The Ladbrokes St. Leger - can Frozen Fire and Look Here justify favouritism?

Get your free £10 bet and put it on Doctor Fremantle at 12/1.

Now I like form. I like to see lots of it - I hate to put money on a horse that has not got at least a few races under its belt, and this year's St. Leger looks like a clash between some horses that haven't seen a lot of action since June.

Frozen Fire and Look Here are the two favourites with the bookies. Frozen Fire was no great shakes in the English Derby, but won the Irish Derby in convincing style, but Irish Derby winners are often winners of the Irish Derby alone - I would not suggest Frozen Fire is worth the 2/1 odds being quoted.

Look Here is a very talented filly, but has not raced since winning the Oaks and this will be an entirely different proposition. That was on the 6th of June - we're in September now and the ground has received something of a soaking. There's a difference between lightly raced and barely raced. Look Here does not have the form in the bag - we're going on one race, on one course that is something of an anomaly. Let's also not forget that she's a filly - as is the popular Unsung Heroine, who is another with just two races on the form book.

So let's look for something to go by - and the two horses that do have form for us to analyse are Conduit and Doctor Fremantle. Conduit is an attractive 6/1, while Doctor Fremantle can be found at twice those odds - and it's hard to split the two. However, Doctor Fremantle's form on the softer ground, along with an excellent run of form prior to two recent fourth-placed finishes makes those odds seem excellent value.

If either of those two horses win, Sir Michael Stoute will pick up his first St. Leger - and how long has he been waiting for one? I'm not punting large on this one - there's hardly anything to go by, so I'm going to stick with a horse that has proven itself over the long, wet summer rather than either of two horses that have stayed put in the stable eating hay. Doctor Fremantle it is, then - perhaps an each-way bet for me.

published: 9th September 2008 by Free Bet Bookmaker

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