Highwayman won the 250th running of the St Leger Stakes at Doncaster on Saturday, and the story of the day belonged as much to his jockey as to the horse. Saffie Osborne, 24, became the first woman to ride the winner of a British Classic when she steered the Joseph O’Brien-trained colt home at 11/1.
It was a result few saw coming. Christmas Day, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Derby winner, went off the 7/4 favourite but faded to finish ninth of eleven. Highwayman held on from stablemate Enceladus (5/2), who chased him home for a Joseph O’Brien one-two, with Amelia Earhart (22/1) a further 4¼ lengths back in third. Enceladus was beaten 2½ lengths at the line, on Good ground.
Key moments
The finish came down to the O’Brien pairing, with Highwayman doing enough to hold off Enceladus. Christmas Day’s run has generated plenty of talk given he arrived off the back of Derby glory and went off favourite, but he simply did not fire and dropped away through the field to finish ninth. BloodHorse reported that no injury was found in the colt afterwards, so the underperformance remains unexplained for now.
Osborne only found out she had the ride on the Tuesday before the race, when O’Brien turned to her at short notice. It was her first time riding for the trainer. “I’m in shock. I burst into tears,” she said afterwards. “This is the kind of thing that changes your life. No-one can ever take it away from you.”
O’Brien, who won this same race in 2020 with Galileo Chrome, filled the first two places on Saturday. “To win that was incredible,” he said. “It’s special. It’s a historic race and to have the first and second is very special.” Owner John Neocleous added: “I’m still in shock but I’m very happy.”
What it means
Highwayman’s rise has not been a straight line. He lost his first three starts by a combined 57 lengths before breaking his maiden at Killarney in July, then winning again at Leopardstown three weeks before the Leger. That is a sharp transformation for a colt few would have picked out as a Classic winner in the spring, and it points to how well the step up in trip has suited him. For O’Brien, it is a second St Leger and further evidence that his yard’s improving three-year-olds are peaking over middle and staying distances at the back end of the season.
For Osborne, the achievement carries weight well beyond one race. Alex Greaves, Hayley Turner and Hollie Doyle had all ridden at Group 1 level before her, but none had won a British Classic. That barrier is now gone, and it happened on a horse she had never sat on in a race before Saturday.
Looking ahead
Connections are already looking overseas. O’Brien has entered Highwayman for the Irish Cesarewitch on 27 September, with the Melbourne Cup on 3 November also on the agenda; bookmakers have cut him to 14/1 for that race. It is an ambitious programme, but O’Brien has won the Melbourne Cup twice before, with Rekindling in 2017 and Twilight Payment in 2020, so the staying trip and the travel will not be new territory for the yard even if it is for the horse.
Whatever comes next, Saturday’s Leger will be remembered for the jockey as much as the winner. The history is made. The question now is whether Highwayman can carry his rich vein of form into two more tests on two different continents.
No comment