St. Leger family historical importance was Gen. Anthony St. Leger. He was born in 1731, probably in Kildare, Ireland. He was one of a group of noblemen and gentlemen who in 1778 gathered for a private dinner party in an upper room of the Red Lion Inn, which stands in the market square in Doncaster. A horse race, which was to set the pattern for classic racing throughout the world, had been christened the St. Leger at the suggestion of Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. The race, a sweepstake for three-year-olds, had been born two years earlier in 1776, at the suggestion
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