The Czech St Leger was run at Prague Velká Chuchle on Sunday October 1st. Since the Czech Derby, which provided a stunningly unexpected result at the end of a very strange race, we have been waiting to see which, if any, can claim to be our best 3-y-o staying colt of 2017. Derby winner Joseph ran down the field again, as he had in his only race since the Derby. The easy winner, by 4½ lenthgs, was Nagano Gold, owned by Syndikát V3J, one of the syndicates set up, I believe, by Nagano Gold’s trainer Václav Luka jnr ain collaboration with Tomáš Janda. The horse was ridden by promising apprentice David Liška (picture), who has been given a lot of chances this year, especially by Václav Luka jnr, for whom he began doing odds jobs and then riding when he was still a young boy living near the Luka yard outside Písek.

Nagano Gold had been well-fancied for the Derby, but finished down the field in 14th place. He then finished only 6th out of 10 against older horses on European Jockeys Cup day. With an apprentice rider and his dubious recent form, he began at 15:1. British-bred Nagano Gold is by Sixties Icon, out of a Monsun mare. Second place, well beaten, went to Aeneas, which had finished 3rd in the Czech Derby. While Nagano Gold may be a good but inconsistent stayer, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that we have a remarkably poor crop of 3-y-o stayers this year.

By the way, the name Nagano Gold is a reference to the Czech ice-hockey team’s fondly-remembered medals in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan – an event which has also been celebrated in a musical!