider racing community – and the Northern Racing College based at Doncaster.

The Leger Legends race will also mark the culmination of a fundraising auction where the prize lots include a whip once used by Fred Archer who was the 13-times champion jockey in the late 19th century before taking his own life in 1886 at the age of 29 while delirious from wasting and the loss of his wife during childbirth.

The winner of 2,748 races in a tragically short career, he remains one of Flat racing’s benchmarks for greatness and won six St Legers in his celebrated career – just three short of Bill Scott’s all-time record of nine in the early 1800s.

They are landmarks that continue to survive the test of time, despite the emergence of new talents like Jamie Spencer who became Britain’s champion jockey in 2005 before winning his final race of the 2007 season so he could share the title with Seb Sanders.

This season he is enjoying a successful alliance with Qatar Racing and won the Irish 1000 Guineas on Just The Judge before being demoted from second to third on Kiyoshi in last Sunday’s Moyglare Stud Stakes for fillies after being found guilty of causing interference – evidence of his continuing ability to inspire and exasperate.

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