DONCASTER // Sir Michael Stoute finally brought to an end his hoodoo in the St Leger yesterday when he sent out Conduit, ridden by jockey Frankie Dettori, to win the final Classic of the British flat season at Doncaster.
Stoute had run 25 horses in the St Leger prior to yesterday's event, including the great Shergar 27 years ago, all of which had been beaten.
It was a record that contrasted sharply with the sublime success of Dettori, who can now boast five wins in this contest from just 13 rides.
There was more to this victory, however, than just the luck of the little Italian, because Conduit beat the biggest field in 26 years in emphatic style.
Hindu Kush, one of five runners for trainer Aidan O'Brien, set a searing pace along with fellow no-hopers Maidstone Mixture and Warringah, also trained by Stoute.
Three furlongs out the pace began to tell as most of the field began to flag, but the two fillies, Oaks heroine Look Here and Unsung Heroine, looked to be going ominously well behind Conduit, who edged into the lead.
It was all over inside the final two furlongs though, as Conduit powered further into the lead to beat Unsung Heroine by three lengths.
"That worked out perfectly," said Dettori after the race. "They went off quick and I knew I was aboard a stayer. Two furlongs out it was all over. Finished."
Although O'Brien had little impact in the English St Leger - Hindu Kush did the best of his quintet in fifth - the Ballydoyle juggernaut continued to accumulate Group 1s yesterday when Septimus bagged his first victory at the top level in the Irish St Leger at the Curragh.
The five-year-old's win completed a Classic Grand Slam for O'Brien in Ireland, adding to victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas with Henrythenavigator, 1,000 Guineas with Halfway To Heaven as well as wins in the Irish Derby with Frozen Fire and Oaks with Moonstone.
It was the first time all five Irish Classics had been won in the same season since Jack Rogers achieved the feat in 1935.
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The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
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Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 1
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
