St Leger Festival tips: Back our 7/1 double & find £250+ in free bets

Tomorrow’s Betfred St Leger Festival reaches its defining day at Doncaster, headlined by the 250th anniversary running of the world’s oldest Classic.

Eleven three-year-olds go to post for the Group One Betfred St Leger at 3.35pm over one mile, six and a half furlongs, with £396,970 to the winner. The card also features two other major contests: the Group Two Champagne Stakes for the season’s leading juvenile colts, and the fiercely competitive Portland Handicap over five and a half furlongs.

Have a look at our betting tips for the races, as well as the best new customer offers available from UK betting sites.

St Leger Festival betting offers & free bets

With plenty of big racing this weekend at Doncaster, now is the best time to sign up to some new UK betting sites. The sign-up offer from Tote stands out, as they offer £20 in free bets from a stake of just £5.

Alongside this, Coral are offering new customers £30 in free bets, which is a nice amount to split between each race on Saturday at the St Leger Festival. Take a look below for even more free bets to use on the racing action this week.

St Leger Festival Betting tips

Saturday at the St Leger Festival sees seven competitive races, with our tips for the Champagne Stakes and the St Leger Stakes listed below.

• 1.45 – Desert Castle @ 6/5
• 3.35 – Christmas Day @ 5/2
• Double @ 7/1

Desert Castle to dominate on Saturday

Charlie Appleby has dominated this race in recent seasons, and Desert Castle looks the sort to continue that. The Frankel colt was hammered into favouritism for his Newmarket debut in August and delivered in style, earning a TDN Rising Star on the way.

He is a Godolphin homebred out of the Group Two-winning Sand Vixen, and a full brother to Jebel Hatta winner Dream Castle, so the family has plenty of substance behind it. Billy Loughnane retains the ride and was notably encouraging afterwards, pointing out the colt had a good look around once he hit the front and suggesting a stakes race with a proper pace would suit him better.

Only six go to post, which should mean a truer gallop than he faced at Newmarket. The main dangers are Gentle Hurricane, second in the Group Three Acomb at York and the pick of at least one respected tipster, plus Ballydoyle’s El Gran Senor winner Sergei Diaghilev.

The question mark is ground, he won on good to firm and this is riding good to soft, an untested surface for a horse with a single run behind him. Around 6/5 and we expect him to get the job done here.

• Tip 1: Desert Castle @ 6/5

Christmas Day to prove themselves again

The Derby winner is the best horse in this field and the market has given us a chance to back him at a bigger price than he deserves. Christmas Day is top-rated on official figures at 118, and has drifted to 5/2 after Enceladus took over as favourite.

Two defeats since Epsom have soured the mood, but a Derby winner runner-up in the Irish Derby and third in the Great Voltigeur has hardly disgraced himself against top-class opposition.

Saturday should suit him far better than either of those runs did. Good to soft on Town Moor gives him back the conditions he revelled in at Epsom, where he was at his most dominant with rain in the ground, and the step up in trip looks a positive rather than a worry for a colt who saw out a mile and a half so strongly.

Aidan O’Brien is chasing a fourth consecutive St Leger and knows exactly what it takes to win it. The 5/2 seems a solid enough price especially with a favourable ground description set to come through.

• Tip 2: Christmas Day @ 5/2