I won St Leger at Doncaster six times - this is my tip to deny Lambourn an historic win
Italian icon knows exactly how to get the job done in the Classic on Town Moor and gives his selection for the 2025 renewal
St Leger icon Frankie Dettori is banking on Scandinavia to deliver the latest classic success for Aidan O’Brien.
The Italian hero was a master of the annual Doncaster autumn showpiece bagging the race on no fewer than six occasions.
O’Brien is another serial winner who has a stranglehold on the 2025 Town Moor event with the top two in the betting including double Derby winner Lambourn.
The Irish maestro also saddles the dangerous Stay True, but Dettori believes the mount of Tom Marquand, who has won at Goodwood and Newmarket on last two starts, holds the aces in the final English Classic of the season.
He said: “If Lambourn turns up, you won’t find many better than a dual Derby winner, but I don’t think he’s going to win this. I really like Scandinavia. We know he stays and he hasn’t been campaigned the hardest way through Derbys and the like, so he comes into the race with a strong profile. He would be my pick at the moment.”
Only seven go to post for the contest, so there’s unlikely to be any excuses for the losers with Paddy Twomey’s Royal Ascot winner Carmers also amongst the biggest contenders.
Dettori says the terrain is ideal and added: “It’s a lovely, fair track and the Leger really puts the emphasis on stamina. For a long time, not many people even attempted the Triple Crown, but Camelot came the closest anyone has since.
“It’s the oldest Classic, steeped in tradition, and I remember one year when the first five home were all incredible Group 1 winners. I don’t think it will disappoint this Saturday.”
Dettori, of course, was an expert at getting the job done in the event and, as well as riding half-a-dozen winners of the Group 1, he has also the distinction of doing in a different way to most punters would imagine and has a favourite amongst the batch.
He explained: “Yes, for five different trainers. Classic Cliche was my 1,000th winner and Shantou was my first for John Gosden. Conduit was my first for Sir Michael Stoute, he’d tried with Lester Piggott and all the best jockeys, but in the end a little Italian man managed to do it for him!
“Then there was Sixties Icon for Jeremy Noseda, Scorpion for Aidan O’Brien, which also marked the start of the Coolmore–Godolphin rivalry and landed me in a bit of hot water at the time and later Logician, who absolutely bolted up.
“I’d say Conduit was probably the best. He went on to win the Breeders’ Cup and the King George, he was a proper horse. With the St Leger, you don’t get a silver trophy, you get the iconic hat. It’s like a helmet cover, a really special tradition.”
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Frankie Dettori was speaking Stake at https://stake.com/blog/frankie-dettori-september-2025-horse-racing-news-interview