Comer Group International Irish St. Leger (Group 1)

SCANDINAVIA reaffirmed his standing as the best stayer in the business with a workmanlike win in the Comer Group International Irish St. Leger, doing all he was required to see off stubborn stablemate Queenstown by two lengths.

For all that the runner-up kept him honest, there was a sense of inevitability that the 4/11 favourite would always shade the verdict under Ryan Moore for Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partners. He extended his winning sequence to eight and brought up the fifth Group 1 success of his career.

It ended up being a 1-2-3 for Ballydoyle, as Jan Brueghel kept on into third on his return from a mid-season break.

O’Brien said: “He's a great horse. He just has an unbelievable amount of stamina. He's a big high cruiser and we were delighted to have Queenstown there today to keep going along. He just goes along there, lazing along. He really only kicks in after a mile and six furlongs, which is very unusual. He's by Justify, he stays and stays and gallops. He's a lovely horse.

“He was trained for Ascot for the Gold Cup and then to do these other things. The ground is probably as soft as he wants it, he's a very good mover as well. Ryan gave him a great ride.

“When Ryan came in he said ‘what about the Cadran for the second horse, to give him a chance'. Then maybe the third horse could go to Ascot for the two-mile race and then we could put him [Scandinavia] away for Ascot next year.

“He's had a busy year, and I trained him hard for the Gold Cup. It'll be depending on what the lads want to do, but it's just to give them all a chance. The others are good stayers as well.

“We thought Jan Brueghel would get very tired. He was sick enough and he was off for a good while. He was just about ready to start today but we knew if he was going to go to Ascot he had to start today.

“We had to give him a chance, if we had ridden him forward, he'd blow up and get very tired. Ronan [Whelan] just let him relax and he galloped home. He does stay very well as well and he's a classy horse who handles an ease in the ground. You'd have to be delighted with him.”