2007 St Leger Stakes

A record crowd of 31,000 spectators turned out for the 2007 Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes Festival, which kicked off with the re-opening of the upgraded Doncaster Racecourse, with its new Urban-i stand, by HRH the Princess Royal.

On the final day of the festival, Pennsylvania-bred colt Lucarno – with beginning odds of 7/2 – thundered to victory in the St Leger Stakes. Lucarno earned a first British Classic win for jockey Jimmy Fortune and a second St Leger win for trainer John Gosden. Just a month earlier, Lucarno won the Ladbrokes Great Voltigeur Stakes at York. Earlier in the season, he also secured a fourth position at the Epsom Derby. He was entered in the St Leger Stakes only days before the race, but doubt about the horse’s endurance proved unfounded.

As in the Great Voltigeur Stakes, four horses trained by Aidan O’Brien – Mahler, Honolulu, Macarthur and Acapulco – ran the St Leger Stakes. Mahler, with jockey Mick Kinane, took the lead early in the race, with Honolulu holding second position. With a furlong left, Lucarno swept from sixth position to the front, defeating O’Brien’s St Leger hopes and making it in ahead of both Mahler and Honolulu.

Lucarno’s win represented trainer John Gosden’s fifth British Classic victory. After the race, Gosden commented that, “He has done nothing but improve and he is coming to his best in the autumn. We will put him away now and come back next year for the mile-and-a-half Group Ones. We are not rushing off to the Arc like lunatics and we will have a proper four-year-old next year for the Coronation Cup and King George.”

Jockey, Jimmy Fortune said, “It’s great to get my first Classic.” About Lucarno, he said, “He’s a beautiful horse very relaxed, a real professional and a true Group One horse. York is an easy mile-and-a-half and it can kid you, so there was a doubt about him staying but he got the trip well.”

Lucarno’s owner, George Strawbridge, is a former steeplechase jockey. He said, “I’m used to steeplechases where they go three miles, so this is like a sprint to me.”

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