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
Deutsches St. Leger Deutsches St. Leger The Deutsches St. Leger is a Group 3 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Dortmund over a distance of 2,800 metres (about 1¾ miles), and it is scheduled to take place each year in September or October. It is Germany's equivalent of the St. Leger Stakes, a famous race in England. The event was established in 1881, and it was originally restricted to three-year-olds. It was staged at Hanover until 1908, and for a period it was called the Norddeutsches Saint Leger. It was transferred to