Vinnie Roe to bid for fifth St Leger success

Racing: Vinnie Roe will bid to win the fifth St Leger of his career by returning to Longchamp in two weeks time for the Prix Royal Oak. The Dermot Weld-trained horse won his third successive Irish Leger last month before running fifth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe eight days ago.

Immediately after that Vinnie Roe entered quarantine but a trip to Australia for the Melbourne Cup has now all but been ruled out. "We have decided to try and win a fifth Leger with him and it is highly unlikely he will go for the Melbourne Cup.

"That will allow us to have a full European campaign next year when he might end his racing career by going back to Melbourne," Weld said yesterday. Vinnie Roe won the Prix Royal in 2001 and Weld nominated the Ascot Gold Cup as a possible target for the stayer next year. The Curragh trainer also said that Docnaster's Racing Post Trophy is a more likely race for his star two-year-old Grey Swallow than Saturday's Dewhurst Stakes. "It will suit the horse better to run at Doncaster," Weld said.

Legendary former jockey Bill Shoemaker, until recently the all-time leading rider for the number of wins, has died at the age of 72. He partnered 8,833 winners in his career, a total that still leaves him second in the all-time list behind Laffit Pincay's total of 9,530.