Comer Group International Irish St Leger (Group 1)

DYLAN Browne McMonagle might be on his way to a first Irish flat jockeys’ title this season, and the campaign’s highlight will surely be a maiden classic victory for the rider in the Comer Group International Irish St Leger on Al Riffa, who himself is on route to Flemington as Melbourne Cup favourite.

The 22-year-old oozed confidence on Joseph O’Brien’s now triple Group 1 winner, who was snapped up by Australian Bloodstock after his previous romp in the Curragh Cup - and that course-and-distance prize has been won by the Owning Hill team’s two previous Melbourne Cup winners.

With 15/8 favourite Illinois disappointing and coming under pressure early, the three-year-old Amiloc (2/1) stood out as the biggest threat for Ralph Beckett. He delivered a bold bid, but had no answer to the injection of pace that Al Riffa put into the final furlong or so. The class that saw the Wootton Bassett five-year-old win the seven-furlong National Stakes on this card back on this weekend in 2022 came to the fore, as he stretched four lengths clear of Amiloc for a ready victory.

“He deserved to win his classic,” said Browne McMonagle.

“He’s an improving horse and he’s only going to get better with age. Stepping up to a mile and six furlongs was always going to be a big help to him.

“Conditions were perfect for him today and everything set up lovely for him. Joseph had him in tip-top shape. Paddy Cully rides him out and does a great job, so I’m delighted for the whole team at home.

“He won his Group 1 at two, went to Germany and won a Group 1 and now he’s back here. I think all roads lead to the Melbourne Cup, as far as I know, so the whole team and the new connections will be very excited by that.”

Reacting to his breakthrough classic success, the Donegal native added: “It’s unbelievable. I’m very lucky to be in the place that I’m in, to be getting the opportunities on these type of horses.

“A big thanks goes to Joseph and all the connections and everyone who works hard down there. My family are here as well today so they’ll be happy. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”

Cup calling

Al Riffa’s Flemington odds now range from 6/1 to 8/1, having been available to back at 12/1 before his Irish Champions Festival success. It was 10 years since O’Brien rode the winner of this race, Order Of St George, in 2015, and he’s now an Irish St Leger-winning trainer for the first time. He celebrated the success in the company of Al Riffa’s new southern hemisphere owners, who have repotredly already taken bigger ante-post prices about the winner for the Melbourne Cup.

“We knew that the guys that were guaranteed stayers were going to try and expose the stamina of some of the guys that weren’t so guaranteed and the pace was really, really strong,” said O’Brien, after getting off the mark for the 2025 Irish Champions Festival.

“Dylan was cool and confident. He’s been a great horse for us - he’s been a star, who always turns up and runs his race. A mile and a quarter plus, on all grounds [is fine for him]. I’m delighted for the new ownership, Jamie [Lovett] and the Australian Bloodstock team and partners.

“He has the right attributes. He settles well and has a turn of foot and obviously he stays. It will be a huge ask to carry the weight he’s going to be asked to carry, being a multiple Group 1 winner, but that’s what racing’s all about. Today was a gruelling race, but we’ll freshen him up and hopefully get him to the Melbourne Cup.”

Overall, there was an international feel to the result with the Australia-bound winner beating two trained in Britain, Amiloc and Al Qareem, while 100/1 German raider Waldadler ran a big race to finish fourth. He was beaten 11 lengths but traded as low as 4.9/1 in-running (from a Betfair Exchange SP of 229/1) when travelling into the race extremely smoothly.

On the runner-up, trainer Ralph Beckett said: “I’m very proud of Amiloc. Everything went to plan and we just got done by a better one. This horse is still relatively inexperienced, so I was delighted with him. I thought we got first run and went at the right time, and he got to the line well. We always felt he’d enjoy the slower ground. He just loves racing and so I wouldn’t get hung up on ground necessarily.

“It took a while for him to get over the King Edward VII Stakes at Ascot, and the only concern was if he’d done enough at home. He clearly had. I think he’ll probably go to the Breeders’ Cup Turf now, I think that will really suit him. You’d think with his pedigree and make-up, he should get better as he gets older.”

At the request of the raceday stewards, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Veterinary Officer examined Illinois (beaten 25 lengths in seventh) and Leinster (tailed off in last of the nine runners), and both were post-race normal.