Draw

As with a number of major Flat festivals, the draw can make a huge difference, especially up the straight course - a good recent example came at Royal Ascot in June when the stands' side runners dominated. 

As for Doncaster, then the draw had a say down the famous straight where the big-field Portland takes place on the final day.

Before looking into the specifics, let's see which part of the straight was favoured so far this season at all the meetings here. 

Doncaster, 2026, Straight Course, 14 runners+

So far this year, the ground played a big part in influencing the draw, with the lower numbered-stalls doing best in the spring when the ground was on the soft side, prior to the summer when they struggled, handing an edge to middle to high stalls.

As for the St Leger meeting itself, the following analysis provides more pointers as to how things may pan out with the draw across the four days.

2025 St Leger meeting, Straight Course, 14 runners+

Each of the nine big-field races on the straight 12 months ago took place on softish ground, which favoured the following stalls:

Stalls 1-5: 0-40 (-£40)
Stalls 6-13: 9-66 (+£47)
Stalls 14-22: 0-44 (-£44)

If the ground comes up on the soft side again, then preference should go to the middle-drawn stalls, as demonstrated when Lethal Nymph won the 5f handicap down the centre:

If we extend matters to the last three St Leger meetings to get more information . . . 

St Leger meeting, 2023-2025, Straight Course, 14 runners+

There is plenty of evidence above to highlight the importance of the ground at this meeting from a draw perspective, as both the far side and stands' side can be at a big disadvantage depending on the weather.

The Portland was mentioned earlier, and this big-field sprint is another example of how ground-dependent the draw can become.

Last three Portland Handicaps run on soft ground - 5.5f

Last three Portland Handicaps run on good to firm ground - 5.5f

Last year on good ground, there appeared to be no real bias at all, with the first four home drawn 22-9-11-6 finishing in a blanket down the centre of the straight.

However, on good to firm ground in 2024, American Affair came more towards the stands' side from stall 22 to land the Portland . . .

Other races to have thrown up a draw bias dependent on the ground include the following . . .

Carrie Red Fillies Nursery, 6½f (last 10 years)

Weatherbys 2-Y-O, 6½f

The Weatherby's sales race always attracts a big field and proved kind to single-figure stalls, apart from one of the years it came on the fast side.

Last year, Calendar Girl beat 20 runners from stall 6 on the far side . . .