Logician the Logical Choice in Doncaster's St. Leger

The favorite for the Sept. 14 William Hill St. Leger (G1) has raced only four times and never competed as a 2-year-old. In some ways, that would make him a perfectly normal winner of the world's oldest classic.

Frankie Dettori and John Gosden have been mopping up group 1 races all year, but at the start of 2019, nobody outside of Clarehaven Stables and Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte operation would have heard of Logician.

Even after three victories, the gray son of Frankel was hardly a household name, but one dazzling display changed that and propelled the unbeaten colt toward classic stardom.

It was in the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes (G2) that Logician announced himself to the world. The manner in which he stormed clear of the now former Ballydoyle team member Constantinople marked him down as an athlete with group 1 potential. Still, however, there are inevitable, indeed logical, questions that need answering.

Will Logician stay the 14 1/2-furlong St. Leger trip? Is Doncaster's prevailing fast ground a potential problem? We cannot yet know the answers to those two questions. History, however, indicates we should not be worried about Logician's relative lack of experience.

No less than nine of the past 30 Legers were won by horses who had remained at home as juveniles. Two of them, Lucarno and Shantou, were trained by Gosden. Moreover, two winners in that period, Nedawi and Michelozzo, had run only three times.

"He is a late developer but is ready for this challenge, although I would have preferred it if the ground was good rather than good to firm," Gosden said. "Along with most of the others, he's going into unknown territory, as we don't try them over this trip at home, but he shapes as if he should get it."

Abdullah's racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, agrees.

"Prince Khalid wants to win classic races," he said. "That is an overriding desire, and the St. Leger qualifies in every way. Trying to fit a round peg in a round hole is the most important thing. (Logician) seems to be on a good curve, and the Voltigeur showed us he could handle a high-class race. The extra distance is always an imponderable. It doesn't always mean anything, but he did gallop out well in the Voltigeur. Sometimes they get to the winning post and take a big heave, but he didn't do that. 

"Does that make him a Leger winner? Not necessarily. However, I think if you were a jockey, you would be pleased to be on him."

Frankie Dettori is a jockey, and he is pleased to be on him.

"The Voltigeur is the best Leger trial, and he won it really well," Dettori said. "He's favorite, but I'm not taking anything for granted. Sir Dragonet is a good horse, and Il Paradiso is a very good stayer, so I'll be keeping an eye on them."

A St. Leger hat trick will be landed by Aidan O'Brien if one of his three Doncaster candidates—headed by beaten Investec Derby (G1) favorite Sir Dragonet—can give the master of Ballydoyle his seventh success in the classic.

Capri and Kew Gardens won the past two runnings, in which their stable companions Sir Dragonet, Il Paradiso, and Western Australia on this occasion seek to thwart Logician.

With Coolmore's No. 1 jockey, Ryan Moore, on duty at Leopardstown, Donnacha O'Brien has been handed the mount on Sir Dragonet, who adored the mud, romping to an eight-length MBNA Chester Vase (G3) triumph. On the sort of fast ground he will encounter at Doncaster, he then finished fifth at Epsom before returning from a summer holiday to take fourth in a Curragh group 3 last month. 

"It was Sir Dragonet's first run back from a good break at the Curragh, and he was just about ready to start back. Everything has gone smoothly with him since. 

"You can never be sure one will stay until they try, but he was very comfortable over a mile and a half on his first few starts, so you would be very hopeful he will," Aidan O'Brien said. "We have always thought he was a very classy colt."

Certain to have no stamina problems is Padraig Beggy's mount, Il Paradiso, most recently third to Stradivarius and Dee Ex Bee at York.

"Il Paradiso has kept progressing all season," said O'Brien. "He stays very well and is a very solid, genuine horse, as you saw at York. He has come out of that race well, and we have been delighted with him. Western Australia has been disappointing, no doubt, but I think you will see a much better run from him here. The ground, the track, and the trip will suit him."

Trainer Mark Johnston, on the other hand, awaits his first St. Leger victory, and Franny Norton has only ridden once in the race. But with Sir Ron Priestley, one of the sport's most potent partnerships has a genuine chance of capturing Yorkshire's classic.

The Paul Dean-owned colt has won five of his six starts this season, with four of those coming under the 49-year-old Norton, whose mount is joined by the Andrea Atzeni-ridden Nayef Road—most recently last behind Logician at York—in a twin stable challenge.

"The two horses have the same rating, so they are both worth their places in the field, but Sir Ron Priestley has been far more consistent than Nayef Road," Johnston said. "He has slowly climbed through the ranks and had only one blip this year at Royal Ascot. Based on Nayef Road's last run, he shouldn't be in the Leger, but if you take that run out, he deserves to be there."

Like Norton, Rob Hornby is relatively unaccustomed to riding in group 1 contests, but he has the opportunity to shine on a massive stage aboard Unibet Geoffrey Freer Stakes (G3) winner Technician.

"It's a big step up—there's no doubt about that—but every time he has run a proper race, he has improved," trainer Martyn Meade said. "I think that based on his Newbury run, he has every chance, and I'm sure he'll stay. A furlong out at Newbury, it looked as though he might not win, but he keeps on going and Rob knows that."

Hornby's regular ally, Andrew Balding, is also represented through Oisin Murphy's mount, Dashing Willoughby, who heads to Doncaster after running well behind older opposition in the Princess of Wales's Stakes (G2) and Qatar Goodwood Cup (G1).