Laura Mongan started the week saddling the last horse home in a six-runner, Class Five handicap at Brighton. She ended it as a Classic-winning trainer, and the first female winner of the St Leger, after Harbour Law got up in the final strides to beat Ventura Storm in a dramatic race that was thrown wide open when Idaho, the odds-on favourite, unseated his rider, Seamie Heffernan, with just under half a mile to run.
Idaho was travelling well when he appeared to take a false step and stumble not long after the turn for home. Heffernan was bounced to his right and had no chance to stay in the saddle as Idaho regained his balance before galloping on riderless.
The sell-out crowd at Town Moor was still trying to absorb the sudden departure of the 4-6 favourite as the race developed in earnest with two furlongs to run. Ventura Storm and Housesofparliament duelled for the lead for much of the last quarter-mile, but both began to empty with the finishing line in sight, just as Harbour Law started to stay on strongly for George Baker, his jockey. He surged into the lead well inside the last 100 yards, earning Classic success for Mongan’s stable at 22-1 with her first runner in a Group One race.
Mongan has a mixed string of about 20 horses at Condover Stables in Epsom. “To go down in history as the first woman to win it is amazing, at least I’ve done something right,” she said. “This isn’t a surprise to us. It might be to others [but] we wouldn’t have brought him otherwise.
“He proved to everyone that he could do it. George knows the horse and did the right thing on him, so credit to him. It was a really professional performance from the horse, we knew he was classy and we knew he was going to go somewhere in life and today he has.
“We have a great team at home and it proves that we can do it with the right ammunition and it proves that Epsom can do it.”
Heffernan was taken to hospital, but was not believed to have suffered any significant injury in the incident. “The medical staff feel he may have had a knock to the head when he fell,” said Kevin Buckley, the UK representative for the Coolmore Stud syndicate that owns Idaho. “The doctor wants to send him to Sheffield hospital for a precautionary scan just to be 100% sure. Seamie is sat up in the medical room and chatting away and seems fine.”
Rivet had to work to justify his status as favourite for the Group Two Champagne Stakes, but a hard-fought head defeat of Thunder Snow showed that he has the attitude to make the most of his talent, while the first two drew five lengths clear of D’Bai in third.
“He looked to make heavy weather of it, but he won and that’s all that matters really,” William Haggas, the winning trainer, said. “I would definitely like to run him again this season, but whether that is over seven furlongs or a mile, I don’t know. He’s in every smart race that I could find, so we will take it from there.
“I need to see it again to assess it. They pulled clear of the third in a slowly-run race, which is a good sign. Andrea [Atzeni, his jockey] said he would get a mile and now probably wants it. He thought the ground was a bit loose on top for him but, all in all, he’s won and, when you come for a race like this from a maiden, you hope they do.”
Atzeni completed a double in the first three races when Breton Rock moved from last to first in the space of a little more than a furlong to catch The Happy Prince, ridden by Heffernan, with a stride to spare in the Group Two Park Stakes. He later added another success when Khalidi, at 5-2, took the card’s nursery handicap.
