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
American St. Leger Stakes American St. Leger Stakes The American St. Leger Stakes is a Grade 3 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbreds three-year-old and older. It is run over a distance of . Held annually in mid August, it is held on the same racecard as the Arlington Million, Beverly D. Stakes and Secretariat Stakes and on the same turf course at Arlington Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois. The race was upgraded to Grade 3 status in 2015. It was dropped from Arlington Park's calendar in 2018 with no immediate indication of whether it would be returning in any future year.