Jim Crowley: “I’m hopeful we can reverse the York form”

Coral ambassador previews his rides ahead of day one of St Leger

Barring any last minute u-turns, the first day of the Leger meeting will see the return of spectators to the race course, and from a rider’s point of view, it will be great to get crowds back, we’ll certainly notice it.

It’s the next step in getting back to normal, the sooner that can happen the better, and like everyone I’ll be hoping it all goes smoothly, and not just in racing either, we’re aware of the issues in the wider world, and we’re all hoping things don’t take a turn for the worse.

It’s been a challenging year for the sport obviously, but in the circumstances, I think a lot of people deserve plenty of credit, from the weighing room point of view things have run remarkably smoothly. We read this week that full capacity is unlikely at next year’s Cheltenham Festival, that tells you how far we have to go, but this is a step in the right direction, any return to some sort of normality has to be welcomed.

Doncaster 1.10 – Mohaafeth

Sheikh Hamdan runs two in the opening maiden, Moktasaab and my mount, Mohaafeth. I’ve obviously not got much to go on, I haven’t sat on either at home, so I’ve very much taken the advice of [assistant racing manager] Richard Hills, who’s an important part of the Shadwell team.  My fellow is a beautifully bred son of Frankel, but whatever he does here, and indeed Owen’s [Burrows] runner does, they’re two lovely horses for the future. There are a couple in here with racecourse experience, that could prove vital here, but we’ll just be looking for nice introductions from our pair, it certainly wouldn’t be the end of the world if I was on the wrong one here.

Doncaster 1.40 – Mayaas

Mayaas ran a nice race at York last time, finishing second to Ataser, who we face again here. We’re much better off at the weights with that one here though, so I’d be hopeful we can reverse form with it, and if we do, that should put us not far off winning, although it is a tight looking race.

Doncaster 2.40 – Mykonos St John

I wouldn’t normally have a ride in the Leger Legends race as usually it’s for the retired greats of the game, but obviously it’s a different set up this year, so I’m on Mykonos St John for Jamie Osborne. He won well on his handicap debut at Windsor in July but then disappointed at Kempton last time. He’ll need to bounce back from that, but the ease in the ground will suit, and my fellow ex-jump jockey would love to win this race I’m sure!

Doncaster 3.15 – Jubiloso

It’s always nice to pick up a ride for Sir Michael Stoute, and in Jubiloso I have a lovely filly to look forward to. She was third in last year’s Coronation Stakes, although wasn’t able to go on from that, and was beaten favourite in her two starts that followed. Her one run this year was in the Duke Of Cambridge at the Royal meeting, she ran far too freely that day and ran no sort of race. This looks a nice opportunity for her to get some confidence back, if she runs to her best or somewhere near it, she would have a favourites chance.

Jim