The Oldest Classic Horse Race – The Doncaster St Leger

I looked at Doncaster Racecourse in July’s issue of this magazine but with the oldest classic horse race, the Doncaster St Leger on the horizon, I thought it was a good time to look in a bit of depth at my favourite of all the British Classics.

The first part of this article will look back at the history of the great race and the second part will look at the sort of profile a horse needs to win this great race.

The St Leger isn’t just Britain’s oldest Classic horse race it’s also the third and final leg of British horse racing’s Triple Crown, the first two being the 2,000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby. The final leg of the fillies Triple Crown, which includes the 1,000 Guineas and The Epsom Oaks, is also the St Leger.

Like the other Classics it’s spawned its clones around the world’s racing jurisdiction’s, with Ireland, USA, and even Jamaica having their own St Leger’s.

The race was first run in 1776 but actually wasn’t named the St Leger until 1778. It was named after the local sportsman and land owner Lt-Gen. Anthony St Leger of Park Hill. The first race under the name of St Leger was also first held at today’s location of Doncaster racecourse at Town Moor on Tuesday 22nd September 1778. The race was first run over 2m and it wasn’t until 1813 that it was first run over today's distance of 1m 6 ½ f.

Since that day the race has been run every year, bar one, in the month of September. The only year the race wasn’t run was in 1939 on the announcement that Great Britain was at war with Germany which heralded the start of the second world war.

The Leger hasn’t always been run at Doncaster. During the first world was it was held at Newmarket between 1915 & 1918. Likewise, during the second world war, it was held away from Doncaster. In 1940 it was held at Thirsk, the following year it was run at the long-gone Manchester racecourse.

Between 1942 & 1944 it was held at Newmarket and in 1945 it was run at York. Since 1946 its been run exclusively at Doncaster although the race was held at Ayr in 1989 when Doncaster racecourse suffered from subsidence and once more at York in 2006 when Doncaster racecourse was being refurbished.

The race has always been high in the affections of the people in Yorkshire. Indeed, my grandmother went to the race with her family in the early years after the first world war. In those years the race was at its zenith, as an estimated half a million people would make the annual trek to Doncaster for the great race.

As the years have passed, the number of racegoers declined to 50,000 or 60,000 in the 1960s Today around about 30.000 are expected to attend the fixture.

From Nijinsky To Capri

The first St Leger was won by a filly Allabaculia, who wasn’t actually named until after she won it. Since then the race has attracted an alumnus of great horses such as the Flying Dutchman, Voltigeur, West Australian (the first winner of the British Triple Crown in 1853), Formosa (the first winner of the fillies Triple Crown in 1886), Pretty Polly, Bahram, Never Say Die, Meld, Ballymoss, St Paddy and of course the legend that is Nijinsky in 1970.

Nijinsky trained by Vincent O’Brien came into the race having already landed the first two legs of the Triple Crown before going on to take the Irish Derby and then beating the older middle-distance horses when landing the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

The colt’s preparation for the race didn’t go without drama as he contracted ringworm in August but fully recovered to take his place at Doncaster. Just prior to the race it looked as if his jockey Lester Piggott wouldn’t be able to take the ride after a fall in the race preceding the St Leger. The full drama surrounding the fall was only revealed after the race. A patient had escaped from the top security Rampton Hospital and had threatened to kill the jockey before the race. Which had led to fears that that Piggott’s fall was connected to that threat.

The drama before the race wasn’t really matched in the race itself as Nijinsky who was sent off the 2/7 favourite won the race in effortless style to become the first horse since Bahram in 1935 to complete the Triple Crown.

Sadly, Nijinsky wasn’t able to round off his career with a win in Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe a month later going down by a head. We will never know if the horse had peaked in the St Leger. His trainer hadn’t wanted to run his colt in the St Leger but owner Charles Engelhard wanted his place in history and that’s why the Doncaster racegoers got a chance to see the horse in all his glory.

Those who witnessed Nijinsky’s majestic performance of equine athleticism that day will always be able to say “I was there to witness racing history”. He remains the last colt to win the Triple Crown.

Oh So Sharp, trained by Henry Cecil, for Sheikh Mohammed took the fillies Triple Crown in 1985 having won the 1,000 Guineas and the Oaks earlier that season.

Since then few horses have attempted the Triple Crown. In 2012 I was there along with 32,000 other racegoers hoping to see history made as the Aiden O’Brien trained Camelot made his bid for the Triple Crown.

Starting the odds-on favourite, Camelot looked to be moving like the winner entering the straight but for a few fateful strides he wasn’t able to get a run on the inside when making his effort. By the time he got into the clear the eventual winner Encke had got first run and although Camelot made up plenty of ground inside the final two furlongs. he failed by just ¾ length and had to settle for the runners-up spot. With a clear run he would surely have joined the racing legends by winning the race and of course the Triple Crown.

The changing emphasis on breeding as well as trainers & owners favouring sending their best 3-year-old’s to races like Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe or the Breeders’ Cup Turf Classic means It will probably be a long time before we see a horse with requisite speed and stamina, go as close as Camelot did to winning the Triple Crown.

Since Camelot’s failed attempt the race has been in the news for other reasons.

In 2015 the first past the post Simple Verse controversially lost the race in the Stewards room, although the she did regain the race at a subsequent appeal hearing. A year later Laura Mongan became the first female trainer of the race with the victory of her colt Harbour Law.

Calls to shorten the distance or open the race to older horses or geldings, like the Irish St Leger, have rightly fell on deaf ears and the St Leger remains open only to the classic generation.

This Year’s St Leger Winner is?

The St Leger is rightly considered the conclusive test of a three-year-old’s stamina over the 1m 6 ½ f distance and it becomes even more of a stamina test if the ground is on the soft side.

In the last decade, the race has attracted winners of varying quality. The best winners have arguably been Conduit who would go onto win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Breeders Cup Turf as a 4-year-old and 2013 winner Leading Light who would win go on to win the Ascot Gold Cup in 2014.

However, wins by the likes of Arctic Cosmos, Masked Marvel and Harbour Law will probably only be remembered by the connections of each horse.

The 2017 renewal was one of the best in the past 10 years in terms of quality. The race was won by the Irish Derby winner Capri. The runner-up Crystal Ocean who was a gallant runner-up in this years King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The third home Stradivarius has since gone on to Group 1 success winning this season’s Ascot Gold Cup & Goodwood Cup and the fourth home Rekindling went on to win the Melbourne Cup.

Ten Year Trends:

What is the ideal profile for a St Leger winner?

To help us find it. It’s worth looking at some of the key trends for the race.

Since 2008 there have been 10 winners from 100 runners 29 placed

1. Last Time Out Placing: 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th – 10 winners from 72 runners 26 placed.

2. Odds SP: 25/1 & under – 10 winners from 76 runners 28 placed.

3. Career Place Strike Rate: 50% + – 10 winners from 80 runners 29 placed.

4. Best In Three Runs: 1st or 2nd – 10 winners from 86 runners 29 placed.

5. Official Rating: 109+ – 9 winners from 61 runners 26 placed.

6. Career Wins: 2 to 4 – 9 winners from 65 runners 24 placed.

7. Stalls: 3 to 9 – 9 winners from 66 runners 20 placed.

8. Runs In Last 90 Days: 1 to 2 – 9 winners from 67 runners 23 placed.

9. Days Since Last Run: 46 to 90 – 7 winners from 29 runners +36.25 A/E 1.99 15 placed.

The last of those trends is arguably the most interesting having produced 70% winners from just 29% of the runners and performing 99% better than market expectations.

Key Races:

All the last ten winners had their last run in one of the following races:

Great Voltigeur Stakes (York) – 3

Gordon Stakes (Goodwood) – 1

Bahrain Trophy (Newmarket July) – 2

Irish Derby (Curragh) – 1

Lillie Langtry Stakes (Goodwood) – 1

Queens Vase (Royal Ascot) – 1

Eclipse Stakes (Sandown) -1

Top Trainers:

Aiden O’Brien – 3 winners from 23 runners 6 placed.

John Gosden – 2 winners from 13 runners 5 placed.

Sir Michael Stoute – 1 winner from 8 runners 4 placed.

Saeed Bin Suroor – 1 winner from 4 runners 2 placed.

Selection:
I can’t really end this without giving you my idea of this year’s winner.

Tim Easterby provided Yorkshire with its last winner of the race when he trained Bollin Eric to success in the race in 2002. He hasn’t had a runner in the race since but hopefully this year he will saddle Wells Farhh Go.

The son of Farhh made it 3 wins from 5 runs when making all to win the Group 3 Bahrain Stakes on Newmarket’s July Course.

The track and distance should really suit this strong galloper who’s a general 8/1 with the bookmakers for the race at the time of writing.

If the ground isn’t too quick he has a solid chance of keeping the winners first prize in Yorkshire.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this look at the St Leger and hopefully the trends will help you to pinpoint this year’s winner of the race.

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