The St Leger Stakes, first run in 1776, marks 250 years today, 12 September 2026, at Doncaster Racecourse in South Yorkshire. The anniversary is the centrepiece of the Betfred St Leger Festival, scheduled from 10 to 13 September. Organisers present the St Leger as the world’s oldest Classic. The feature race today had not been decided at the time this article was published.

The contest takes its name from Anthony St Leger, who lived at Park Hill near Doncaster. It is the oldest of Britain’s five Classics and the last Classic of the Flat season. It is also the final leg of the British Triple Crown, after the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Epsom Derby. The official distance is more than a mile and three-quarters: one mile, six furlongs and 115 yards. It is a Group 1 race for three-year-olds.

Doncaster Racecourse confirmed on 9 September that HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, is attending the anniversary meeting. After the feature race she is due to present the Betfred St Leger Trophy to the winning owner’s representative. At publication the ceremony had not taken place; the royal presence is announced, not a result already produced.

Since 2007 the winner has received a new individual piece each year, made by a contemporary silversmith. The perpetual trophy, designed by Chris Knight, is solid silver, weighs about 10 kilograms and has a removable central bowl. For 2026 the centre was made by Jen Ricketts, with the dates 1776–2026, a finish-line scene and a Doncaster skyline, set within a Yorkshire rose.

The official St Leger Day card has seven races. Gates open at 10:30, the first race is scheduled for 13:10 and the last for 16:48, UK local times, subject to change by the organisers. The event page listed the going as “good” on the morning of the meeting.

The first winner, in 1776, was Allabaculia, owned by the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. The 2026 festival was launched at Wentworth Woodhouse, the historic estate linked to that first success. Two hundred and fifty years later another name is due to be added today; this article does not forecast the horse, jockey or trainer.

For Doncaster the St Leger is also local identity. Mayor Ros Jones said at the festival launch that horseracing has been part of the city’s story for generations. Rachel Harwood, executive director of the racecourse, described The Princess Royal’s attendance as an honour that makes the occasion even more significant. The festival draws thousands of racegoers each year.

When the first race was held in 1776, nobody could know it would still be staged two and a half centuries later. Today at Doncaster an eighteenth-century tradition meets professional sport: the gates have opened for an anniversary day, and the 2026 chapter will be written on the track, not in advance.

Photo: Jonathan Clitheroe / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Grandstand Enclosure entrance at Doncaster Racecourse, 19 February 2017. This is not a photograph from 12 September 2026. The image was cropped to 16:9.

Sources consulted: Betfred St Leger Day 2026 | Doncaster Racecourse; HRH The Princess Royal To Attend Historic 250th Betfred St Leger At Doncaster; The Story Behind The 250th Betfred St Leger Stakes Trophy; Doncaster Racecourse Celebrates Historic Betfred St Leger Festival.