Encke spoils Camelot’s party

Encke got first run on Camelot in the 2012 Ladbrokes St Leger at a packed Doncaster this afternoon. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

A great ride from Mikael Barzalona saw Encke run out a three-quarters of a length winner of the Ladbrokes St Leger this afternoon, so giving Godolphin their sixth triumph in Britain’s oldest Classic.

A capacity crowd of 32,000 had crammed into Doncaster racecourse on a gloriously sunny day, expecting history to be made.

Camelot started 2-5 favourite for the final Classic of the season as he looked to add the Ladbrokes St Leger to the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and Investec Derby and so become the first horse since Nijinsky in 1970 to win the Triple Crown.

It was not be, however, and though he made up ground in the final furlong, he could never get to grips with the Mahmood Al Zarooni-trained Encke who had already quickened a couple of lengths clear.

Held up towards the back of the field, Joseph O’Brien made smooth progress on Camelot but struggled to find daylight on the inside as he closed on the leaders with over a quarter of a mile to run.

He had to switch to the outside, but once he was in the clear he failed to show the same acceleration as he did in the Investec Derby.

The John Gosden-trained pacemaker, Dartford, did not set an exacting pace, so one could not hold a lack of stamina up as an excuse for Camelot and in any case he was gaining on the winner throughout the final furlong, albeit not fast enough.

Probably, in fact, the slow early pace told against the favourite and that was certainly the opinion of his trainer, Aidan O’Brien, afterwards.

Michelangelo was three lengths back in third with Ursa Major in fourth and Investec Derby runner-up Main Sequence in fifth, with an eight length gap back to Thought Worthy in sixth.

There was a big sense of anti-climax afterwards, but for Encke’s connections and the young Barzalona, who was winning his second British Classic after Pour Moi’s Investec Derby victory last year, there was great joy.

Godolphin’s Racing Manager, Simon Crisford, said: "It’s absolutely fantastic.

"Mahmood had been very happy with his work in the build-up to the Leger and Sheikh Mohammed gave the green light to run him.

"Mickael rode a beautiful race and when he kicked at the two-pole he put the race to bed really.

"We weren’t sure about his stamina going into the race but he’s quite stoutly bred, so we thought it wouldn’t be a problem.

"What we loved about that race was the turn of foot he showed, that stands very well for next season and he will stay in training.

"I would imagine it’s very unlikely (that he will run again this season) but we will see what Sheikh Mohammed wants to do."

A dejected Aidan O’Brien said: "It wasn’t what we thought it was going to be.

"It was a steadily-run race and Joseph said he was a little bit fresh with him, but that was probably always going to happen in a slowly-run race.

"You have to take your time on him over a mile and six which he did and when he got out he just stayed on rather than quickened.

"In the Guineas he quickened and in the Derby he quickened, but he just stayed on here.

"He ran a great race but just got beat. It’s disappointing for everybody but that’s the way it is. That’s racing.

"We expected him to win and if I thought they were going to go that steady I would have had a pacemaker in or two pacemakers. But that’s my fault.

"I was sure they were going to go a pace, but that’s the way it was.”