Camelot: will be racing beyond 1m4f for the first time in Saturday’s Leger

PICTURE: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos), BY JAMES PUGH5:43PM 10 SEP 2012

On the day Aidan O’Brien opened the doors to his Ballydoyle base to the racing media, son and big-race jockey Joseph expressed his concerns about Camelot’s ability to stay the 1m6½f trip in Saturday’s Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster.

Camelot will bid to become the first horse since Nijinsky in 1970 to secure the Triple Crown but O’Brien jnr said the talented three-year-old will have to answer big stamina questions when he races beyond 1m4f for the first time.

“Camelot is an exceptional horse with a brilliant turn of foot. Whether he will stay a mile and three-quarters, that’s the big question and nobody knows the answer until Saturday,” said the jockey.

“It may only be just over two furlongs further than he has been before but that is still a lot. There are no certainties in racing though and we just don’t know about the extra distance in the St Leger.”

The son of Montjeu was among 11 possibles for the world’s oldest Classic at the five-day forfeit stage on Monday and O’Brien said it would be unbelievable to follow in the footsteps of Lester Piggott in winning the coveted Triple Crown for his father.

He added: “He is a jockey’s dream to ride as everything comes naturally to him. You let him come alive in your hands and he is actually very easy to ride. He is just unbelievable and is not like any other horse I have ever ridden.

“The Triple Crown would be a dream come true. I have seen the videos of Nijinsky and Lester Piggott and if Camelot could emulate that it would be unbelievable.”

Camelot is available at 1-3 with Ladbrokes and firm spokeswoman Hayley O’Connor said: “The name Camelot is synonymous with magic and legend, which is exactly what we could witness this weekend.

“We hold him in the highest regard ahead of the Ladbrokes St Leger and will unite with the punters in cheering him on in his bid for the Triple Crown.”

The race sponsors also opened an intriguing without Camelot market, which is headed by 2-1 favourite Main Sequence. John Gosden’s Michelangelo is 3-1 with stablemate Thought Worthyand the progressive Guarantee available at 4-1.

The going at Doncaster remains good to firm, good places before the start of Wednesday’s four-day St Leger festival and clerk of the course Jon Pullin, speaking on Monday, said: “We finished the weekend’s watering cycle this morning, with an average of 20 millimetres applied to the track.

“The forecast is for a few showers in the early hours of tomorrow which should yield around two to three millimetres.

“Tomorrow and Wednesday are forecast to be overcast and there is a chance of some light showers. From Thursday onwards, conditions are predicted to become drier and brighter.”

 

3:40 p.m. eng time, Doncaster, SAT 15 SEP 2012