Drying ground points to Blue Bunting sinking Sea Moon in the Ladbrokes St Leger
The drying ground at Doncaster has thrown something of a spanner in the works where the favourite for this afternoon’s oldest Classic Sea Moon is concerned. It looked as though he would probably go off a shade of odds-on eventually for the Ladbrokes St Leger following his demolition job in the Great Voltiguer Stakes at York last month – he was as short as 5-4 earlier in the week – but he can now be backed at 2-1 to provide Sir Michael Stoute with his first victory in this Group One contest.
I cannot deny, following his pyrotechnics on the Knavesmire where he had two of today’s rivals behind, Seville and Genius Beast, I was of the opinion that the Leger was Sea Moon’s for the taking, particularly with the step up to this trip likely to bring about further improvement. However, his action does raise genuine concerns regarding the suitability of a quick surface, and he hasn’t tackled ground faster than good to date.
Both Census and Masked Marvel are progressive types for whom a case can be made but as this race has drawn closer I have found myself increasingly drawn to Godolphin’s dual Classic-winning filly BLUE BUNTING, who gets a handy 3lb from her male counterparts, and promises to relish this stiff stamina test.
No member of the fairer sex has won this race since User Friendly in the early 90s but Blue Bunting is as tough as nails, and while most of her racing has been done on ground with a bit of cut, she wasn’t at all inconvenienced by a fast surface when landing the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket during the spring. She has since banished memories of her disappointing reverse in the Epsom Oaks by landing the Irish and Yorkshire equivalents, and I reckon she will have too much grit for her rivals here.