St Leger Festival 2026

The St Leger Festival is the Doncaster showpiece that closes the British Classic season — four days of Group racing and competitive handicaps culminating in the oldest Classic in the world. The 2026 renewal runs 9–12 September at Doncaster Racecourse in South Yorkshire.

The meeting at a glance

The St Leger has been run since 1776 and remains the Classic for stayers — the definitive 1m 6f championship for three-year-olds. Around it, Doncaster's four-day Festival features the Park Hill, May Hill and Champagne Stakes as well as the Portland and Doncaster Cup — giving this meeting far more depth than many spectators realise.

Prize money across the four days exceeds £3.5 million, and the meeting is a key staging post for horses heading towards the Arc, Champions Day and the autumn internationals.

Feature races

Group 1 Classics and Championship Races

St Leger (Saturday) — 1m 6f for three-year-olds. The final Classic of the season — the staying Classic that completes the Triple Crown for colts and the Fillies' Triple Crown for fillies. Past winners include Kyprios, Continuous, Eldar Eldarov and Hurricane Lane.

Park Hill Stakes (Thursday) — 1m 6f Group 2 for three-year-old and older fillies and mares — the "fillies' Leger".

Other Major Group Contests

Doncaster Cup (Friday) — 2m 2f Group 2 for three-year-olds and older. The third leg of the Stayers' Triple Crown with the Goodwood Cup and Ascot Gold Cup.

May Hill Stakes (Thursday) — 1m Group 2 for two-year-old fillies. A key 1000 Guineas trial.

Champagne Stakes (Friday) — 7f Group 2 for two-year-old colts.

Flying Childers Stakes (Friday) — 5f Group 2 for two-year-olds.

Park Stakes (Saturday) — 7f Group 2 for three-year-olds and older.

Big Handicaps

Portland Handicap (Saturday) — 5½f sprint handicap, run on the straight course with typically 20+ runners.

Mallard Handicap (Saturday) — 1m 6f three-year-old handicap.

Sceptre Stakes (Saturday) — 7f Group 3 for fillies and mares.

Understanding the course

Doncaster is a left-handed, wide, galloping oval of 1m 7f round with a long straight of just over 4f. It is a fair, searching galloping track — stamina matters, and horses who don't truly stay get found out. There is very little draw bias on the round course; on the straight course for sprints, the bias can favour either side depending on the going and watering pattern.

September weather usually produces good-to-soft ground, but a dry spell can leave it quick. Check going updates each morning — Doncaster can ride differently on consecutive days.

Betting angles

Classic trial form. Horses coming out of the Great Voltigeur at York, Gordon Stakes at Goodwood and the Geoffrey Freer at Newbury often feature at the top of the St Leger market — read those form lines carefully.

Stamina is non-negotiable. The St Leger is a genuine 1m 6f test. Horses who needed every yard of 1m 4f at Epsom or the Curragh usually don't stay the extra two furlongs; breeding and the dam's side matter more here than in any other Classic.

Ground-softeners. Doncaster often rides soft in September; horses proven in testing ground can outrun their odds dramatically.

Extra places on the handicaps. Portland, Mallard and Sceptre typically see 5–7 places from the big bookmakers — worth shopping for. Our each-way betting guide covers when the extra place matters.

Stayers' Triple Crown. A horse who has won the Goodwood Cup and Doncaster Cup heading into the Ascot Gold Cup the following June will always carry premium interest in the ante-post stayers' market.

How we surface the value

Our value engine compares every UK bookmaker's Doncaster price against the Betfair Exchange benchmark in real time. The Portland and Mallard handicaps produce some of the highest overrounds of the autumn — big fields and plenty of market uncertainty. Our overround guide shows why those races are where value bets appear most often.

Key dates — 2026

Day	Date	Feature Race
Wednesday	9 September	Portland Trial / Two-year-old Group races
Thursday	10 September	May Hill Stakes / Park Hill Stakes
Friday	11 September	Doncaster Cup / Champagne Stakes
Saturday	12 September	St Leger / Portland Handicap

Declarations are published four days before each race. Live odds, market moves, non-runners and each-way terms appear here as soon as fields are confirmed.