Sunday sees a relatively low-key finale to the four-day Doncaster St Leger Festival, headlined by the Group 3 Sceptre Fillies’ Stakes. Those seeking Group 1 action should turn their attention to the Curragh for the exceptional Irish St Leger meeting.
Competitive handicap events bookend the eight-race card but sandwiched in between are no fewer than four top-tier Group 1 contests, including the final Classic of the Irish racing season. With the final fields now beginning to take shape, fans can look forward to witnessing several star names in action.
Moyglare Stud Stakes – Burke to Fend off O’Brien Battalion?
Having shared the past two editions of this seven-furlong event for the juveniles, Karl Burke and Aidan O’Brien are set to butt heads once again. Unsurprisingly, O’Brien boasts strength in numbers on the current list of entries, but the sole Burke runner sits near the top of the market.
Venetian Sun is by Starman, whose stud fee has steadily dropped over the past four years, and out of a mare who won at no higher than handicap level. On pedigree alone, she doesn’t leap off the page. Thus far, she has proved much better than the sum of her parts. Four starts have yielded four wins, including the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and the Group 1 Prix Morny. Having mastered O’Brien’s Coventry Stakes winner Gstaad in France, she now faces the best of the Ballydoyle fillies on her first try at seven furlongs.
Beautify, Precise, and Diamond Necklace all won last time out and bring typically impressive pedigrees to the table. However, the market suggests that the four-timer-seeking Composing has the best chance of eclipsing Venetian Sun. Already a dual course and distance winner, she stormed home to land the Group 2 Debutante Stakes last time and looks ready for this step up to the top table.
Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes – Asfoora to Star for Australia
Australian trainers are renowned for their success with sprinters on the global stage. Regularly upsetting the hosts at Royal Ascot over the years, our Antipodean cousins have also plundered several notable Irish pots. Eighteen years have passed since Benbaun claimed a third successive win in this race for Mark Wallace, but the market suggests the Aussies have the ace in the pack in 2025.
Now seven years old, the marvellous mare Asfoora announced herself to British fans with a sizzling success in the 2024 King Charles III Stakes. She managed only fifth in the defence of her crown in 2025 and was never involved in the King George V Stakes at Goodwood. However, any thoughts that her star had waned were dispelled with a brilliant win in the Nunthorpe Stakes last time out. Back in form, she is the one to beat in her first trip to the Emerald Isle.
Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes – Ballydoyle vs Godolphin Showdown
With three wins apiece since 2015, Aidan O’Brien and Charlie Appleby regularly lock horns in this seven-furlong contest for the two-year-old colts. If the betting is any guide, we could witness the latest instalment of this classic rivalry in 2025.
Coventry Stakes champ Gstaad captains a five-strong Ballydoyle entry. Three lengths too good for the field in the Coventry Stakes, he tasted defeat for the first time last time out in the Prix Morny. However, that short-neck loss to Venetian Sun will receive a boost if the Karl Burke filly prevails earlier on the card. Being by the strong speed influence Starspangledbanner, the additional distance poses a question, but he’s the one to beat on ratings.
Last successful with Native Trail in 2021, Godolphin number one Appleby opts to send Saba Desert in pursuit of this prize rather than tackle the Champagne Stakes on Saturday afternoon. This is a tougher task than that Group 2 event, but the Newmarket handler knows what it takes to succeed. Two from two in his career to date, Saba Desert looked the part in the Superlative Stakes and, unlike Gstaad, is proven over this trip.
Comer Group International Irish St Leger – Battle of the O’Briens
Open to runners aged three and older – colts, fillies, or geldings – the Irish St Leger welcomes staying stars from across the racing spectrum. In 2025, Joseph O’Brien’s Al Riffa tops the market. A Group 1 winner over seven furlongs and 1m4f, this season began with commendable defeats in the Prix Ganay and Hardwicke Stakes. However, stepping up to 1m6f for the first time saw Al Riffa reveal untapped potential as a stayer. A repeat of that five-length romp in the Curragh Cup should see him go close en route to a possible tilt at the Melbourne Cup.
With seven previous wins, Aidan O’Brien lies just two behind Vincent O’Brien and Dermot Weld in the Irish St Leger trainer’s table. In the absence of the 2022 and 2024 winner Kyprios, O’Brien relies on the consistent Illinois in 2025. First or second in each of his last nine starts, he is yet to score in Group 1 company but went down by just a neck in the 2024 English St Leger. With his Goodwood Cup conqueror, Scandinavia, heading to Doncaster, Illinois has solid claims of landing that elusive Group 1 victory.