Favourite Aquarius out of St Leger

Racing: Kite Wood leads the market for Saturday's Ladbrokes St Leger following the shock withdrawal of ante-post favourite Age…

Racing:Kite Wood leads the market for Saturday's Ladbrokes St Leger following the shock withdrawal of ante-post favourite Age Of Aquarius. The Aidan O'Brien-trained colt headed the book for much of the week and had been well supported before declarations time on this morning.

However, the Grand Prix de Paris runner-up did not feature in the final field after failing to satisfy the master of Ballydoyle.

O'Brien confirmed: "We were not 100 per cent happy with him after his canter this morning and decided not to declare him."

That leaves Johnny Murtagh to ride second favourite and Ebor runner-up Changingoftheguard, with Colm O'Donoghue aboard stablemate and rank outsider Von Jawlensky.

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Godolphin's Kite Wood is back as the new 9-4 market leader with Ladbrokes having been usurped by Age Of Aquarius, but Lawrie Inman, owner of 5-1 shot Monitor Closely, has warned you underestimate his horse at your peril.

Trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam, Monitor Closely finished fourth in the Dante before failing to shine at Royal Ascot and in a York Group Two.

However, he bounced back to form in style when beating fellow Leger candidates Mastery and Father Time in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York.

Many were disappointed by the no-show of hot favourite Harbinger that day, but Inman believes his colt was not given full credit.

He said: "I was pretty confident before the Voltigeur and if he stays, he must have a chance. I think the form of the Voltigeur has been underrated.

"We were always quite confident of his ability over a mile and a quarter but in the Voltigeur, the further he went, the better he went."

Monitor Closely is not an obvious Leger runner on breeding as he is by top sprinter Oasis Dream out of a Selkirk mare, but Inman still retains plenty of hope.

"He's by Oasis Dream so perhaps he's not bred for a Leger trip but freaks of nature can happen and perhaps he is a freak of nature," he added.

The late withdrawal of Age Of Aquarius caused a major reshuffle in the betting but both Ladbrokes and Boylesports will be offering refunds for ante-post bets on the O'Brien colt.

Ladbrokes' David Williams said: "Given our high-profile sponsorship this week, and the scale and timing of the news, we felt it was the correct thing to do in this instance.

"Punters have been given a lifeline and we'll swallow the financial pill."

Boylesports spokesman Leon Blanche added: "It's a cruel blow for punters to see an ante-post favourite withdrawn just days before a big race, let alone a Classic.

"We've made the decision to refund all ante-post bets on Age Of Aquarius, which will be very expensive for us, but we feel it's only fair to our punters."

Mourayan is a leading candidate for John Oxx, although his rider Mick Kinane has opted to ride stablemate Alandi in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh.

Explaining his decision, Kinane told At The Races: "It was a difficult decision - the ground just swung it for me. It's very testing at the Curragh at the moment.

"We're getting the same weather you're getting here (at Doncaster) and it's going to dry but it's still going to be very dead ground and they were talking about quick to firm ground here.

"It was a close call. If Mourayan had come straight off his Irish Derby run to here he'd be favourite and now he's probably third or fourth favourite.

"He was beaten by a very smart filly (Profound Beauty) who could well win the Melbourne Cup.

"I think he's possibly been overlooked a little.

"With the heavy ground I might have a slightly better chance in the Irish St Leger but that's a very competitive race."