Donn McClean

YOU’RE going to need two or three Sky boxes to record all the top class racing this weekend, and you’re going to need two or three days next week to review it. Hopefully the rain doesn’t ruin it for everybody because, if they all line up, we are in for the most compelling weekend of flat racing that we have witnessed in a very long time.

The Ladbrokes St Leger has been shaping up as a Storm The Stars versus Ballydoyle match for a little while now and that is how it remains this morning.

Storm The Stars has been really well campaigned by William Haggas all season. Placed in the Epsom Derby and in the Irish Derby and in the Grand Prix de Paris, he gained the Group 2 win that he deserved as a three-year-old when he landed the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York last month.

That augurs well for his chances today, the Great Voltigeur has been the most accurate pointer to the St Leger in recent years.

SOME CAVEATS

There are a couple of caveats, mind you. Firstly, he may not have been the best horse in the Great Voltigeur. He drifted continually to his left through the final furlong of the race and he carried Bondi Beach towards the far side with him.

Of course, he also gave away the ground, and from the point of view of form analysis, the fact that he would almost certainly have been disqualified from first place in most other racing jurisdictions in the world outside of Britain is neither here nor there.

However, Bondi Beach also conceded the ground, he was forced to concede the ground. As well as that, he was also intimidated and almost certainly lost momentum. It is impossible to know if he lost more or less than the half-length by which Storm The Stars beat him.

Secondly, even if Storm The Stars was the best horse in the Great Voltigeur Stakes on the day, Bondi Beach has more potential for progression. Storm The Stars was racing for the eighth time this season at York whereas Bondi Beach was racing for just the fourth time in his life.

William Haggas’ horse may not regress from the Great Voltigeur on the back of a busy season, he seems to gobble up this racing.

He may even improve for a step up in distance. But he doesn’t have as much potential for further progression as Bondi Beach has.

And Aidan O’Brien’s horse is proven over the St Leger trip, he should improve for the step back up to a mile and six furlongs as well as for the Great Voltigeur experience.

IMPROVED

On his last run before York, Bondi Beach battled on well to get the better of his stable companion Order Of St George in the Group 3 Curragh Cup on Irish Derby weekend. Order Of St George has improved since then but so has Bondi Beach.

The Galileo colt is probably at his best on good or fast ground, but he won his maiden on heavy ground at Leopardstown in May so some rain would not be a disaster. Frankie Dettori can’t take the ride, now that the start time for the Irish Champion Stakes has been brought forward by 65 minutes but Colm O’Donoghue is an able deputy.

PORTLAND HANDICAP

Highland Acclaim may be the answer to the fiercely competitive Portland Handicap 70 minutes earlier. David O’Meara’s horse has taken a little while this season to re-discover his old form.

In his first five runs this term, he finished, respectively, 26th of 26, 11th of 13, 15th of 25, 15th of 17 and 20th of 20.

On his next run, however, in a six-furlong handicap at Newmarket in August, he kept on nicely to finish third behind Steve Prescott off a mark of 95.

He stepped up on that on his next run, when he finished second behind Caspian Prince over five and a half furlongs at York’s Ebor meeting.

He raced in mid-division that day in a race in which the pace held up well. Caspian Prince made just about all the running, while the third, fourth and sixth horses all raced handily. Highland Acclaim did best by far of those horses who did not race up with the pace.

He did finish well behind on his next run, in a six-furlong handicap at Ascot last Saturday but he was held up out the back that day before making some progress late on. You can allow him that run on easy ground at Ascot.

He has run well over seven furlongs in the past, and he is a triple winner over six, but this five-and-a-half-furlong trip seems to suit him well. He has lots of pace, and on his only run over this trip, at York last month, he put up one of the best performances of his career.

The handicapper raised him 3lb for his York run to a mark of 98, but that is still 5lb lower than his mark at the start of this season, and it is a mark off which he has the potential to win a big handicap like this.

His draw in stall 13, middle to near side, is ideal, and he was the only entry in the race from his astute trainer, who won the race with Doc Hay in 2012.

RECOMMENDED

BONDI BEACH, 1 point win, 2/1 (generally)

HIGHLAND ACCLAIM, 1 point each-way, 12/1 (generally)

20/1 WINNER

DONN tipped 20/1 Haydock winner Nakeeta (advised at 16/1!) in this column last week. Followers of Donn’s tips are up 56 points for the year to-date and up 34 points since the column started.