2026 St Leger News - Quotes from connections

Jon Vine

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Last updated: Fri 11 Sep 2026 14:59

Jon Vine 2 hours ago

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Quotes from connections ahead of the 2026 St Leger
This Classic takes place at Doncaster Racecourse on September 12th
Read quotes from Joseph O'Brien, Aidan O'Brien, Andrew Balding and more

Aidan and Joseph O'Brien. (Getty)

St Leger Quotes

Billy Loughnane (Enceladus)
Joseph O'Brien (Enceladus)
Aidan O'Brien (Christmas Day)
Sean Levey (Action)
Aidan O'Brien (Pierre Bonnard)
Joseph O'Brien (Highwayman)
Saffie Osborne (Highwayman)
Andrew Balding (Hatteen)
Andrew Balding (Galiyan)
Richard Hannon (Alderman)
Karl Burke (Golden Story)

Read exclusive quotes from connections ahead of the 2026 St Leger, which takes place at Doncaster on Saturday.

Here's what connections have had to say ahead of the final Classic of the season.

2026 St Leger News - Quotes From Connections

Billy Loughnane (Enceladus)

It's a fantastic ride to pick up. It's unfortunate for Dylan (Browne McMonagle) who is on the sidelines at the minute.

Enceladus has been impressive this summer and hopefully he's got another one left in him. He's been going through the ranks smoothly, and obviously it's a stiffer assignment on Saturday, but I imagine Joseph will have him in fantastic nick.

Joseph O'Brien (Enceladus)

We’re very happy with how he’s been training and his preparation has gone smoothly. He shapes like a horse that will have a good chance of staying and he has a good temperament for it, so we’d be hopeful he’ll be fine at the trip and we’re delighted to have Billy on board.

Aidan O'Brien (Christmas Day)

To go from the Derby to the St Leger is very special. I think very few horses have done it. He's shown that he has the class to win a Derby, and now he has to show that he has the class and the stamina to win a St Leger.

He had a lovely run in York as a trial. Even though the other two quickened by him, he had a five pound penalty and he was coming again at the line. We were very happy with him and we've been happy with him since.

Sean Levey (Action)

I ride the pacemaker in the St Leger so not much to say there. I think the race is set up nicely for Joseph O’Brien and Enceladus. I think he will be winning the St Leger and I see he has gone favourite now. He deserves to be.

Aidan O'Brien (Pierre Bonnard)

He's a very classy horse. He finished second in York, and Christmas (Day) finished third. We've always thought the world of him. Big, classy horse. He ran very well in York and he just got run down. He got there a little bit earlier than we would have liked, but we think the Leger trip will suit him.

We think he's a horse who will train on and be a very good four-year-old, but we also think that we haven't seen the best of him yet.

undefined — Jockey Ronan Whelan rides Christmas Day (C) to victory in the Derby. (Getty)

Joseph O'Brien (Highwayman)

He’s done nothing wrong and it will really tell us where we’re going from here.

Saffie Osborne (Highwayman)

He looks a really nice horse and it's great to get the opportunity.

Joseph is having an incredible season as always and it's an honour to get the call up to ride a horse like this who looks like he has a serious chance.”

There's lots of good horses in the race, but Highwayman looks very progressive. He won a Listed race last time out and looked to stay the trip well that day, so hopefully the same distance on Saturday will be no issue for him.

Andrew Balding (Hatteen)

Hatteen is making use of the free entry from winning the 'win and you're in' race at Doncaster. I thought he ran very well at Goodwood in a strong handicap. He has improved with each start.

The trip is a question mark but, if he stays, he's going in the right direction to run a really good race.

Andrew Balding (Galiyan)

He ran way below expectations at York, obviously. Oisin (Murphy) felt he sort of ducked the issue when he got in amongst two horses, hence the cheekpieces (on Saturday).

On his homework, you'd say this horse would have a great chance of getting placed in a St Leger. On the way he goes at home, he's a very high class horse. If he puts his best foot forward, he could well outrun his odds.

Richard Hannon (Alderman)

The ground was simply too quick in the Bahrain Trophy. He is a big, strong, heavy mature horse and he just found the ground a little too quick and came back a little bit jarred up afterwards.

So we have given him a nice break and got him back in good form at home and, if it is a washout, anything could happen. It looked like it might have happened in the Derby. He really could not have run any better.

Karl Burke (Golden Story)

Golden Story is a lovely horse. He broke his maiden at Doncaster but was very green. He’s got a Derby entry but whether he’s up to that class I don’t know but he’s a lovely big horse, with a lot of scope. He will definitely stay a mile and a quarter but I’m not sure he’d stay a mile and a half at this stage. He’s a horse we like a lot but I’m not sure where he starts.