The St Leger Festival, one of the great events on the horse racing calendar.
Check out some of the best sports betting picks for Saturday at the 2026 renewal of the big festival in Doncaster, and all the latest horse racing odds are available to view on NetBet Sport!
Written by Jake Wilkes
*All odds are subject to change
Saturday 13:45 Doncaster – Desert Castle – WIN
The reasoning for backing Desert Castle is very simple. Haffner, his main market rival, isn’t the quickest horse despite winning last time out, and will certainly be seen to best effect over further. As a result, I also can’t back Gentle Hurricane who finished second to Haffner and Breacher – who is also prominent in the betting but was outpaced before rallying when last seen at Sandown, and will be more interesting over a mile+. Therefore, Desert Castle may have too much speed for these rivals – and is the standout selection after impressing on debut at Newmarket 36 days ago.
Saturday 14:55 Doncaster – More Thunder – WIN
We have hit last chance saloon territory for More Thunder, who has been more than frustrating this season, albeit, running in decent company. His length defeat to Zeus Olympios and two lengths loss to Notable Speech are respectable, but defeats at Royal Ascot and Deauville have shown he may be short of top-class level. The reason for siding with him here, though, is there are no rivals of the calibre of the ones mentioned above. Never So Brave has been badly out of form this year, and Qirat is a better horse at Goodwood, so it should be a penalty kick for More Thunder – despite the drop back to seven furlongs looking slightly against him on paper.
Saturday 15:35 Doncaster – Enceladus – WIN
I have been sweet on Enceladus for the St Leger for some time and I am not deserting him now, especially with him being smashed in the betting. He was very impressive at Royal Ascot when winning the King George V Stakes and arguably more so when winning at Goodwood 44 days ago on his first venture into group action. He does a lot of his best work late on, so stepping up in trip should suit and his progressive nature indicates there is still plenty of scope to improve. It is not a vintage St Leger, but I think Enceladus will take it.
Saturday 16:15 Doncaster – Scoville – EW
Whilst market principles Moonfall and Bullet Point are strongly respected, they are a little high in the handicap and I’d rather side with the latter’s stable mate, Scoville. The drop back in trip went against him last time, but he ran well to finish third and showed signs of coming back to top form. His original mark of 105 was steep, but he is more than capable of winning a nice race off 95 – and could therefore be dangerous in this tasty handicap.
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