The Barbadian believes the lightly-raced Sea Moon has the pedigree for a mile and six furlongs on Town Moor and he certainly has the form after storming eight lengths clear in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York.

It was just the fourth race of the one-time Derby hope’s life and he has the assistance of a king of the big occasion, Frenchman Olivier Peslier, in the continued absence of Ryan Moore.

“Sea Moon is a horse that we’ve always enjoyed and rated and we went to York hopeful for the Great Voltigeur but didn’t expect him to win in the manner that he did,” said Stoute.

“It’s the most competitive Leger we’ve had for many years.

“He’s got a proper Leger pedigree, his three-parts brother (Brian Boru) won the race so you’d be hopeful that stamina wouldn’t be a problem.”

Heading the opposition is Godolphin's Blue Bunting, who seeks a rarely-seen Triple Crown of sorts, having taken the 1000 Guineas and Irish Oaks already.

Frankie Dettori’s mount, who fought out the Yorkshire Oaks last time, will be joined by two other members from the team in Rumh and Genius Beast.

The last filly to win the Leger was User Friendly back in 1992.

Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said: “Rumh will act as a pacemaker and Genius Beast is a nice horse, a Group Three winner who we do think will stay quite well.

“He definitely deserves to take his chance and will give a good account of himself. However, he does need to be 8lb better to win.”

He went on: “Ever since Blue Bunting was competitive as a two-year-old, when winning a Listed race at Newmarket very well, we knew she was a very good filly.

“She had a small flake taken out of an ankle after that which was why she stayed in Newmarket over the winter.

“Leading up to the Guineas, we felt then that a longer trip than a mile would suit her much better but she was brilliant that day on fast ground.

“That sent us straight to Epsom and she has done nothing but please us through this whole campaign. She is super tough and very resolute – she gives everything she has though she wins her races by a narrow margin.

“She has held on to her condition throughout a tough and busy campaign and is as robust and healthy as she was back in May which is why she is going for the Leger.

“Her sex allowance will be incredibly important and hopefully will give her every chance of beating the colts.”

Father and son Aidan and Joseph O'Brien combine with Seville, who finished well behind Sea Moon at York.

The 18-year-old Joseph is looking for his first British Classic winner, but did partner Roderic O’Connor to land this year’s Irish 2000 Guineas.

“I rode him last year, he’s very uncomplicated, so we’ll see how it goes,” the jockey told Radio 5 Live Sport.

“It’s a very competitive race and he’s been knocking on the door a few times and hopefully he can come back to his best form and run a big race.

“It’s a dream come true to get a big ride in a big race and hopefully he will run well.”

His father is usually mob-handed in the Leger and a three-time winner but has not collected the race since Scorpion triumphed in 2005.

He added: “Seville ran very well in the Dante at York in May, but then was slowly away and got a long way back in the Derby at Epsom.

“He found it strange going down the hill and it all may have happened a bit too quick for him.

“He worked well between Epsom and the Curragh, where he ran well, and then he had a tough race in the Grand Prix de Paris but came out of it well.

“We always had one eye on the Leger after that and wanted to slot in one race beforehand.

“We were very easy on him before York and we thought if we were thinking of the Leger, then we could lean on him a bit more.

“He ran well at York, his run might have disappointed some people but the pace was a bit in and out and we were always looking towards the Leger.”

Richard Hughes stepped in aboard Sea Moon in the Voltigeur but has decided to stay loyal to his father-in-law Richard Hannon, trainer of Census.

The progressive colt finished second to Leger rival Brown Panther in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot and to another opponent, Masked Marvel in the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket.

However, he reversed the form with Brown Panther in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury last time.

“He’s a pretty good horse, he’s worked his way through the ranks and deserves to take his chance,” said Hannon.

“He’s a fine, big horse who does everything right in the morning and did a nice piece at Salisbury the other day so we’re pretty happy going there.

“He came to hand at the backend of last season and has just got better and better, he’s not been out of the first two on his last six starts.

“As long as the ground is good he’ll be fine and if it’s softer it wouldn’t matter.”

Hannon went on: “The last horse we had for the Leger was Assessor (sixth in 1992) and he won a lot of top staying races.

“Census would be the same type of horse but has probably got a bit more speed. He’s going to be a really good Cup horse in the future.”

Census belongs to the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing syndicate but must survive without the support of a well-known member, the actress and celebrity Elizabeth Hurley.

She will be in America for a part in the television series Gossip Girl, but said: “I am thoroughly miserable that I shall be filming in New York and won’t be able to come and cheer him on in the St Leger.”

Highclere managing director Harry Herbert added: “Physically the horse looks fantastic. He’s changing all the time and looks a different horse again to the one we saw at Newbury.

“He’s in great form and has been trained for this race. He will love the trip, which is in his favour, but it’s a red-hot Leger.

“There’s not many runners, but it looks a high-class field. Sea Moon looks very nice and Frankie’s filly has not done much wrong at all.”

Masked Marvel, winner of a Derby trial at Goodwood but eighth in the Classic itself, has been rested since his Newmarket triumph.

Trainer John Gosden has the best recent Leger record with three winners from his last four runners including Arctic Cosmos a year ago. He also fields Buthelezi.

“It’s a fantastic race and you don’t get too many hard luck stories,” said Gosden.

“By the time they’ve run over a mile, six furlongs and 132 yards, usually the best horse has won.

“The idea that the winners are out-and-out plodders is a myth. You need tactical speed and a kick, otherwise you will end up out the back.

“Masked Marvel kicked on a long way out in the Bahrain Trophy and beat Census, and they showed they are nice horses who are on an upward curve and deserve to be there.

“The filly (Blue Bunting) is the only Group One winner in the race but it’s a proper Leger with some high-class horses in there.

“Our fellow will stay well. He is training exceptionally well, he’s been freshened up especially this race for the race and will stay well.

“It’s looking like we might be over-run with pace but Buthelezi will bowl along and gallop. He will stay and it will be a pretty good pacemaker to be out in front of him.”

Brown Panther will be trainer Tom Dascombe and footballing owner Michael Owen’s first runner. It was decided this week to replace his usual jockey Richard Kingscote with Kieren Fallon.

“I thought on the whole he ran a fine race in the German Derby, it was a big step up from winning a handicap to running in a Group One,” said Dascombe.

“The race didn’t go very well – the ground was softer than we’d anticipated and he had a good draw, the plan was to drop him in and unfortunately we ended up in front.

“The form is pretty solid but he had a hard race that day. We gave him a little rest, then he ran a nice race behind Census at Newbury and if we are still improving then we’ve got a solid chance at Doncaster.

“In April he got beat in handicap off a mark of 73 which was fantastic training performance given he’s now rated 115 and still improving! Good ground would be perfect for him at Doncaster, just not extremes.”