Blast From The Past: St Leger

The 1970s proved a golden decade for the St Leger, beginning with Nijinsky’s success in 1970 which made him the last colt to complete the triple crown when he added the final classic to his previous victories in the 2000 Guineas and Derby. Nijinsky might have been one of the best horses to win a St Leger, but the best winning performance in the race came seven years later from the filly Dunfermline.

Dunfermline’s success in 1977 came in the Silver Jubilee year of her owner-breeder the Queen. She had already given Her Majesty a classic success when winning the Oaks, a well-run race which showed that stamina was her strong suit, as she stayed on to lead near the finish after her rider Willie Carson had been hard at work towards the rear on the run down to Tattenham Corner. Dunfermline made her only appearance between the Oaks and the St Leger in the Yorkshire Oaks but, in contrast to Epsom, the York race proved a falsely-run affair and she finished only third in a sprint finish to the Lancashire Oaks winner Busaca.

The extra couple of furlongs or so of the St Leger promised to suit Dunfermline much better, while connections took the precaution of providing her with a pacemaker, Gregarious, at Doncaster to ensure a decent gallop. Even so, Dunfermline was sent off at 10/1 in betting dominated by Alleged (7/4-on) who was bidding to give Nijinsky’s trainer and jockey, Vincent O’Brien and Lester Piggott, yet another classic success. Like Dunfermline, Alleged had also run at York beforehand, but had made a much greater impression by keeping his unbeaten record on his first start outside Ireland with a seven-length win in the Great Voltigeur which he turned into a procession.

Could Dunfermline find sufficient improvement to defeat Alleged if he stayed the Leger trip? Here’s Racehorses of 1977’s answer:

‘She could and she did: she beat him entirely on merit officially by a length and a half though a length is nearer the truth, and the pair of them gave a performance of such distinction that third-placed Classic Example [the Voltigeur runner-up] trailed in thirteen lengths behind Alleged. If Alleged wasn’t the horse here that we saw in the Arc [when having Dunfermline back in fourth next time] he wasn’t far short of it; the daylight between him and the rest tells as much, and the 1977 International Classification seriously underestimates the value of Dunfermline’s exceptional performance.’*

‘Dunfermline stuck to Alleged when he quickened past Gregarious into the lead turning for home in a fast race, and unlike the others she simply would not be shaken off. A furlong and a half out she was in front on the outside; from then on Carson needed all his skill and strength to hold her together and Dunfermline once again had to call on all her reserves until Piggott accepted defeat in the last few strides.’

Incidentally, the first two came close enough together to prompt a twenty-minute inquiry but, unlike in another tight finish in 2015 (when another filly, Simple Verse, was first past the post, demoted on the day, but later reinstated as the winner), the stewards allowed the result to stand. ‘Any other result would have been an injustice.’

*The International Classification rated Dunfermline 8 lb behind Alleged, whereas Timeform rated her only 4 lb inferior on 133.