St Leger Festival Day 3 Tips 2023: Best Bets For Doncaster's Live ITV Action
We are set for a terrific day three of the St Leger Festival at Doncaster on Saturday afternoon and all the action will unfold in front of the ITV Racing cameras, with the feature race the St Leger the highlight at 15:35. Our in-house tipster Steve Chambers previews all the action and picks out his best bets of the afternoon...
We kick off with the hugely competitive Portland Handicap at 14:25 as some of the leading sprint handicappers aim to land this coveted prize and while this is an event that can be a springboard to bigger and better things for emerging sprinters, the 2023 renewal could well see an old stager take the prize. The horse in question is Andrew Balding's KING'S LYNN, who when owned by Her Majesty The Queen was a winner of the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park, but he's since been dropping down the handicap and struggling for form.
Ninth in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot off a mark of 107, the six-year-old was last seen finishing down the field in the Stewards' Cup off the same figure. Given a big chance by the handicapper with a 3lbs drop, King's Lynn will take his chance off 104 and having been a winner of the Listed Wentworth Stakes at Doncaster earlier in his career he could prove to just be a little better than most of his rivals and after a month off the track he can score here.
Runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Maurice De Gheest in France, SPYCATCHER will be looking to go one better on Saturday in the Group 2 Park Stakes, which has attracted a relatively low standard of competition. He was taken out of the Sprint Cup at Haydock Park last weekend due to the quick ground, so the rain-softened going at Doncaster should see him produce his best form here.
Prior to that second placed finish in France he won a Group 3 on French soil as well and looks to be a sprinter on the upgrade. Second in the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle earlier in the season, the five-year-old will have some notable rivals in the shape of Audience, Sandrine and Biggles, but Karl Burke's charge could just prove to be a cut above.
It's a hugely competitive renewal of the final Classic of the season, the St Leger at 15:35, but while all eyes will be on the likes of the well-backed Arrest, his stablemate Gregory and Aidan O'Brien's Continuous there could be value further down the list and the one to side with his Simon & Ed Crisford's CHESSPIECE, who looks over-priced at double-figured odds.
Third in the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, where he was well beaten by Gregory that day, the Godolphin raider then stormed to victory in a Listed event at Hamilton to get back on the winning thread. Narrowly beaten by another of Saturday's rivals in Desert Hero in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, Chesspiece has shaped like he would absolutely relish the step back up in trip and he is sure to be doing all his best work at the finish. The son of Nathaniel has proven form on most ground conditions, so he should have no worries with the going and he could well be the surprise package in a cracking field.
