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
St Leger (greyhounds) issues in 2010 and the loss of a Sky TV contract more recently. St Leger (greyhounds) "This page is about the Uk greyhound race. For other uses, see Saint-Léger" The St Leger is an original classic greyhound competition. It was run at Wembley Stadium from 1928 until 1998 but when the Wembley Greyhounds ended it moved to moved to Wimbledon Stadium in 1999. The race is considered to be the premier stayers (between 500 and 700 metres) competition in greyhound racing. The competition came to an end at Wimbledon after the 2016 running before being switched to GRA sister track