Rewilding, the 13-8 favourite with the sponsor for Saturday’s Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster, will have the assistance of a pacemaker, the Mark Johnston-trained Corsica, a 33-1 shot, but it has come about only after official clearance from the British Horseracing Authority (BHA).
Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin, said he had contacted the BHA, inquiring whether a change of ownership would be required prior to such a role being adopted by Corsica. But he was reassured that all was above board for the colt to act in that fashion with his present connections, according to the British daily Telegraph.
 
Rewilding, trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni, is owned by the Godolphin stable of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Corsica races in the ownership of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
 
“Corsica will be pace making for Rewilding. Obviously, he will be running on his own merits. He is a natural front-runner and has every right to be in the race himself, but his primary task will be to set the pace for Rewilding,” Crisford said.
 
Rewilding heads a list of 12 declared for the St Leger. The three-year-old colt had an excellent prep race for the Doncaster Classic by winning the Group Two sportingbet.com Great Voltigeur Stakes in good style by four lengths at York in August.
 
“He has done very well since winning at York - Mahmood (Al Zarooni, his trainer) has been extremely happy with Rewilding - he is a very straightforward colt and does not carry a lot of condition,” said Crisford speaking about at Ladbrokes St Leger lunch in London.
 
“He has got a fantastic profile - he was third in the Derby and then he won the Great Voltigeur like a really classy colt.
 
“To win the Ladbrokes St Leger, it is all about class in my view. We have been lucky enough to win this Classic with five horses but you have to be good and he has the class.
 
“I watched Rewilding work on Saturday morning - he did a little breeze on his own because he did not actually need any work. He is very athletic, very fit.
 
“He is a little bit like a filly in a roundabout way but the great thing about him is that he comes from a fabulous family - he is a half-brother to Dar Re Mi plus a host of other talented middle distance performers.
 
“A mile and six furlongs is great while he also has enough speed to win over a mile and a quarter - next year we will be campaigning him over shorter distances. He is a very uncomplicated horse.
 
“He had just arrived from France - people underestimate the difficulty of moving horses around and mid-season is even more difficult.
 
“He ran extremely well at Goodwood and then he put up a huge run in the Derby - he did not like the track at Epsom and encountered the fastest ground of his life.
 
“He only got going in the last quarter-mile and that was a big run to finish third - he probably should have been second on a level track but the winner was outstanding.
 
“At that time, by looking at the horse and thinking of the big picture, it was thought best to give him a holiday and miss Goodwood. So that is what we did as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed was very keen to focus all attention on the Ladbrokes St Leger.
 
“We will see what happens afterwards and whether we consider the Arc - he has got win on Saturday for that to happen.
 
“There are some fabulous horses in the Ladbrokes St Leger and he has to be every bit as good as he was at York.”