Master trainer Andre Fabre has come out in defence of the St Leger ahead of the 250th running of the Doncaster Classic this year.

Fabre provided Pat Eddery with the second of his four victories in the Town Moor highlight when Toulon put his defeat as Derby favourite well behind him in 1991.

The Khalid Abdullah-owned colt beat Saddlers’ Hall by a length and a half, with a yawning 15 lengths back to the third.

You have to go back to Reference Point in 1987 to find the last Derby winner to follow up at Doncaster, though, and while Lambourn attempted the double last year, Derby winners at Doncaster are becoming a rare thing.

“Toulon was a very good horse and in his three-year-old season he was very good indeed,” said Fabre.

“He was favourite for the Derby, but on the day he didn’t run a very good race. He probably didn’t handle Epsom that well. I had taken him to Chester for his trial and he won well there so I thought he would be fine at Epsom.

“On the day he missed the break and Pat could never get him back in the race.”

It was a different story at Doncaster, however, with those who kept the faith after Epsom to send him off the 5-2 joint-favourite never really doubting they would be rewarded.

Fabre – who remains the last French trainer to win the Leger – went on: “He was so good at three, when we he won the St Leger the first two were a long way clear.

“Pat had a retainer with Khalid Abdullah so was always going to ride him, he kept things simple that day and he was very good on staying horses.”

While some say the Leger is losing its relevance in the calendar, Fabre is certainly not one of them.

He said: “Staying races like the St Leger have been out of fashion for a while, but they will come back, I am sure. A lot of horses are currently being sold to Australia but we need to breed horses who can stay, not only those who have speed.

“Only the owner/breeders seem to be breeding the horses who can stay, but if you are a good mile-and-a-half horse you can run in the St Leger.

“People are breeding all these fast two-year-olds at the moment and I don’t blame them, but the stayers will come back into fashion, I am sure.

“I still train lots of middle-distance horses, they are the type of horses I have done well with.

“People might say to change the distance of the St Leger or bring it forward, but I don’t agree. It can be tough if the ground is soft but it will come back into fashion.”