Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2025 Irish St Leger Preview
Established in 1915, the Irish St Leger is the Irish equivalent to the Doncaster St Leger, it's a Group 1 race which is open to thoroughbreds who are three or older where three-year-old runners receive an 8lb age allowance, it's run at the Curragh racecourse in September of each year during Irish Champions Weekend over a trip of one mile and six furlongs.
Irish St Leger Information:
If you are interested in other predictions at Curragh then head over to the Curragh tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Races Covered during the Irish Champions Weekend section for links to these.
How competitive is the Irish St Leger market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2016 when the race had an over-round of 107%. The race in 2017 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 128%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Irish St Leger, the over-round has been 117%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £117 which is bet.
Irish St Leger Trends:
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Irish St Leger next time out then you would have backed a total of 3 winners. Backing all 17 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -8.01. Before placing your bet on the 2025 Irish St Leger see which other runners today are being backed on the racing predictions page.
The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2009 renewal when Alandi from John M Oxx under the guidance of Mick Kinane, won in a time of 3:14.82, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Brown Panther, trained by Tom Dascombe and ridden by Richard Kingscote set the quickest time of 2:57.15 in the 2014 renewal.
These are the top three quickest-run Irish St Leger over the last 20 renewals:
- Brown Panther (2:57.15) in 2014
- Kyprios (2:59.04) in 2024
- Voleuse De Coeurs (3:00.08) in 2013
Irish St Leger Past Winners
Here are the Irish St Leger past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Irish St Leger are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 2:59.04 | Kyprios (IRE) 6yo 9-11 (4 of 6) 2/5F | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2023 3:01.72 | Eldar Eldarov (GB) 4yo 9-11 (2 of 4) 16/5 | David Egan Roger Varian (GB) |
| 2022 3:04.67 | Kyprios (IRE) 4yo 9-11 (6 of 11) 8/11F | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2021 3:02.05 | Sonnyboyliston (IRE) 4yo 9-11 (12 of 13) 4/1 | Ben Coen J P Murtagh (IRE) |
| 2020 3:06.50 | Search For A Song (IRE) 4yo 9-8 (7 of 8) 7/1 | Oisin Orr D K Weld (IRE) |
| 2019 3:03.24 | Search For A Song (IRE) 3yo 8-11 (8 of 10) 10/1 | Chris Hayes D K Weld (IRE) |
| 2018 3:05.72 | Flag Of Honour (IRE) 3yo 9-1 (5 of 6) 2/1F | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2017 3:07.82 | Order Of St George (IRE) 5yo 9-10 (5 of 10) 2/5F | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2016 3:05.95 | Wicklow Brave (GB) 7yo 9-11 (2 of 4) 11/1 | Frankie Dettori W P Mullins (IRE) |
| 2015 3:03.19 | Order Of St George (IRE) 3yo 9-0 (9 of 11) 5/4F | Joseph O'Brien A P O'Brien (IRE) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Irish St Leger have been based:
- IRE: 15 winners with an additional 21 placings from 121 runners
- GB: 6 winners with an additional 11 placings from 47 runners
- GER: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners
Irish St Leger Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Irish St Leger over the last 20 renewals is A P O'Brien who has won the race seven times with those seven winners coming from Yeats (2007), Septimus (2008), Order Of St George (2015 & 2017), Flag Of Honour (2018) and Kyprios (2022 & 2024). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Irish St Leger is D K Weld (3 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Irish St Leger, Joseph Patrick O'Brien has sent a total of 10 runners to the race without recording any wins.
Here are some of the top Irish St Leger trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| A P O'Brien | 38-7-14 | -25.32 | -15.61 |
| D K Weld | 13-3-6 | +16.00 | +9.17 |
| W P Mullins | 6-1-3 | +6.00 | -1.00 |
| John Gosden | 4-1-1 | +2.00 | +0.13 |
| Tom Dascombe | 3-1-2 | +12.00 | +7.23 |
| J P Murtagh | 3-1-1 | +2.00 | +0.40 |
| Roger Varian | 2-1-2 | +2.20 | -0.20 |
| Joseph Patrick O'Brien | 10-0-4 | -10.00 | -5.16 |
| Luke Comer | 8-0-0 | -8.00 | -8.00 |
| Mrs John Harrington | 5-0-1 | -5.00 | -2.10 |
Irish St Leger Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the Irish St Leger over the last 20 renewals is Ryan Moore who has won the race four times with those four winners coming from Order Of St George (2017), Flag Of Honour (2018) and Kyprios (2022 & 2024). The only other jockey to have recorded multiple wins in the Irish St Leger is Chris Hayes (2 wins).
Here are some of the top Irish St Leger jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Moore | 9-4-5 | -1.47 | +0.03 |
| Chris Hayes | 7-2-4 | +14.00 | +11.50 |
| Seamie Heffernan | 12-1-3 | -10.67 | -8.55 |
| Richard Kingscote | 4-1-3 | +11.00 | +7.23 |
| N G McCullagh | 3-1-1 | +14.00 | +7.60 |
| Frankie Dettori | 2-1-1 | +10.00 | -1.00 |
| Oisin Orr | 2-1-1 | +6.00 | +3.20 |
| Ben Coen | 1-1-1 | +4.00 | +2.40 |
| David Egan | 1-1-1 | +3.20 | +0.00 |
| Declan McDonogh | 8-0-3 | -8.00 | -2.65 |
2025 Irish St Leger Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): (3, 4), 2, 1, 1, 3, 1, 4, 6, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 4, 6, 6, 1, 2, 1
The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well.
- 21 / 21 (62%) - Achieved an RPR of 107+ (LTO)
- 21 / 21 (63%) - No bigger than 16/1
- 21 / 21 (71%) - Beaten no more -6¼l (LTO)
- 21 / 21 (73%) - Within the first 6 of the market
- 21 / 21 (77%) - Off a break of 20 - 86 days
- 21 / 21 (81%) - Ran in 1 - 3 races (90 Days)
- 21 / 21 (82%) - No bigger than 50/1 (Career)
- 21 / 21 (82%) - Ran in 1 - 5 races (Season)
- 21 / 21 (84%) - Achieved an RPR of 99+ (Last Win)
- 21 / 21 (84%) - Achieved a TS of 85+ (Career)
- 21 / 21 (86%) - Ran over 1m4f - 2m4f (Last Win)
- 21 / 21 (86%) - Held an OR of 99+ (Season)
- 21 / 21 (87%) - Furthest Won 1m4f - 2m4f
- 21 / 21 (89%) - Had 2 - 12 wins (Career)
- 19 / 21 (78%) - Won within last 4 starts
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Curragh racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Irish St Leger. If you are looking to place a bet on this race well in advance of the actual running, then there may be an ante-post market available for you to place your bet. If you are unfamiliar with this type of betting then head over to the OLBG Betting School and read our Ante-Post Horse Racing article which explains how ante-post betting works.
Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Irish St Leger by adding a tip on the race here.
Irish St Leger Trend Analysis
The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +23.86 is when runners finished in 1st on debut. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners last place was 2 starts ago, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-31.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 4 (6) [6 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 2 [4 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 6 (8,10) [11 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 12 (13,14) [13 Runners]
- 2020: Winner in 7 (4,6) [8 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Irish St Leger is Curragh, there has been a total number of 6 winners of this race who ran at Curragh last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is York, there has been a total number of 5 winners of this race who ran at York last time out.
The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 17 winners from a total of 146 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 4 winners from a total of 24 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Irish St Leger:
- Galileo (9 Wins)
- Sadlers Wells (2 Wins)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Royal Diamond in 2012, winning for Thomas Carmody at odds of 16/1 under the guidance of N G McCullagh. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 8 winning favourites in the race. Ahead of the 2025 Irish St Leger why not head over to the best racing tipster page to see what the tipsters are backing today?
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Irish St Leger Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for International racing.
Darren Brett
Tipster Competition Manager
Andy Powell
Content Editor
Races Covered during the Irish Champions Weekend
Here is the schedule for the two-day Irish Champions Weekend which is run at Leopardstown on Saturday and then the Curragh on Sunday for races which we cover with blogs, each race will be linked to the race blog and detail last year's winner in the table below.
Saturday at the Irish Champions Weekend
Leopardstown hosts the opening day of the Irish Champions Weekend, the highlight of the day being the Irish Champions Stakes, a race dominated by Aidan O'Brien in recent years with him winning all of the last five renewals and has won the race a total of twelve times.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Leopardstown Champions Juvenile Stakes | Green Impact (IRE) 2yo - 5/2 | Mrs John Harrington Shane Foley |
| Leopardstown Solonaway Stakes | Diego Velazquez (IRE) 3yo - 10/11 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| Leopardstown Matron Stakes | Porta Fortuna (IRE) 3yo - 5/4 | Donnacha Aidan O'Brien Tom Marquand |
| Leopardstown Irish Champion Stakes | Economics (GB) 3yo - 7/4 | William Haggas Tom Marquand |
| Leopardstown Petingo Handicap | Fighter (IRE) 3yo - 9/1 | A P O'Brien Wayne Hassett |
| Leopardstown Sovereign Path Handicap | Dance Night Andday (IRE) 4yo - 12/1 | Ross O'Sullivan Ronan Whelan |
Sunday at the Irish Champions Weekend
Sunday of the Irish Champions Weekend is hosted at the Curragh with four Group 1 races, the highlight being the Irish St Leger, Aidan has not been as dominant in this with just six wins, three behind both Vincent O'Brien and Dermot Weld.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Curragh Bold Lad Sprint Handicap | My Mate Alfie (IRE) 3yo - 12/1 | G M Lyons Colin Keane |
| Curragh Blandford Stakes | Hanalia (IRE) 3yo - 12/1 | J P Murtagh Shane Foley |
| Curragh Moyglare Stud Stakes | Lake Victoria (IRE) 2yo - 11/2 | A P O'Brien Wayne Lordan |
| Curragh Flying Five Stakes | Bradsell (GB) 4yo - 2/1 | Archie Watson Hollie Doyle |
| Curragh National Stakes | Scorthy Champ (IRE) 2yo - 12/1 | Joseph Patrick O'Brien Dylan Browne McMonagle |
| Curragh Irish St Leger | Kyprios (IRE) 6yo - 2/5 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| Curragh Northfields Handicap | This Songisforyou (USA) 6yo - 9/1 | Emmet Mullins Colin Keane |
