Aidan O'Brien picks Tom Marquand to ride St Leger favourite Scandinavia

Aidan O’Brien has picked the jockeys who will attempt to deliver him a ninth victory in the final Classic of the 2025 British Flat season.

The Ballydoyle trainer is without stable jockey Ryan Moore, who is out injured after fracturing his femur, and second choice Wayne Lordan, who is serving a ten day whip suspension, over one of the busiest weekends of the Flat season. He has enlisted Christophe Soumillon to ride his big hopes at Leopardstown on Saturday where Delacroix lines up in the Irish Champion Stakes, on day one of Irish Champions Weekend.

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On the same day Doncaster hosts the Betfred St Leger, the last of the season's five Classics, in which O'Brien has declared three runners in the seven-strong field.

The master trainer has won the last two editions of the big race and has chosen three jockeys with past experience of winning the 1m6f race for his runners, Scandinavia, Lambourn and Stay True.

He has put Tom Marquand on Goodwood Cup winner Scandinavia, Sean Levey will attempt to repeat last year's success on Jan Brueghel aboard Derby winner Lambourn while Barzalona, who famously ended Camelot's Triple Crown bid in the race on Encke in 2012, rides Stay True.

Ireland's other runner will be Paddy Twomey’s Queen’s Vase winner Carmers (Billy Lee), who finished ahead of both of Lambourn and Stay True when he was second in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York.

Roger Varian, who has won the St Leger twice previously with Kingston Hill and Eldar Eldarov, saddles Queen’s Vase third Rahiebb in search of his third big victory on Town Moor.

The line-up is complete by Andrew Balding’s pair of Geoffrey Freer scorer Furthur and Tarriance, who steps out of handicap company after winning the Melrose Stakes at York.