Jeremy Noseda not sure about St Leger for Rebel Soldier
Rebel Soldier may have won the trial but whether he will be allowed to press his claim for the main event is open to doubt.
The Group Three Betfair Gordon Stakes at Goodwood has proven to be a useful guide to the St Leger, with nine horses completing the double; the first horse to win both races was Prince Palatine in 1911 and the most recent was Conduit in 2008.
Nine of the field for this year’s race were also entered for the St Leger and, of those, Corsica won the first battle with Circumvent for the early lead and was three lengths to the good on the run to the top of the hill. Joe Fanning’s slightly stop-start tactics were not enough to break up the field and he was swept aside early on the home straight. First he was joined by Fencing Master and Circumvent but Rebel Soldier bypassed the three of them with some ease for Rayn Moore.
Having won a handicap at York off a mark of just 88, Rebel Soldier had something to prove at this level but he did just that as he held off the late challenge of Dandino, under a determined ride by Paul Mulrennan (for which he picked up a two-day suspension for using his whip with excessive frequency), by a head. Arctic Cosmos, who was last at the top of the home straight finished well to take third and could well be better over the longer trip of the St Leger at Doncaster in September.
Jeremy Noseda trained Sixties Icon to win both the Gordon Stakes and the St Leger with Sixties Icon in 2006. However, the trainer has reservations whether Rebel Soldier will have the stamina for the extra two-and-a-half furlongs of the Classic.
“He’s an improving horse, he’s worked well at home and he’s done that well –just ended up being out in front just a bit too long,” Noseda said. “He took a step up from winning a handicap running off 88 to winning a Group Three, he’s heading in the right direction.”
The obvious direction would be Doncaster but, while Noseda is considering another recognised Leger trial for Rebel Soldier’s next run, he has doubts about the colt’s stamina. “I think we’ll go on and have a crack at the Voltigeur. Take it step by step; sadly I don’t think the St Leger is in his spectrum as far as staying. May be I’m wrong in saying that but we’ll see.”
James Given had just seen Dandino’s four-race winning streak come to an end was already thinking in terms of a rematch. “He ran very well. Paul said he hit a flat spot coming down the hill, and that little bit of rain we’ve had didn’t help. I’m not blaming the ground, but quick ground would suit him better. It was a slightly messy race, with Joe [Fanning] setting a good early gallop then slowing it down at a place in the race you wouldn’t necessarily expect it.
“Ryan just slipped us by a couple of lengths coming round the bend - I’m not blaming Paul in any way, because he had to play his hand as he saw it. We’ve come from a long way back, we’ve lost nothing in defeat and we were staying on, which is good news from a St Leger point of view. We’ll consider the Voltigeur Stakes before that, but not if the ground is soft, because he doesn’t pick up with the same fluency on that type of surface.”
John Gosden, trainer of Arctic Cosmos, was considering a more direct approach. “He didn’t come down the hill, he sort of fell down the hill, but I’m thrilled with the way he finished because we came here for a Leger trial. We may go for the Voltigeur, but if it was fast ground I would give that a miss and go straight to the Leger.
“I think the two that beat us are nice horses, and I know Jeremy thinks the world of the winner.”
While trainers were considering their next moves Frankie Dettori was simply giving thanks after returning unscathed after a fall. Film Score, the Godolphin horse trained by Mahmood al Zarooni, broke a leg and the jockey had to throw himself as the stricken animal, who was immediately put down, fell at the back of the field.
"It could have been a lot worse,” Dettori said. “It happened so quick – the horse only had three leg and I knew he was going to fall over so I had to jump off on the right and avoid getting kicked and I was lucky.”
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