Irish St Leger: Unbeaten Beckett colt a double-figure gem

Royal Ascot, Newmarket's July Meeting, Glorious Goodwood, the Ebor Festival at York – the biggest British midsummer meets of the flat racing season are over. Time for punters to switch their attention to the other side of the Irish Sea, where Irish Champions Weekend is less than three weeks away.

Unlike the British equivalent at Doncaster, the Irish St Leger is open to all age groups. It is therefore perhaps unsurprising that the market for this race should be headed by two older colts from the all-powerful Ballydoyle yard of Aidan O'Brien.

But it's not a certainty that both Illinois and Jan Brueghel will turn up, and many of the big names below this pair in the betting will almost certainly skip this race at The Curragh: Scandinavia (slam dunk for the Doncaster version), Carmers (ditto), Further (ditto), Minnie Hauk (anywhere but here), Whirl (probably Prix Vermeille)...and so on.

The two most potent threats to the Ballydoyle market leaders are Joseph O'Brien's Al Riffa and Amiloc from the Ralph Beckett stable based at Kimpton Down in the heart of Wiltshire. And the latter looks a gem of a bet at 10/1 to capture this prize.

Indeed, Amiloc is the only three-year-old in training that we can think of who has never been beaten. His form figures read 11-111. His two wins as a juvenile last season comprise a maiden and a novice victory, the latter involving the gift of a 7lb penalty to the 2/1 favourite, who would go on to finish second in a Group 2 race in France before the end of that season.

As a three-year colt, Ralph Beckett's colt has won a conditions race at Goodwood (where his victims included the winner of the G3 Jersey Stakes, Noble Champion), won the Group 3 Cocked Hat Stakes (again at Goodwood) by four lengths from Sir Dinadan, who went toe to toe with Lambourn in the Irish Derby before fading out of the places in the last 50 yards, and most recently won the Group 2 King Edward Stakes at Royal Ascot.

This latter victory has been boosted in two respects: runner up Zahrann has come out and won the Group 3 Royal Whip at The Curragh (his victims including a below-par Los Angeles), while Wimbledon Hawkeye has since finished second to the (Doncaster) St Leger favourite Scandinavia and been beaten just a nose in the G3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood by the highly regarded Merchant.

In summary, Amiloc already has a glowing CV that more than entitles him to step up in to Group 1 company, and he looks one of the major players in the Irish St Leger. Six of the last ten runnings have failed to attract eight or more runners, so an each-way interest is recommended, as not only is the win price of 10/1 highly appealing, the place odds of 2/1 (fifth of the win odds) also look grossly out of kilter with reality for colt whose ceiling of ability is not yet known.

The time risk for this wager is just 20 days, and Ralph Beckett has informed The AntePoster that the Irish St Leger is the target for his exciting colt, an intention that has since been repeated in the media.

Recommendation: Back Amiloc each-way to win the Irish St Leger at 10/1 with Paddy Power or Skybet.