Sunday 14th September 2025
ST LEGER FESTIVAL SELECTIONS (DAY 4)
3.00 Doncaster: PUROSANGUE – 11/1 (Each-Way) (5 places)
The first of my selections on Sunday, on the final day of the St Leger Meeting at Doncaster, comes within the 3.00, and this is a Class 2 handicap that’s contested over six and a half furlongs. I’m taking a chance on Purosangue here at a decent price, for the team of Andrew Balding and Jason Watson. He’s dropped down to what looks like a very tempting mark here, and he posted a decent effort last time out at Goodwood in a Class 2 handicap over seven furlongs, finishing sixth of twelve, and three lengths behind the winner. He’s got some very solid form on soft ground, which he’s likely to encounter here, and I think he’s got every chance of running a big race.
4.10 Doncaster (Sceptre Fillies’ Stakes): SHUWARI – 5/1 (Each-Way) (4 places)
My second selection of the day comes within the 4.10, and this is the Group 3 Sceptre Fillies’ Stakes, which is ridden over a distance of seven furlongs. I like Shuwari here for Ollie Sangster and Daniel Muscutt. She was second in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile as a two-year-old, and proved she still retains plenty of ability following a layoff when taking a Listed contest at Longchamp on her most recent outing last month. All of her form has come on soft ground, which is another big positive, and there’s nothing to suggest that she won’t follow up her Longchamp success with another big run.
4.40 Doncater: HARVANNA – 9/1 (Each-Way) (5 places)
Signing me off for the meeting will be the 4.40, and this is Class 3 handicap action over five furlongs. This is another competitive-looking affair; however, I’ve come down on Harvanna for Michael Appleby and Warren Fentiman, who takes off five pounds. You can put a line through her run at Goodwood last time out, as she met trouble in running and stumbled leaving the stalls. Despite that, though, she still finished a respectable sixth of thirteen. Before that, she was only beaten a neck at Chester off a mark which is effectively four pounds higher than today’s given the rider’s claim. She’s also effectively six pounds lower than her last winning mark her, and that success came over course and distance. The soft surface is the only concern for me, but she’s definitely worth chancing at the prices.
