Portland Handicap during Doncaster's four-day St. Leger Festival, and it is currently staged on the final day, the same day as the St Leger Stakes. Most successful horse (3 wins): Leading jockey (5 wins): Leading trainer (5 wins): Portland Handicap The Portland Handicap is a flat handicap horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 5 furlongs and 143 yards (1,137 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in September. The event was established in 1855, and for a period it was known as the
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