Doncaster St. Leger meeting: day two

Today is ladies´ day at Doncaster and the three main events are all restricted to fillies and mares. With more rain forecast, the going is expected to be much softer than yesterday. The Group Two Park Hill Stakes over 1 3/4 miles at 15.00 CET (also known as the fillies´ St.Leger - although that race, to be run on Saturday, could well be won by a filly this year)is likely to see Sir Michael Stoute´s Allegretto (Ryan Moore) start favourite. She was just about the best staying filly in Europe last year, but this season´s form is less inspiring and she is not certain to act on the ground. Gravitation (Willie Jarvis/ Alan Munro) won a similar event at Goodwood last time, narrowly defeating Folk Opera, who went to to beat Fair Breeze at Deauville next time out and that form gives her a good chance, while Gull Wing (Michael Bell/ Jamie Spencer) is a soft-ground specialist and must also be considered. The Group Two May Hill Stakes for 2yo fillies over a mile at 16.10 looks straightfo rward. John Gosden´s Rainbow View (Jimmy Fortune) is early favourite for next season´s 1,000 Guineas after winning her first two starts most impressively and it will be a big shock if she is beaten today.

The only conceivable danger is Irish raider Aaroness (Jim Bolger/ Kevin Manning). The listed race over 7 furlongs at 16.45 has recent easy Düsseldorf winner Chantilly Tiffany (Ed Dunlop/ Jimmy Firtune) attempting to give weight to some useful fillies, including Red Dune (Michael Jarvis/ Philip Robinson), Dream Day (Richard Hannon/ Ryan Moore) and Royal Confidence (Barry and Michael Hills), while Festoso (Harry Dunlop/ Steve Drowne) was the best of these on 2yo form but has not run for almost a year. Easily the most valuabe race on the card is the sales race for 2yo´s over 6 1/2 furlongs at 15.35, with 147,720 GBP to the winner. Not surprisingly a huge field of 22 line up for this prize. Richard Hannon has an excellent race in such events, and his Pure Poetry (Ryan Moore) could sdtart favourite. Andrew Balding won this last year with a maiden, and now saddles two maidens, Cavera (Franny Norton) and the lightly-weighted Foundation Room /David Probert), both of whom could prove troublesome.

Betting forecast:
1.Race: Crackdown - Yorksters Girl - Secrecy
2.Race: Allegretto - Gravitation - Gull Wing
3.Race: Pure Poetry - Art Princess - Foundation Room
4.Race: Rainbow View - Aaroness - Rose Diamond
5.Race: Red Dune - Floristry - Festoso
6.Race: Drill Sergeant - Filios - Wasan
7.Race: Main Aim - Joseph Henry - Great Charm