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
ASW Handicap Chase after a previous chairman of Cheltenham Racecourse who died in 1997, aged 69. ASW Handicap Chase The ASW Handicap Chase was a National Hunt handicap chase in England which was open to horses aged five years and older. It was run at Cheltenham over a distance of 4 miles and 1 furlong (6,637 metres), and was scheduled to take place each year on New Year's Day. The race was first run in 1953 as the Fred Withington Handicap Chase, and was last run in 2004. From 1975 the race was sponsored by Bass and then later by Food Brokers Ltd