Varian considering route to Irish St Leger with Eldar Eldarov

Adam Morgan
August 14, 2023 2:38 pm

Leger ‘double’ in the offing for last year’s Doncaster hero.

Roger Varian is considering a possible tilt at the Comer Group International Irish St Leger with Eldar Eldarov having been pleased with his latest outing in the Goodwood Cup.

Last year’s St Leger hero started the season with an encouraging performance when second in the Yorkshire Cup, but had a point to prove on the Sussex Downs having disappointed slightly in the Ascot Gold Cup.

Although unable to land a blow on runaway winner Quickthorn in the Goodwood contest, the Carlburg Stables handler was content with the son of Dubawi’s fourth-placed finish where he reversed Knavesmire form with Giavellotto and was also ahead of John and Thady Gosden’s Gold Cup champion Courage Mon Ami.

“It was a muddling race and a frustrating race to watch, but I thought he ran right back to form,” said Varian.

David Egan and Roger Varian lift the trophy after winning the Cazoo St Leger at Doncaster (Tim Goode/PA)

“He was a head behind Andrew Balding’s horse (Coltrane) and reversed the form with the Marco Botti horse who beat him of course at York. We were giving him weight that day whereas off levels we beat him the other day.

“It’s hard not to say that within a 1lb or two, Eldar wasn’t back to somewhere near his best so that is encouraging.”

Running plans are still to be finalised for the four-year-old’s next move, but Varian indicated he would be keen to have a crack at adding the Irish St Leger to the Doncaster equivalent already on his CV.

However, the decision is still to be made whether Eldar Eldarov heads to the Curragh on September 10 fighting fresh or whether he tunes up in either Sunday’s Comer Group International Irish St Leger Trial over course and trip, or next week’s Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup Stakes at York.

“I would really like to run him in the Irish St Leger, so it is working out whether he has a run before then,” said Varian.

“He does have a few options in the next 10 days if he was to run again, or do we go to Ireland with a fresh horse? We just need 48 hours or so to make up our minds.”