Alegron overpowers St Leger rivals for first Stakes victory

Tough young stayer Alegron was placed in the G1 Spring Champion Stakes and two Derbies this season but his day in the G1 winner’s circle could be close after the three-year-old’s determined win on Monday, 25 April in the Listed VRC St Leger over 2,800m at Flemington in Melbourne.

Third to Profondo (Spring Champion) last October and a brave second behind Hitotsu in the G1 Victoria Derby three weeks later, Alegron was edged out by Hitotsu and Benaud when a close third on a bog track in the G1 Australian Derby at Royal Randwick on 2 April.

With Profondo, Hitotsu and Benaud now in the spelling paddock, Alegron proved far too strong for his St Leger rivals on ANZAC Day after coming from last at the halfway point in the race.

Champion jockey Damien Oliver weaved a passage through the field from the 600m mark and Alegron finished hard to draw clear from The Cunning Fox by 2.25 lengths, with Fearentless another 1.5 lengths away in third place.

“He’s a promising staying type, he’s broken through for his first Stakes win but he’s won a stack of prize money with placings in three other G1s,” Godolphin head trainer James Cummings said.

“It’s pretty exciting to have a promising stayer on our hands like Alegron.

“He got into a bumping duel with Raging Bull but you have to love the finishing effort he put on when in the clear.

“When The Cunning Fox went for home he still had to knuckle down and do it and he showed good staying prowess to get up and win a race that’s the second-oldest race on the Australian calendar.”

Depending how he pulls up, Cummings could now take the son of Teofilo to Adelaide for the G1 South Australian Derby (2,500m) at Morphettville on 14 May and possibly to Brisbane for the G1 Queensland Derby (2,400m) at Eagle Farm on 28 May.

“We like the idea of running the horse in the South Australian Derby,” he said.

Alegron’s St Leger win took his prize money earnings to A$904,515 from only 13 starts.

Teofilo was unbeaten on the racetrack and has already sired a host of elite stayers, including Melbourne Cup winners Cross Counter (2018) and Twilight Payment (2020), and last year’s brilliant Ascot Gold Cup champion Subjectivist.