Racegoers crowded out at Leger

Managing director Adam Waterworth insists Doncaster will be better prepared next year for the St Leger-day influx which meant some racegoers had to be turned away.

A modern-day record of 31,000

packed on to Town Moor to

watch Lucarno and Jimmy

Fortune win the Classic. That

was 6,000 more than expected,

a projection based on the 2005

crowd before the race was

temporarily moved to York.

With the County stand sold out

in advance and the

grandstand soon full,

racegoers had to be directed

to the Family Enclosure, which

was stretched to capacity Waterworth said: "I don't think

the grandstand itself was too

full but it was in the Family

enclosure that we were taken

by surprise."

The massive crowd did show

that, while the sport

continually agonises over the

relevance of the St Leger in a

modern racing context, with

the public it is a big winner.

Lucarno, fourth to Authorized

in the Derby, will not race

again this season. Winning

trainer John Gosden said: "We

will have a proper

four-year-old next year for

races like the Coronation Cup

and King George."