The British trained Arctic Owl has been made the 3 to 1 favourite for Saturday's Jefferson Smurfit Irish St Leger but the most significant news yesterday was the £21,875 splashed out by the Co Meath-based permit holder Luke Comer to run Chimes At Midnight.
The ex-Aidan O'Brien trained colt ran a remarkable third behind Millenary in the Doncaster St Leger last weekend and will make a quick reappearance although the days of him starting at 40 to 1 appear to be over.
The Cork firm Cashmans yesterday installed Chimes At Midnight as one of their 7 to 1 co-fourth favourites among the 16 entries that remain in the last Irish classic of the season. And Comer is betraying an understandable confidence in his chance.
"I'm not going to say he will win but what I will say is that I know he can win. After Doncaster we know that he is good enough," Comer said yesterday after a look at the video of the English classic convinced him his horse was unlucky.
"He got hit twice by Richard Quinn's stick and I believe those accidental belts may have cost him a place in a photo finish. My horse was still on the bridle when it happened and he was about to pass them. Who knows what psychological effect that might have had on the others," he said.
Doncaster was the latest instalment in a remarkable season for Comer and Chimes At Midnight. Comer, a Dunboyne-based property developer who builds up to 1,000 apartments a year in the London area, bought the Danzig colt, who had won at Leopardstown for O'Brien, for 46,000 guineas during the summer.
The horse's first run for the permit holder was a Group Three third at the Curragh off an official handicap rating of 85 but Chimes At Midnight's Doncaster rating means he is now on 114.
Comer was not in the least surprised by his horse's huge Doncaster run, which belied his 40 to 1 SP, and told jockey John Carroll beforehand that Chimes At Midnight would carry him smoothly into the lead.
"Doncaster was equal to what he did at the Curragh before that when beaten half a length by Katiykha. I put an apprentice up on him and he ran really well, completely differently to his two previous races for which I still haven't found an explanation," Comer said.
Jockey plans have yet to be finalised for Saturday but Comer expects no shortage of offers.
"He ate everything we put in front of him in 20 minutes on Saturday evening so I don't think that race will affect him. He was entered in the Blandford but the Irish Leger is a classic and if the ground is good or softer it will be ideal," he added.
The ground at the Curragh is currently reported as "good" and "good to firm" on the round course although rain is forecast for the area.
Half of the 16 left in the Leger are trained in Britain including the James Fanshawe-trained favourite although David Elsworth describes Persian Punch as 60-40 against to run. Godolphin have left the 1998 Arc winner Sagamix in the race but if they are to have a runner it will be Mutafaweq.
Betting: (Cashmans): 3 Arctic Owl, 5 Mutafaweq, 11/2 Yavanna's Pace, 7 Chimes At Midnight, Katiykha and Little Rock, 8 Churlish Charm, 10 Media Puzzle, 14 Orchestra Stall, 16 Chiang-Mai, 25 Bar.
The world's richest meeting - the Dubai World Cup night - will offer an extra $3.25 million in 2001 taking the total prize fund to $15.25 million.
The 2,000-metre Group One World Cup, won by Dubai Millennium in 2000, remains at $6 million, a world record. But the purses have been quadrupled for the Group Three Derby to $2 million and to $1 million for the Godolophin Mile.
