Granddukeoftuscany among St Leger 14 Aidan O'Brien relies solely on Granddukeoftuscany in Saturday's Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster. The Galileo colt destroyed his rivals in a Tipperary maiden in June but then came up short when raised in class for the Great Voltigeur, managing only fifth. He will face 13 rivals in the final British Classic of the season, headed by Kingston Hill. Roger Varian's colt was runner-up to Australia in the Epsom Derby in June but due to the quick summer ground, he has only run once since, finishing fourth in the Eclipse at Sandown over 10 furlongs. He races over another four furlongs this weekend. "Kingston Hill seems to be thriving. His work has been great and we are very happy with him," said the Newmarket handler. "We purposely gave him a break after the Eclipse so that we were not sucked into any of the big summer races like the King George. We then trained him with the Great Voltigeur in mind and although he didn't run (because of his last-minute withdrawal owing to fast ground), he went into the pre-parade ring and did everything but run and the day out will have done him good. "I'm glad they had plenty of rain at Doncaster on Saturday and although it is obviously going to dry out, there is every chance it will be fine for him. "There is a huge difference between summer fast ground and autumn fast ground. Both times I had to take him out at the Curragh and at York, the ground was officially 'good to firm' but I couldn't find any 'good' in it. Autumn 'good to firm' means closer to 'good'. "He is not a clumsy horse and does not need it soft to operate. He moves well and has run perfectly well on good ground. The longer trip is an unknown but his run at Epsom is a good pointer that he will stay. From his inside draw we had to ride him forcefully early on and then he was coming back at Australia at the line. "On that evidence it looks like another couple of furlongs will not be a problem and he is a very relaxed horse which will help. So I would be pretty hopeful that he will stay." John Gosden has a terrific record in the Leger and has two strong chances. William Buick has chosen Derby third Romsdal over Forever Now, with Marzocco making up the team. Mark Johnston has three chances in Alex My Boy, Eclipse third Somewhat and Royal Ascot winner Hartnell, the pick of stable jockey Joe Fanning. Sir Michael Stoute runs two headed by Great Voltigeur runner-up Snow Sky and Kings Fete, who won a York handicap earlier in the year. Richard Hannon looks for another Classic with Windshear, while Odeon, Scotland and Min Alemarat complete the field.
