TRAINER Sabrina Harty is looking forward to Ansgar defending his crown in the £100,000 Group 2 Saint-Gobain Weber Park Stakes over seven furlongs at Doncaster on Ladbrokes St Leger Day, Saturday, September 12th, given the right ground.

Ansgar made all of the running last year to win in tenacious fashion on good ground, but has only had two outings this year owing to unsuitable going.

He trailed home last on his reappearance at Haydock Park in May before fading to 10th after forcing the pace in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Sabrina Harty said: “We have been unlucky with the weather since Ascot. He travelled over to Goodwood to run in the Lennox Stakes, but the ground went against us.

“He is in at the Curragh over six furlongs next weekend and we are half looking at the seven-furlong listed race at York as well. It is hard to plan with him because he is so ground dependant.

“The ground was unsuitable in Haydock - it was good to yielding - and he ran too keen in Ascot. He actually ran a good race there but just did too much early on. He was three lengths clear at halfway, which was a bit crazy!”

The last horse to win back-to-back renewals of the Saint-Gobain Park Stakes was the Jeremy Noseda-trained Arabian Gleam in 2007 and 2008.

There are 55 entries in total for the Saint-Gobain Weber Park Stakes, notably last year’s Group 1 Middle Park Stakes hero Charming Thought (Charlie Appleby), Jersey Stakes victor Dutch Connection (Charlie Hills) and Lightning Moon (Ed Walker).