Al Riffa dominates Irish St Leger, while Asfoora fails to fire in Flying Five

Al Riffa has established himself as top seed for the 2025 Melbourne Cup, with the recent Australian Bloodstock purchase now a $7 chance to give trainer Joseph O’Brien his third win in the famous Flemington race after an impressive victory in the Irish St Leger.

Al Riffa’s four-length win in the Curragh feature, a race which provided horses like Vintage Crop and Twilight Payment a pathway to the Melbourne Cup, will ensure he is fresh in Racing Victoria handicapper David Hegan’s mind when he releases his Melbourne Cup weights on Tuesday.

Ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle, Al Riffa worked his way through the small field to take command inside the final furlong and win the one mile and six furlong (2800m) race with ease from Amiloc, with Al Qareem in third.

It completed a rare double as Al Riffa had won the National Stakes, the feature Irish two-year--old race, three years ago on the same day.

Australian Bloodstock, whose colours were victorious in the 2014 Melbourne Cup with Protectionist, secured the French-bred son of Wootton Bassett last month

"The horse has been a star for us," O'Brien said. "He had a tough race today but we'll get him fresh and hopefully the Melbourne Cup is next.

"He's a classy horse so he's going to have to carry weight as a result but he has the right attributes. It will be a huge ask but that's what racing is all about. He's been through the first step of the protocols and that's all gone smooth so he'll enter quarantine next week before the process of travelling."

Multiple Group 1 Australian mare Asfoora was seeking to add another elite race to her globetrotting success story but faded from just off the pace in the Group 1 Flying Five on the same card.

Asfoora would finish seventh, beaten 2.5 lengths by Arizona Blaze, who had finished 11th behind the Aussie mare in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York.

This year’s National Stakes was won by the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained Zavateri, while Starspangledbanner filly Precise won the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.