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
Stradbroke Handicap track record is 1:20.2 established by Toledo in 1998. Between 1982 and 1988 the race was known as the Elders Handicap. In 1890 the Stradbroke Handicap was a Principal race run over six furlongs (~1,200m), when it was won by Pyrrhus. The distance was changed in 1953 to 7 furlongs and in 1972 to the current distance of 1,400 metres. Due to track reconstruction of Eagle Farm Racecourse for the 2014–15 racing season the event is transferred to Doomben Racecourse over a slightly shorter distance of 1350 metres. Stradbroke Handicap The Stradbroke Handicap is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 1