Jim Crowley: This is a lovely Leger ride to pick up
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Jockey and Coral ambassador Jim Crowley discusses the chances of Tower Of London in the St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday.
It was great to get the call-up to ride Tower Of London in the Leger, any ride in a Classic is special, and to pick up a ride for Coolmore and Aidan O’Brien means a lot. The first thing to say about this year’s race is how open it looks. The fact bookies are struggling to find a clear favourite tells you there’s no obvious standout, and what that means is plenty of the nine runners have a chance, including my fellow.
Tower Of London is a full brother to Capri, the winner of this race in 2017, so he’s certainly bred for the job. He won a Listed race and a handicap before going for the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket’s July meeting, where he was arguably an unlucky loser, meeting trouble in running and still only getting beaten by a head, to Castle Way.
Castle Way then finished second to Continuous at York, so I can see why Ryan [Moore] has gone for Continuous, but at four times the odds, I’m not sure there is that much between the two stablemates, I certainly hope not anyway.
Frankie Dettori has switched to Arrest from Gregory, but if the rain doesn’t materialise then he may not end up on the ‘right’ one, certainly from my perspective the drier the ground the better. The King and Queen have a live chance of a popular victory with Desert Hero, as a son of Sea The Stars you’d expect him to stay but he has to prove it.
I mentioned Capri earlier, when he won the Leger I was second on Crystal Ocean, so I’m hoping the family owes me one here! Joking apart, he stays well, and is trained by a genius, so in a wide open year, this is an exciting ride to look forward to.
Jim
