The St. Leger Festival at Doncaster gets underway with St. Leger Legends Day on Wednesday and, hopefully, Converter can get us off to a flying start in the opening British Stallion Studs EBF Conditions Stakes (1.50). The Swiss Spirit colt was easy to back, at 16/1, on his debut at Nottingham last month, but that didn’t stop him from readily accounting for the odds-on favourite Qutob – who had the benefit of a previous run – and he’s held in high regard at home. High enough, in fact, to warrant an entry in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket at the end of the month.
Obviously, it’s still early days, but trainer Mick Channon described as “a smashing type”, who “has all the tools to be decent.” Channon admitted that Converter needs to improve if he’s to take up the Newmarket engagement but, with the soft going on Town Moor in his favour, that’s not beyond the realms of possibility. In any case, in receipt of 2lb and upwards all ‘round, Converter looks a decent bet to confirm the promise of his Nottingham debut and take another step forward.
The twice-raced Khadeem was a comfortable winner at Newmarket last month and also holds an entry in the Middle Park Stakes, so may well turn out to be the main danger. Nevertheless, Converter currently falls into the ‘could be anything’ category and it’s worth chancing that his trainer’s assessment of him is fairly accurate.
Selection: Doncaster 1.50 Converter to win 8/1