These are the nine colts who remain in contention for the St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday

The prospect of a first royal Classic winner in Britain since 1977 remains a real one after Desert Hero featured among the confirmations for Saturday's Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.

Trained by William Haggas, he was among nine horses on Monday left in contention for the world's oldest Classic, which the late Queen Elizabeth II won with Dunfermline 46 years ago.

She bred Desert Hero, who won the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot before bagging the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood under the ownership of the King and Queen.

His rivals could include Queen's Vase winner Gregory, his Great Voltigeur conqueror Continuous and Arrest, last seen landing Newbury's Geoffrey Freer Stakes.

The Qatar Racing Limited-owned Middle Earth, who won the Melrose at York for John and Thady Gosden, the trainers of Gregory and Arrest, was, as expected, supplemented for the St Leger at a cost of £50,000.

The race will be screened live on ITV's main channel at 3.35 and forms the highlight of Doncaster's four-day St Leger meeting, which starts on Thursday.

Officials at the Yorkshire venue described the going as good, good to soft in places on the round course on Monday morning, when a sunny day with light showers was forecast.

Rain could also fall on Tuesday but the outlook for the rest of the week is mainly dry.

As part of National Racehorse Week, the course will welcome children on Thursday through the educational charity Racing to School.

Doncaster's executive director Rachel Harwood said: "We are delighted to open our doors ahead of racing to welcome Racing to School and the children to come and learn more about our sport, and the St Leger Festival itself. 

"National Racehorse Week is a fantastic series of events taking place across the country to engage the general public with the sport, which we are delighted to support in this way.

“Horseracing plays a prominent role in the rich history and sporting heritage of Doncaster, and we want to make sure that we can pass that message on to the next generation, whilst allowing them a fun and engaging educational day out of the classroom."

Betfred St Leger confirmations

Alexandroupolis Aidan O'Brien
Arrest John and Thady Gosden
Chesspiece Simon and Ed Crisford
Continuous Aidan O'Brien
Denmark Aidan O'Brien
Desert Hero William Haggas
Gregory John and Thady Gosden
Middle Earth John and Thady Gosden
Tower Of London Aidan O'Brien

Ladbrokes: 9-4 Gregory, 3 Continuous, 5 Desert Hero, 11-2 Middle Earth, 13-2 Arrest, 10 Tower Of London, 11 Chesspiece, 25 Denmark, Alexandroupolis 

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