James Given stressed today that the St Leger remained Dandino's number one target, and that he was far from certain in next week's Great Voltigeur at York.
Dandino went down by a head to Rebel Soldier in the Group Three Gordon Stakes over a mile and a half at Goodwood on July 27 and has been left in Tuesday's contest to "leave all options open" according to Given.
The Dansili colt has won four of his five starts in 2010, with his biggest victory coming in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot in June.
He is currently rated a 7/1 chance for the Ladbrokes St Leger by the sponsor.
Given said today: “We confirmed Dandino for the Great Voltigeur Stakes today and will have a look at the race, but his primary target is the Ladbrokes St Leger.
“When you look at the history of horses which have run well at Doncaster having come from the Gordon Stakes, the trend you see is that those horses have generally not had another race in between.
“Leaving him in the Great Voltigeur leaves our options open as who knows what might happen between now and next Tuesday, but the Ladbrokes St Leger remains his number one target.
“I have been very happy with Dandino since his run at Goodwood - I wouldn’t have changed a day. He does not want soft ground. In fact, the ground at York next week might be a bit too firm for some of the others, so that is another factor to consider when we decide whether to run in the Great Voltigeur.”
A total of 16 of the 18 six-day confirmations for the Group Two Great Voltigeur Stakes also hold entries in the Ladbrokes St Leger including the Aidan O’Brien-trained Midas Touch and Godolphin’s Rewilding, the current 9/2 joint-favourites with Ladbrokes for the Doncaster Classic. Midas Touch was last seen out when runner-up to stable companion Cape Blanco in the Irish Derby on June 27 while Rewilding has not been seen out since coming third to Workforce in the Investec Derby at Epsom on June 5.
Other horses to hold entries in both races include Godolphin’s Group One German Derby victor Buzzword, Group Two King Edward VII Stakes winner Monterosso from the Mark Johnston stable as well as Corsica and Harris Tweed who filled the first two places in the Group Three Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket in July.
