Horse Racing: Motivator Camp Fear Ground Zero

The connections of Motivator, the Derby winner, yesterday issued a thinly veiled appeal for significant watering at Leopardstown ahead of the colt's intended meeting with Azamour in the Irish Champion Stakes on Saturday.

The going at the track is currently described as "firm", and if it stays that way, Motivator is "highly unlikely" to run, according to Harry Herbert, the racing manager for the Royal Ascot Racing Club.

Motivator has not run since he lost his unbeaten record when finishing second to Oratorio in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in early July. The Irish Champion Stakes was nominated as his next outing on the way to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as long ago as July 24, but he could now head to Longchamp in early October without another run.

"Motivator is in terrific form, he's been working well and from a physical standpoint it's like looking at a different horse," Herbert said yesterday.

"The big question is the ground. He won't run unless the ground is good or easier and I would have to say at this point he is a highly unlikely starter unless there is some rain or suitable watering.

"If he doesn't run in Ireland, we will probably go straight for the Arc. He has other options [including the Prix Niel at Longchamp on Sunday], but I'm not sure we will take up any of those as he doesn't need a lot of work.

"Michael [Bell] had him spot on first time last year and this year, so it wouldn't really be an issue if he didn't have a run. Michael is due to go over on Wednesday to take a look at the ground and we could make a decision there and then. If it's good to firm that would offer some hope, but if it's firm we wouldn't be prepared to risk him."

A mainly dry week is the current forecast for Leopardstown, and the taps are already on as the course tries to ensure fair and safe ground on Saturday. "We're calling it firm today, but we've been watering today and we will be watering again tomorrow," Matt O'Dwyer, Leopardstown's managing director, said yesterday.

"There's rain forecast in the west and north, but they reckon it won't get to the east coast. But we will still be aiming for good-to-firm ground on Saturday, and we would hope to be closer to good than firm."

Should Motivator fail to make his date in Ireland, it would not break many hearts at Doncaster, where Saturday's other major race, the St Leger, has failed to attract a Derby winner since 1987.

In fact, the Leger has struggled to attract runners at all in recent years, with only seven double-figure fields in the last 16 runnings at Doncaster, and this year's renewal will not buck the trend after just seven horses were declared for the final Classic at yesterday's five-day stage.

For Ladbrokes, the Leger's new sponsor, it must be disappointing to find, even at this relatively early stage, that each-way betting will be restricted to two places only.

The likely presence of Scorpion, who could well start at odds-on, in Saturday's field will also do little to boost betting turnover, but success for Aidan O'Brien's colt, who is a Group One winner already, might at least spell the end of another unfortunate Leger trend.

To date, the five St Leger winners of the millennium have yet to record a subsequent Group One win between them, although Milan was within a length of Fantastic Light in the 2001 Breeders' Cup Turf. Scorpion's main rival on Saturday appears to be Hard Top, the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes winner, who will attempt to close the final gap in Sir Michael Stoute's record in English Classics. The possible field is completed by The Geezer, Avalon, Tawqeet, Hattan and Kong.

"It would have been lovely to have two or three more runners, obviously, but we'd rather have a good race with seven than not such a good race with a bigger field," Ted Taylor, the course's managing director, said yesterday.

"But it's one of those things, and this is still the original Classic. The Irish Champion may be on the same day, but I'm not sure it's looking quite so impressive this year, and we could argue that the Leger is still the premier race of the afternoon."