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
Barry St. Leger Barry St. Leger Barrimore Matthew "Barry" St. Leger (bap. 1 May 1733 – 1789) was a British army officer. St. Leger was active in the Saratoga Campaign, commanding an invasion force that unsuccessfully besieged Fort Stanwix. St. Leger remained on the frontier for the duration of the war; after its conclusion, he served briefly as commander of British forces in Quebec. St. Leger was baptised on 1 May 1733 in County Kildare, Ireland. He was a younger son of Sir John St Leger, a leading Irish judge and politician, and his second wife Lavina Pennefather. He was the brother of