Dwyer: Pyledriver is the horse to beat in Leger and staying won't be a problem

Martin Dwyer is convinced Pyledriver is the horse to beat in the Pertemps St Leger on Saturday after being handed an unexpected shot at Classic glory.

The 45-year-old thought his days at the top table were over until teaming up with Pyledriver who heads to Doncaster as the general 11-4 joint-favourite alongside Santiago.

The owners of the Royal Ascot and Great Voltigeur winner have turned down seven-figure offers for Pyledriver who has given Dwyer his best chance of a Classic win since Sir Percy took the Derby in 2006.

Watch Pyledriver win the Great Voltigeur

"He looks fantastic and has improved all year," said Dwyer about Pyledriver, who is trained by his father-in-law William Muir. "He surprised me how easily he won at Royal Ascot when he was like a teenager, but now he's a man.

"He destroyed the field at York and has just flourished all season. He wasn't stopping at York, so I don't think staying will be a problem, but he has got gears."

Dwyer. who won the Oaks on Casual Look in 2003, said: "Sir Percy was different as he was a precocious two-year-old and this lad has taken time, but his progression has been unbelievable and he's definitely up there with the best I've ridden."

Martin Dwyer: Derby winner with Sir Percy in 2006Credit: Edward Whitaker

Dwyer, hurt at Bath the night before Sir Percy's Derby, will take a mindful approach to what he rides this week and added: "I'm in the latter stages of my career, but I'm more relaxed, happy and content. I can ride and not worry about anything.

"I haven't got youth on my side, but I've got experience and am enjoying riding more than ever. I won't be nervous. I've done it before and it's only a horserace at the end of the day, but I've got a very good horse and they've got me to beat. Touch wood, if things go well, he will win, so I'll just go out and enjoy it.

"It'd be fantastic to win. It's so hard to get rides in Classics, so I'm over the moon to be going there with a favourite. The last four or five years I thought my days of riding horses as good as him were over, so to get another bite of the cherry is fantastic and hopefully I can make it count."

Dwyer will sport the colours of Roger Devlin and brothers Guy and Hugh Leach against a maximum of 14 opponents on Pyledriver, who failed to shine in the Derby but has long been held in the highest regard by Muir, who is also starting to dream of Classic glory.

Such thoughts, however, might have disappeared had the owners become salesmen.

"The amount of fun these boys have had is a great thing to put out," said the trainer. "Normally, the horse might have been owned by one person and when the offers came in they'd sell and the horse would be gone, but it makes it easier that there are three of them.

"If the offers had been accepted he'd have gone to Australia or Hong Kong – they wanted him really badly – but the owners said, 'No, we're going to keep him and we're enjoying this'. Lots of offers came in, big offers, life-changing sums of money."

Asked if those offers amounted to seven figures, Muir replied: "Definitely, yeah."

William Muir with his pride and joy PyledriverCredit: Edward Whitaker

Pyledriver went to the foal sales with a 10,000gns reserve and the licence-holder of 30 years added: "If they'd put a 2,000gns reserve on him he wouldn't have made it because he was by Harbour Watch, who was unfashionable, but he was, and still is, gorgeous."

Muir is convinced Pyledriver's dam's side will provide the staying power for Saturday's 1m6½f contest, part of the 2020 Qipco British Champions Series.

He said: "I think he'll get the trip, but I'm in such a good place and the owners have said, 'What's the worst thing that will happen? We'll get beat and then come back in trip'.

"There's no gun at my head that if he gets beat I'm shot to pieces. He's in fantastic form and if he stays it will take a very good one to beat him.

"I couldn't take him there in better shape and he's got the attitude to drop in and switch off, so I think he's got a great chance. If it comes off, what it would do for me, the yard and everyone else is immense."

Pertemps St Leger
Coral: 11-4 Pyledriver, Santiago, 10-3 Hukum, 7 Galileo Chrome, 9 Tiger Moth, 12 English King, 14 Subjectivist, 16 Believe In Love, Dawn Patrol, 25 Max Vega, 33 Berkshire Rocco, Mohican Heights, 40 Sunchart, 66 Mythical, Tyson Fury

Safe journey

Whether Pyledriver motors home or not in the Pertemps St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday, William Muir will be hoping for a smoother route back to his Lambourn base from Yorkshire than he had following the colt's success in last month's Great Voltigeur at York.

"When I went to start the box up to leave, there was a light on and there was no way I was going to get stuck on the M1 with any horse, let alone him," explained the trainer. "I called the recovery and they said they'd be with me in three and a half hours, which it was.

"I said to the RAC man, 'How far have you come?' He said, 'About ten doors down the road'! He lived in York, but was really good. He put all the diagnostics on the box and did everything he could, but said he couldn't fix it and said he wasn't allowed to tell me to drive back because I could have sued if I'd broken down.

"I said, 'You don't know me, that's not the sort of person I am. Will I get home and could it catch fire?'

"He said there was nil chance of fire and if I got stuck in traffic and wasn't moving to turn the engine off, as I could break it. It was late at night by this time, so we crept off and got home about 1.30am, but Pyledriver never moves in the box, so he didn't worry."

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