RACING: ENGLISH ST LEGER REPORTCAMELOT HAS been removed from most antepost betting lists for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in three weeks' time after the massive anti-climax of his failed Triple Crown attempt in Saturday's Doncaster St Leger.
Previously the 3to 1 favourite for Europe’s all-aged championship, Camelot’s long-term future was uncertain yesterday after Aidan O’Brien’s immediate post-race reaction that the Leger could be the colt’s last start of 2012.
Whether Camelot will race as a four-year-old has yet to be confirmed amid the fall-out from a controversial attempt to become the first horse since Nijinsky in 1970 to complete the English Triple Crown. Joseph O’Brien’s ride on the 2to 5 favourite was a focus of some critical attention after Camelot failed by three parts of a length to cut down the 25to 1 Godolphin outsider Enke, with Michaelangelo back in third.
Both O’Brien’s afterwards flew back to the Curragh where they were also out of Group One luck with Fame And Glory’s Irish Leger eclipse behind Royal Diamond and making no impression in the Vincent O’Brien Stakes behind another Godolphin star, Dawn Approach.
But the sense of disappointment around Camelot’s failed attempt at racing immortality at Doncaster was palpable with the champion trainer pointing to his own failure to include pacemakers in the race as a possible contributory factor. “We would have preferred a faster pace where he could have settled better and quickened better but that’s my fault,” said O’Brien snr. “My only regret is that I should have put in a pacemaker, maybe two pacemakers. He was staying on at the end rather than quickening up.”
Leger defeat in 1977 didn’t prevent Alleged going on to Longchamp a few weeks later and winning the first of two Arcs, but bookmakers believe the Guineas and Derby hero will not appear in Paris. Instead, last year’s winner Danedream is a general 4to 1 favourite to become the first since Alleged to win back-to-back renewals after yesterday’s Arc Trials Day at Longchamp.
Dermot Weld’s Princess Highway cut no ice in the Prix Vermeille behind the impressive Shareta, runner up to Danedream last year, while Japanese superstar Orfevre is prominent in the betting after a Group Two victory in the Prix Foy.
Royal Diamond secured a memorable Gain Irish St Leger success at the Curragh on Saturday and may not be finished for the year. After putting a classic seal on a remarkable first campaign in Ireland for English owner Andrew Tinkler, Royal Diamond wasn’t ruled out of further appearances this season.
“It depends largely on how he comes out of the race and how he is in 10 days’ time. Then he’ll have another piece of work and see how he comes through it,” said Tinkler’s racing manager Tim Jones.
“That was his main objective and we haven’t looked beyond that. He just had to travel across the road to get to the races on Saturday. It was a tough race but he didn’t have to travel far for it,” he added.
The local nature of what turned into a thrilling blanket finish was emphasised by hugely-popular maiden Group One victories for jockey Niall McCullagh and trainer Tommy Carmody.
Tinkler’s decision at the start of the year to put a string of horses into Johnny Murtagh’s yard on the Curragh and install Carmody as trainer has paid off with a vengeance, especially so for McCullagh.
The 43-year-old rider is usually “first sub” when Murtagh is unavailable and with the champion jockey on board Tinkler’s Ursa Major at Doncaster, McCullagh stepped in for a career highlight. “I’ve ridden classic winners in India but it’s not the same,” he said. “This is the highlight of my career by far.”
Dawn Approach cemented his place as favourite for next year’s 2,000 Guineas with a ruthless demolition of an opposition that didn’t include Cristoforo Colombo who was ruled out on the morning of the race.
