The Pentagon Looks Overpriced For The St Leger

Regular readers of the blog may remember me tipping up The Pentagon for the Irish Derby at a big price. The Racing Post analysis of his run stated: “The Pentagon was ridden to come home well, that he did and he did all of his best work in the last furlong. He was ridden like a non-stayer.” I had to laugh when I read that because he was ridden like a non-something alright (begins with T), and he finished like an out and out stayer.
 

The Pentagon looks overpriced for the St Leger.

It is easy to forget that before the season started, The Pentagon was the ante-post favourite for the Epsom Derby and given his form as a two year old, that is no surprise. After he won the Group 3 Tyros Stakes at Leopardstown his trainer stated “He looks like a horse who will stay well and I imagine he'll be very much a middle-distance horse for next year” and he followed that up with a cracking effort at Doncaster in the Racing Post Trophy.

He could only manage 3rd that day under Seamie Heffernan behind Saxon Warrior and Roaring Lion, but he didn’t enjoy the clearest of runs and he was closing on the first two all the way to the line. That effort came on good to soft, and looking at the weather forecast he could encounter very similar conditions on Saturday. The less rain the better for The Pentagon, and if it dries out it will suit him even more.

In my opinion, I think The Pentagon was earmarked as an ideal St Leger horse after that Doncaster run and Saxon Warrior and Roaring Lion haven’t exactly done the form much harm in the meantime. However, that Irish Derby run sticks out like a sore thumb and given that there was a bug in the yard afterwards, he was entitled to need his perfectly respectable run at York behind Old Persian and Kew Gardens last time out.

That run should have put him cherry ripe for the St Leger and though he is 4lb worse off with Kew Gardens, I think the return to Doncaster and step up to 14.5f will help him to turn the form around. He also had Old Persian in behind at The Curragh in the Irish Derby, yet Charlie Appleby’s colt is just 13/2 here. The Pentagon can currently be backed at 28/1 for the St Leger and as long as conditions aren’t too testing, he is capable of running a huge race.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 2018 ST LEGER-THE PENTAGON E/W @ 28/1