Doncaster Course Guide

Home of the World’s Oldest Classic, Doncaster is one of the historic homes of horse racing. The highlight of the year on the flat is undoubtedly the four-day St Leger Festival in September, where the feature race, the St Leger, first run in 1776, is staged on the Saturday, and the meeting also boasts such prestigious races as the Doncaster Cup, Champagne Stakes, Flying Childers Stakes, May Hill Stakes and Portland Handicap.

Doncaster also stages the first and last turf race meetings of the Flat season; starting with the Lincoln Meeting in March and ending on November Handicap day. In between are a clutch of valuable afternoon and evening fixtures, including the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy, run in late October, which is often a strong pointer to the following year’s classics.

Over jumps Doncaster hosts some important fixtures over the winter; the most significant being the Yorkshire Chase in late January and the Grimthorpe Chase in early March.

Flat Racing
Jumps Racing

Left handed, galloping. One of the fairest courses in the country, essentially flat with the exception of a slight uphill gradient about a mile and a quarter from the finish. Races between five furlongs and one mile are run on the straight course, though there is also a round mile start on an off-shoot of the round course. It is a free-draining course, underfoot conditions only occasionally being soft/heavy.

There are not many fairer courses than Doncaster, which is a lovely, virtually flat, galloping track. You do climb briefly, up and over Rose Hill, but, for the most part, it’s beautifully smooth to ride, a good, solid test of a horse. There can be one or two hard-luck stories, especially on the round course, when lots of runners are still in contention late on, and that’s where jockeyship comes in. I liked to be on the stands’ side on the straight course, but either side is fine, just as long as you’re not far off a rail.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver

Left handed, essentially flat. Extremely well-draining course, with conditions often favouring speedier types despite its galloping nature. Surprisingly for such a galloping track, plenty of chases are well run and this perhaps explains why the casualty figures are so high.

It always pays to sit comfy on a horse at Doncaster, so, ideally, you want one that travels easily for you. If you find yourself pushing along turning into the back straight, you often get further and further behind those going better than you are. That’s especially true when the ground is quick and it’s fair to say you can afford to be a bit more patient when there’s some ease underfoot. It’s quite a tough track for a novice chaser, because a couple of the fences - including the last ditch - can test their jumping.

View from the saddle: Mick Fitzgerald

Doncaster Top Times
Last 5 years

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat
Flat

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m 110y	Doeslessthanme (Good)	01 Mar 2014	3m 54.9s
2m 3f 31y	Buster Thomas (Good)	30 Nov 2018	4m 39.67s
2m 4f 115y	Kalane (Good to Soft)	29 Dec 2016	4m 59.8s
2m 7f 214y	Rocky's Treasure (Good)	15 Dec 2018	5m 53.1s
3m 2f	Night In Milan (Good)	01 Mar 2014	6m 24.1s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
2m 140y	Go Long (Good)	27 Nov 2015	3m 53.6s
2m 3f 88y	Just Milly (Good to Soft)	29 Dec 2016	4m 33.25s
2m 4f 181y	Nadaitak (Good)	30 Nov 2018	5m 0.23s
3m 84y	Parish Business (Good to Soft)	29 Dec 2016	5m 47.2s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
1m 5f	Irish Prophecy (Good)	26 Nov 2016	2m 56.1s
2m 128y	Black Op (Good)	22 Feb 2017	3m 46.6s

Distance	Horse (Going)	Date	Winning time
5f	Mecca's Angel (Good)	10 Sep 2014	57.73s
5f 140y	Muthmir (Good)	13 Sep 2014	1m 5.38s
6f 110y	Badr Al Badoor (Good)	12 Sep 2014	1m 16.62s
7f	Ansgar (Good)	13 Sep 2014	1m 22.41s
1m	Dancing Vega (Good to Soft)	26 Oct 2018	1m 4.12s
1m 2f 60y	Bin Battuta (Good)	02 Apr 2017	2m 6.65s
1m 4f	Gold Trail (Good)	10 Sep 2016	2m 31.31s
1m 6f 132y	Curbyourenthusiasm (Good)	11 Sep 2015	3m 3.34s
2m 110y	Longshadow (Good to Firm)	24 Apr 2015	3m 36.94s
2m 2f	Pallasator (Good)	11 Sep 2015	3m 49.6s

Doncaster Top Trainers
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat
Flat

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
A King	22	7	9	£134,001	31.82%	£7.98
Jonjo O'Neill	22	7	7	£51,691	31.82%	£29.25
N J Henderson	19	6	9	£62,761	31.58%	-£2.98
P F Nicholls	25	6	7	£61,986	24%	-£1.96
C E Longsdon	27	5	13	£57,532	18.52%	£14.00
Mrs R Dobbin	7	4	1	£21,170	57.14%	£11.75
B Ellison	11	3	6	£58,454	27.27%	-£0.50
W Greatrex	9	3	3	£23,676	33.33%	-£2.83
Miss P Robson	5	3	1	£54,662	60%	£15.83
Harry Fry	3	3	0	£15,442	100%	£5.25

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
A King	55	9	23	£38,092	16.36%	-£5.43
N J Henderson	29	9	9	£78,293	31.03%	-£7.10
Miss E C Lavelle	18	7	5	£47,751	38.89%	£11.75
D Skelton	38	6	14	£25,774	15.79%	-£17.54
Ian Williams	38	6	11	£28,703	15.79%	£4.80
B I Case	21	6	5	£27,717	28.57%	£10.46
Ben Pauling	23	6	4	£39,634	26.09%	£3.15
P F Nicholls	20	5	7	£70,575	25%	-£4.94
K C Bailey	19	5	6	£25,127	26.32%	-£2.22
P A Kirby	26	4	7	£17,134	15.38%	-£7.63

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
B Ellison	4	2	2	£3,898	50%	-£0.58
A King	8	1	4	£1,949	12.5%	-£5.50
T R George	4	1	3	£1,949	25%	£0.33
C E Longsdon	6	1	2	£1,949	16.67%	£3.00
Miss E C Lavelle	7	1	1	£1,949	14.29%	-£2.00
Olly Murphy	2	1	1	£1,949	50%	-£0.09
K C Bailey	4	1	0	£2,599	25%	-£0.75
G P Mcpherson	3	1	0	£2,599	33.33%	£6.00
Harry Fry	3	1	0	£1,949	33.33%	£5.00
Mrs L Wadham	2	1	0	£1,949	50%	£6.00

Trainer	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
R Varian	102	25	41	£394,008	24.51%	-£1.75
R A Fahey	271	20	86	£141,685	7.38%	-£120.13
R Hannon	188	20	75	£189,716	10.64%	-£25.53
M Johnston	115	18	46	£138,198	15.65%	-£18.39
Sir Michael Stoute	49	18	20	£211,585	36.73%	£27.35
J H M Gosden	93	14	36	£205,275	15.05%	-£38.64
W J Haggas	70	14	30	£480,524	20%	-£27.07
D M Simcock	62	13	31	£216,858	20.97%	-£4.80
C Appleby	59	13	26	£142,689	22.03%	£2.24
S bin Suroor	40	13	17	£125,480	32.5%	£9.36

Doncaster Top Jockeys
Last 3 years (ordered by number of winners)

Chase
Hurdle
National Hunt Flat
Flat

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Henry Brooke	14	6	5	£99,375	42.86%	£48.75
Aidan Coleman	16	5	6	£66,114	31.25%	£2.45
Nick Scholfield	12	5	1	£41,697	41.67%	£24.92
B S Hughes	32	3	18	£14,426	9.38%	-£27.45
Wayne Hutchinson	12	3	5	£29,040	25%	-£8.27
David Bass	14	3	4	£61,737	21.43%	-£5.13
Danny Cook	10	3	4	£42,421	30%	-£1.25
Nico de Boinville	12	2	5	£24,363	16.67%	-£8.36
Sam Twiston-Davies	15	2	4	£25,650	13.33%	-£10.25
A Tinkler	7	2	3	£18,360	28.57%	£4.00

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
L P Aspell	23	7	9	£61,716	30.43%	£7.32
David Bass	21	7	8	£54,724	33.33%	£1.85
W T Kennedy	19	5	3	£31,576	26.32%	£22.50
Harry Skelton	21	4	7	£17,781	19.05%	-£5.79
N D Fehily	18	4	6	£17,442	22.22%	-£5.67
Nico de Boinville	20	4	3	£16,830	20%	-£10.58
Max Kendrick	10	4	2	£15,661	40%	£12.21
R Johnson	21	3	11	£17,545	14.29%	-£14.96
Tom Cannon	28	3	9	£13,646	10.71%	-£0.50
T J O'Brien	20	3	9	£11,372	15%	£0.80

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Kielan Woods	6	2	0	£4,873	33.33%	£18.00
C O'Farrell	3	2	0	£3,898	66.67%	£16.50
Aidan Coleman	5	1	1	£1,949	20%	£5.00
Harry Skelton	3	1	1	£1,949	33.33%	£5.00
A P Heskin	2	1	1	£1,949	50%	£2.33
Mr Kaine Wood	2	1	1	£1,949	50%	-£0.38
Ryan Day	3	1	0	£1,949	33.33%	£3.50
Nick Scholfield	2	1	0	£1,949	50%	£7.00
Danny Cook	1	1	0	£1,949	100%	£0.80
W Featherstone	1	1	0	£1,949	100%	£1.50

Jockey	Runners	Wins	Places	Prize Money	Strike-Rate	P/L
Andrea Atzeni	127	31	41	£662,084	24.41%	-£1.88
R L Moore	97	25	37	£1,300,997	25.77%	£6.37
P J McDonald	137	21	45	£211,136	15.33%	£52.63
D Tudhope	111	19	42	£205,091	17.12%	£8.25
J P Spencer	96	17	42	£183,751	17.71%	£9.07
W Buick	78	15	32	£208,550	19.23%	£10.44
James Doyle	89	14	32	£183,155	15.73%	-£46.51
Jim Crowley	77	13	30	£207,267	16.88%	-£37.34
Oisin Murphy	90	12	27	£239,532	13.33%	-£48.26
S De Sousa	76	11	23	£164,157	14.47%	-£21.53