Comer Group International Irish St Leger |
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| Grade 1, Curragh 16:50 €500,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 6f, Class 1  |
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| Sunday 10th September 2017 | |
1 Order Of St George 2/5F
2 Torcedor 14/1
3 Mount Moriah 14/1
10 ran Distances: 9l, 4½l, ¾l
Time: 3m 7.82s (slow by 10.82s)
Order Of St George wins by several lengths under Ryan Moore
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Aidan O'Brien's Order Of St George was an 11-length winner of the Classic in 2015, but suffered a shock reverse at the hands of Wicklow Brave when a 1-7 favourite 12 months ago.
The five-year-old came within a short head of claiming back-to-back renewals of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June, going down after a thrilling tussle with Big Orange, but having regained winning ways in last month's Irish Leger Trial, he was 2-5 to secure a 10th career success.
With last year's defeat perhaps in his mind, Ryan Moore took the bull by the horns and sent Order Of St George to the front rounding the home turn.
It was a move his opponents were unable to match, with the favourite galloping on relentlessly to score by nine lengths.
Torcedor was best of the rest in second, while Mount Moriah beat Wicklow Brave to third place.
Moore said: "He's a brilliant horse. He has an awful lot of ability and was able to express that today."
O'Brien said: "I'm delighted with him. We know he stays and handles soft ground. He went there strong today.
"His options would be the Melbourne Cup or the Arc. He'd be very comfortable over a mile and a half if there is an ease in the ground at Chantilly.
"Ryan let him relax. He moved him up a little bit and he locked on to him. He just said he kicked into gear and he didn't want to disappoint him then."
Comer Group International Irish St. Leger
€500,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 6f
10 ran
Going: Soft (Straight: Soft to Heavy)
| Pos | Dr | D | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | (5) | Order Of St George (IRE) 2/5f | R L Moore 9-10 |
A P O'Brien | 5 | |
| 2nd | (3) | 9 | Torcedor (IRE) 14/1 | C O'Donoghue 9-10 |
Mrs J Harrington | 5 |
| 3rd | (2) | 4½ | Mount Moriah 14/1 | Harry Bentley 9-1 |
R M Beckett | 3 |
| 4th | (7) | ¾ | Wicklow Brave 11/1 | C D Hayes 9-10 |
W P Mullins | 8 |
| 5th | (1) | 10 | Lord Yeats 28/1 | P Mulrennan 9-10 |
Jedd O'Keeffe | 4 |
| 6th | (9) | 2¾ | Twilight Payment (IRE) 20/1 | K J Manning 9-10 |
J S Bolger | 4 |
| 7th | (10) | 4½ | The Tartan Spartan (IRE) 66/1 | R P Whelan 9-10 |
J P Shanahan | 4 |
| 8th | (6) | 1½ | Dartmouth 5/1 | J A Heffernan 9-10 |
Sir Michael Stoute | 5 |
| 9th | (8) | ½ | Benkei (IRE) 66/1 | C T Keane 9-10 |
H Rogers | 7 |
| 10th | (4) | 35 | Western Hymn 14/1 | P J Smullen 9-10 |
J H M Gosden | 6 |
