Irish Champions Weekend finishes at the Curragh on Sunday with 3 Group 1s, the Irish St Leger, the Flying Five and the Moyglare Stud Stakes, while Doncaster keeps going after St Leger day. We have gone through both cards and there are 13 races we want to talk about, in time order.
1:25 Doncaster, 5f handicap
Two horses we have put up before, and both have a case built on the same thing: neither got a clear run last time.
Adrestia
Adrestia has not run since Goodwood on 28 July, where she finished 17th. That reads horribly. Watch it back and it is nothing of the sort.
She was drawn 24. She was in a perfect position to come down the near side and had the door shut on her more than once by the eventual winner, Twilight Calls. She went for a second gap and did not get that either. At that point the race was over, and she was allowed to come home in her own time rather than be knocked about for nothing.
The handicapper has taken her from 94 to 92 for it, which we think is generous to us. And the really interesting bit is on the racecard: a tongue strap and cheek pieces go on for the first time. Simon and Ed Crisford do well at Doncaster, Oisin Murphy does well at Doncaster, and she is drawn 14 of the field this time rather than out in the car park.
The Man
The Man went into a lot of NagMe alerts after finishing 7th at York on 19 August. He was weak in the market close to the off and ended up on the wrong side of the track, which is most of the explanation.
The mark is the story. He runs off 87 on Sunday. Look at what he has already done:
- 16 May 2025, York, won off 84 by 2.25 lengths. That is his last winning mark, so he is just 3lb above it.
- 20 August 2025, York, 2nd beaten a head off 92 in this same race over 5f 89y.
- 19 August 2026, York, 7th off 89 in that same race again.
So he has been within a head of winning off 92, and he now gets in 5lb lower than that. Three pounds above a winning mark, at a track where he has already won and been beaten a head, is not a hard ask.
Both of these had things go wrong last time. If they get a clear run on Sunday we think both go a great deal closer.
The other 12 races, including all 3 Group 1s at the Curragh, are below for members.