Swan among 16 Doncaster Legends Charlie Swan will return to defend his title when 16 retired stars of the weighing room take to the saddle at Doncaster's St Leger Festival for the second running of the Clipper Logistics Leger Legends Classified Stakes. Swan took the contest last year and will be joined in the field this time by fellow Irish riders John Reid, Ray Cochrane and Norman Williamson. Among the other riders are past stars of the Flat and Jump scenes. Classic-winning jockeys George Duffield, Ernie Johnson, and Kevin Darley, will ride alongside jump racing legends such as Graham Bradley and Steve Smith Eccles. International representation comes this time thanks to US Hall Of Famer Julie Krone and former top French rider Thierry Gillet, who partnered Bago to win the 2004 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Krone, who turned down a slot on American prime-time TV series Survivor to ride at Doncaster, became the first woman to win a US Triple Crown race when successful on Colonial Affair in the 1993 Belmont Stakes. Her only previous experience of race riding in Britain came at Redcar in July 1992 when she partnered three winners from five rides. Krone will be one of two female jockeys, the other being former rider turned trainer Gay Kelleway. Dale Gibson, who retired from race riding in October 2009 with 528 wins under his belt, is now the Industry Liaison Officer at the Professional Jockeys' Association and has been involved in putting the race together for the past two seasons. The remaining riders involved are Attheraces presenter Luke Harvey, fellow former Jump jockey Jamie Osborne, who is now a trainer, and retired Flat jockey Tom O'Ryan of the Racing Post and Racing UK. The two reserves for the race are former champion Flat apprentice Gary Bardwell and Channel 4's John Francome, seven-time champion Jump jockey. The mile contest, staged on the opening day of the 2011 Ladbrokes St Leger Festival, Wednesday, September 7, is in aid of two Yorkshire-based charity projects, the Injured Jockeys Fund's rehabilitation centre in Malton - the IJF House That Jack Built - and the redevelopment at the Northern Racing College.
