Doncaster Racecourse its present location and in 1776 Colonel Anthony St. Leger founded a race in which five horses ran. This race has remained in existence and become the world's oldest classic horse race. During the first world war the racecourse was used for military purposes and substitute races were run at Newmarket from 1915 to 1918. Doncaster has the distinction of both starting and ending the flat season on turf. Every September, Doncaster hosts the prestigious four-day William Hill St. Leger Festival, which is acclaimed as the premier sporting occasion of the Autumn calendar. Doncaster has also taken over events whose
Manchester Racecourse race – the wartime substitute St. Leger Stakes in 1941. The Racecourse Hotel was built next to the course on Littleton Road in the 1930s, to serve the spectators and provide overnight accommodation for the Jockeys. The November handicap attracted crowds that spread right into the city centre and England's first ever evening meeting was held in 1951. In June 1952, at Castle Irwell, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her first winner as an owner after acceding to the throne. By the 1960s the problems with the site were beginning to show and the club stand was found to be riddled