Can’t pick the St Leger winner? Have a match bet instead

The difficulty of picking a St Leger winner has only been heightened by the fact that six of the 11 entrants are now priced between 5/1 and 7/1 to secure victory.

It is each-way pair Talent and Libertarian that are best holding their prices, but it is the four shortest prices in the betting that feature in the Ladbrokes match bets for the final Classic of the season.

Aidan O’Brien is responsible for two of this quartet, with main stable jockey Joseph O’Brien opting to ride Leading Light and Ryan Moore coming in to take the reins on Foundry.

Leading Light is the favourite to finish ahead of his stable compatriot at 4/6 and has come on leaps and bounds this season from his two-year-old campaign, with the highlight being a victory in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

Of all of the entrants, he is the guaranteed stayer the field after this 2m success, but the question is whether he can run the steam out of the field or whether the quicker entrants will simply have the race set up for them?

Foundry is 11/10 to beat Leading Light and is potentially the biggest unknown in the field after having only raced twice previously.

It is a big ask of one so inexperienced, but he was second in the Great Voltigeur Stakes last time, which is widely regarded as the main St Leger trial, while Moore has already ridden one O’Brien second string to Classic victory this season when Ruler Of The World won the Epsom Derby.

At the prices, it may pay to take Foundry to finish ahead of his stablemate.

The other head-to-head pitches Derby third Galileo Rock against Excess Knowledge, from the yard of St Leger specialist John Gosden.

Both are priced at 10/11 to finish in front of the other and neither have managed to win a race since their respective maidens.

Galileo Rock has been a model of consistency this season, but there are doubts as to whether the ground will be too soft on the day. He is liable to be in the first four or five home, but a victory is tough to predict.

Excess Knowledge needs to improve, but was a bit unlucky in the Gordon Stakes last time and Gosden has trained three of the last six winners of the St Leger, without having a runner in two of the other renewals in this period.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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