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St. Leger Festival

admin November 14, 2025

The St. Leger Festival is, nowadays, a four-day meeting staged at Doncaster Racecourse, on Town Moor, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, over a weekend in September. As the name suggests, the meeting revolves around the fifth and final Classic of the season, the St. Leger, which is run over an extended mile and three-quarters on day three. Together with the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby or, in the case of fillies, the 1,000 Guineas and the Oaks, the St. Leger forms the Triple Crown, or the Fillies’ Triple Crown, although neither has been won since 1985.

One of the most prestigious weekends in the British Flat racing calendar starts on Thursday, billed as ‘Ladies Day’, which features two Group 2 contests, namely the May Hill Stakes and the Park Hill Stakes. The former is open to two-year-old fillies, run over a mile and worth £120,000 in prize money, while the latter is open to fillies and mares aged three years and upwards, run over the same distance as the St. Leger and worth £150,000.

The staying division takes centre stage on Friday, with the running of the Group 2 Doncaster Cup, over two and a quarter miles, although the Group 2 Flying Childers, for two-year-olds over five furlongs, comes a close second-best in terms of monetary value. Saturday is all about the longest, and oldest, Classic, the St. Leger, but a full supporting card includes two Group 2 races, the Champagne Stakes and the Park Stakes, both over seven furlongs, plus the hugely competitive Portland Handicap, over an extended five furlongs.

The fourth and final day, known as St. Leger Community Funday, or Leger Sunday Funday, is deliberately crafted as a low-key affair to be enjoyed by all the members of the family. A seven-race card includes the Leger Legends Charity Race, the only race of its kind in Britain to feature retired professional jockeys, both Flat and National Hunt.

Scottish Grand National Festival

admin November 14, 2025

As the name suggests, the Scottish Grand National Festival is a two-day meeting staged as Ayr Racecourse, in South Ayrshire, Scotland, in April, typically a week or two after the Grand National Festival at Aintree. The Festival takes its name from the feature race, the Scottish Grand National, a ‘Premier Handicap’ run over four miles, open to horses aged five years and upwards and currently worth £200,000 in prize money. Despite its proximity to the Grand National, horses do occasionally contest both races, although the legendary Red Rum, in 1974, remains the only horse to complete the double in the same season.

Trends-wise, the Scottish Grand National has proved fairly punter-friendly in the past decade or so, with three joint-favourites, one second-favourite and one third-favourite victorious in the last 10 runnings. However, winners at 33/1, 25/1 (twice), 18/1 and 14/1 in the same period suggest that punters should not be afraid to look beyond the obvious for prospective selections.

The feature race on the Friday is the Hillhouse Quarry Handicap Chase, nowadays a Class 2 event run over an extended two and a half miles and worth £50,000 in prize money. Aside from the Scottish Grand National itself, an eight-race Saturday card includes a succession of high-class, valuable contests, of which only the closing National Hunt Flat Race is worth less than £10,000 to the winner.

The second most valuable race of the day is the Scottish Champion Hurdle, a Grade 2 limited handicap run over two miles and worth £56,270 to the winner, at the last count. Although not quite race it once was, the Scottish Champion Hurdle has been won by the likes of Comedy Of Errors, Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon, Granville Again and Alderbrook, all of whom also won the Champion Hurdle proper at the Cheltenham Festival.

Newmarket July Festival

admin November 14, 2025

The Newmarket July Festival is, of course, a three-day meeting staged at the home of British Flat racing, Newmarket, in early July, when the aptly-titled July Course, or Summer Course, is in operation. On the opening Thursday, billed as ‘Ladies’ Day’, the feature race is the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes, run over a mile and a half, open to horses aged three years and upwards and worth £125,000 in prize money. In 2016, subsequent Ascot Gold Cup winner Big Orange became the latest of five mares to win the Princess of Wales’s Stakes twice.

The second day, billed as ‘Festival Friday’ has as its highlight the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes, run over a mile and open to fillies and mares aged three years and upwards. Akin to the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood later in the month, the race provides the first opportunity of the season for three-year-old fillies to take on older rivals at the highest level. Notable winners since the turn of the twenty-first century include Soviet Somg (2004, 2005), Goldikova (2009) and Alpha Centauri (2018). Earlier on the card, the two-year-old fillies have a chance to shine in the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, formerly the Cherry Hinton Stakes, over six furlongs.

The July Festival culminates on Saturday, ‘July Cup Day’, when the feature race is the Group 1 July Cup, run over six furlongs, open to horses aged three years and upwards and currently worth £657,000 in prize money. Widely regarded as a yardstick for European sprinting talent, the roll of honour for the July Cup includes the likes of Sharpo, Habibti, Cadeaux Genereux, Lake Coniston and Oasis Dream, to name but a handful of illustrious winners since the race was promoted to Group 1 status in 1978. The July Cup is preceded by a popular betting heat, the Bunbury Cup, a ‘Heritage Handicap’ run over seven furlongs.

Dante Festival

admin November 13, 2025

The Dante Festival is a three-day, midweek meeting staged at York Racecourse, in North Yorkshire, in mid-May. The Festival takes it name from its highlight, the Dante Stakes, which is a Group 2 contest run over an extended mile and a quarter and open to three-year-olds, of both sexes, staged on the second day.

The race, in turn, is named after Dante, who won the Derby in 1945 – run that year at Newmarket because of World War II – and was bred and trained in Middleham, less than 50 miles from the Knavesmire. The Dante Stakes is a major trial for the Derby, run at Epsom on the first Saturday in June and has, in fact, produced 11 winners of the second colts’ Classic, the most recent of which was Desert Crown in 2022.

The feature race aside, the Dante Festival also includes 20 other races, including four more Group races. On the opening Wednesday, highlights include the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes, run over six furlongs and open to horses aged three years and upwards, and the Group 3 Musidora Stakes, run over the same distance as the Dante Stakes, but open to three-year-old fillies; the latter is a leading trial for the second fillies’ Classic, the Oaks, at Epsom.

On Thursday, the Dante Stakes is preceded by the Middleton Fillies’ Stakes, run over the same distance, but open to fillies and mares aged four years and upwards. On the concluding Friday, older horses, aged four years and upwards, in the staying division have a chance to shine in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup, run over a mile and three-quarters. Champion stayer Stradivarius, who retired in 2022 with a record 18 European Group race victories to his name, won the Yorkshire Cup three times, in 2018, 2019 and 2022.