Gosden rookie has most ante-post appeal in Doncaster’s St Leger
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On the last eight instances that John Gosden has saddled at least one runner in the St Leger, he has conjured up three winners.
Lucarno, Arctic Cosmos and Masked Marvel have all done the business for Gosden at Doncaster in the last decade, with no trainer providing more victors of the final Classic of the flat season in this period.
Gosden has a few potential candidates on the ante-post St Leger inclusion list in 2016, with Muntahaa looking the most exciting.
Having only started his career this season, Muntahaa is still effectively learning on the job after four racecourse visits. He is certainly more inexperienced than the majority of his fellow expected St Leger rivals.
It’s his last two starts which have really thrust Muntahaa into the limelight, breaking his maiden tag on a first run over 1m4f on the all-weather at Kempton when beating Marmelo by six lengths. That horse has since gone on to win another maiden by 10 lengths.
Gosden’s three-year-old then contested the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, again over 1m4f, when staying on as good as anything to finish third. Based on that performance, another step up in trip should be ideal.
The King Edward has proved a decent warm up for the St Leger in recent years, with four of the last 11 victors of the Classic also running in the Royal Ascot Group 2.
Interestingly, each of these winners failed to taste success at Ascot, but did finish in the first three as Muntahaa did.
Muntahaa is 10/1 to win the St Leger and hails from a trainer with a solid record in the race, looks liable to appreciate the step up in trip, has shown up well in what has proved a decent trial and is open to more improvement than many of his probable Doncaster opponents.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
