Alandi rallies late in Irish St. Leger

Yeats was a grave disappointment Saturday at the Curragh as Alandi came late to win the Group 1, $399,000 Irish St. Leger, defeating longshot Clowance by a half-length with longtime leader Schiaparelli third.

Running for the first time since June 18 when he won his fourth consecutive Ascot Gold Cup, the 4-1 Yeats tracked Schiaparelli's pace but gave up the ghost a half-mile from home. The shorter distance of the Irish St. Leger at 1 3/4 miles and the soft ground were to his disadvantage as he weakened to finish last of eight, beaten an astonishing 60 lengths by the winner.

The 3-1 Alandi, trained by John Oxx and ridden by Michael Kinane for the Aga Khan, had been a neck second back in June over the course and distance in the Group 3 Curragh Cup to Profound Beauty, who was a well-beaten fourth on Saturday. Godolphin's Schiaparelli cruised most of the way on the lead under Olivier Peslier and looked like the winner until weakening quickly approaching the sixteenth pole. The winning time for Alandi, a Galileo 4-year-old who is under consideration for the 2 1/2-mile Prix du Cadran at Longchamp on Oct. 4, was 3:14.82 on soft ground.

* Kingsfort made good off an 11-week layoff after his maiden debut score when he won the Group 1, $399,000 National Stakes, a seven-furlong juvenile contest that has been won of late by Sinndar, George Washington, Teofilo, and New Approach. Trained by Kevin Prendergast and ridden by Daragh McDonogh, the 9-4 Kentucky-bred son of War Chant prevailed by a half-length from Chabal as the Aidan O'Brien-trained even-money favorite, recent Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Alfred Nobel, finished last of six. A slow pace led to a pedestrian winning time of 1:33.63.

* The Dermot Weld-trained Chinese White made it three in a row with a handy score in the Group 2, $167,000 Blandford Stakes. Pat Smullen had himself an armchair ride aboard the 4-year-old daughter of Dalakhani, who will use Longchamp's Prix de l'Opera on Oct. 4 as a likely prep for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Her margin of victory over Roman Empress was two lengths as she traveled the 1 1/4 miles in 2:17.35 under Pat Smullen as the 11-10 favorite. Godolphin's Lady Marian, the winner of last year's Opera, weakened to finish fourth of five, 14 3/4 lengths behind Chinese White.