Published 9 September 2026. Analysis and views here are our opinion,
not a guarantee of anything. 18+, please gamble responsibly.
10 September 2026 – 13 September 2026 · Doncaster Racecourse, South Yorkshire · UK time
The St Leger was first run in 1776, which makes Saturday’s renewal at Doncaster the 250th anniversary of a race that predates the Derby, the Oaks and both Guineas. It is the oldest of the five British Classics and the last one run each year, over 14 furlongs, and it is the only one that asks a three-year-old to stay a mile and three quarters.
The Betfred St Leger Festival runs from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 September. Four days, one of which carries the Classic and three of which are worth more attention than they usually get.
What runs on each day
Thursday 10 September, Betfred Ladies Day. The May Hill Stakes and the Park Hill Stakes are the features. The Park Hill is sometimes called the fillies’ Leger, run over the same trip on the same course two days before the real thing, which makes it the most useful trial of the week for anyone trying to work out how the ground is riding.
Friday 11 September, Betfred Gents Day. The Doncaster Cup is the feature, the oldest race still run under the Rules of Racing and the final leg of British stayers’ racing’s long-distance triple crown. If you like watching horses run two and a quarter miles, this is your afternoon.
Saturday 12 September, Betfred St Leger Day. The Betfred St Leger Stakes, Group 1, the Classic itself, on a card built around it.
Sunday 13 September, Betfred Sunday Funday. The festival’s family day, and the quietest of the four for anyone who is there for the racing rather than the day out.
The field
Twenty-seven horses were left in at the entry stage, and the shape of the race comes down to a handful of them.
Christmas Day, trained by Aidan O’Brien, won the Epsom Derby this year and heads the market for a second Classic. Enceladus, from Joseph O’Brien’s yard, is unbeaten in 2026 after taking the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, which is the traditional St Leger trial and has produced its share of winners. Maltese Cross adds a Group 1 already banked, having won the Grand Prix de Paris over a mile and a half. Pierre Bonnard, Point Of Law, Del Maro and Hatteen are the rest of the shortlist.
The question the St Leger always asks is the same one: which of these actually stays. A Derby winner is proven over a mile and a half. Nothing in the field has been asked for another two furlongs on top of that, and the horses who handle it are not reliably the ones who were quickest over the shorter trip.
On prices, and why there are none here
There is no odds table on this page. Ante-post markets on a Classic move every time a trainer speaks, and the prices we could find quoted this week came from sources that did not say which bookmaker they belonged to, with two of them disagreeing about the favourite’s price. We publish odds we can attribute to a named bookmaker at a known time, or we publish none, and on this race we could not do the first. Prices will firm up at the declaration stage on Thursday.
That is worth saying plainly rather than filling the gap with a number that looks authoritative and is not. Our York Ebor Festival piece took the same approach last month.
The offers, and what the terms actually say
Betfred sponsor this festival, the St Leger itself and every day of the week. That has no bearing on the racing, but it does mean the brand is unavoidable at Doncaster, so here is what its welcome offer holds and where it bites.
Ad: new Betfred customers can bet £10 and get £50 in free bets, split as £30 in sports free bets and £20 in Bet Builder free bets, credited within 24 hours of the qualifying bet settling. The qualifying bet must be £10 or more at Evens (2.0) or greater, which on a St Leger card rules out a short-priced favourite and rules in most of the field. Deposits must be by debit card, and the free bets expire 7 days after they arrive. On a four-day festival that window covers the whole week if you open the account early and the rest of it if you leave it to Saturday.
Ad: new William Hill customers using promo code R30 can bet £10 and get £30 in free bets as 3 x £10 once the qualifying bet settles. The odds bar is lower at 1/2 (1.5), so a well-backed favourite in the Park Hill or the Doncaster Cup still counts. E-wallet deposits are excluded, including PayPal, Skrill and Apple Pay.
Ad: new Virgin Bet members can bet £10 and get £20 in free bets plus 2 x £5 Bet Builder tokens, minimum odds 1/2 (1.5). The £5 tokens are Bet Builder only, which is of limited use on a horse race, so treat this one as a £20 offer for festival purposes with £10 of football attached.
The honest comparison: Betfred is the biggest number and the hardest to trigger on a racing card, because Evens is a real bar when the favourite is odds-on. William Hill’s £30 at 1/2 is the one that fits a race meeting best. All three run their free bets out inside 7 days.
Elsewhere this week
The Championship’s Friday night game has West Ham United hosting Wrexham at the London Stadium, which overlaps with the end of Gents Day. Nothing on the racing calendar competes with Doncaster this week, which is the point of a festival that has held the same slot in September for the better part of 250 years.
Any view here is opinion rather than a tip, and the St Leger has a long history of beating people who were sure they knew what stays. 18+, new customers only on all three offers.
Sources: Doncaster Racecourse, Racing Insider, William Hill News, Wikipedia: St Leger Stakes, Wikipedia: Doncaster Cup.
