In this chapter we look at the form of runners leading into the St Leger meeting, with extra focus on their last time out effort – after all, the most recent form can often prove the most reliable.
Watch every race of the Betfred St Leger Festival live on Sky Sports Racing (Sky 415 | Virgin 519) from Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th September.
LAST TIME OUT - TRACK
Doncaster St Leger Festival (Last five years, UK only)
Track | W-R | £1 | A/E |
York | 33-259 | -32 | 1.02 |
Goodwood | 15-123 | -45 | 0.99 |
Newmarket (July) | 12-87 | -42 | 0.94 |
Newbury | 9-68 | +8 | 1.23 |
Ascot | 7-82 | -52 | 0.65 |
Let’s take a closer look at each of the top five tracks to have supplied the most winners at Doncaster’s four-day meeting in recent years, starting with York.
YORK
Of the 33 winners on Town Moor to have come via York last time, it may not come as a surprise to learn that 30 of them ran at the Ebor festival several weeks beforehand.
A closer look shows that of those 30, it proved wise to side with the following:
Runners from the York Ebor festival at Doncaster
7f or further (at Doncaster): 21-134 (+10) A/E 1.12
6½f or shorter (at Doncaster): 9-101 (-45) A/E 0.83
Thursday and Friday (at Doncaster): 23-143 (+22) A/E 1.21
Saturday and Sunday (at Doncaster): 6-77 (-46) A/E 0.68
GOODWOOD
Only half of the winners Goodwood supplied came from their prestigious Glorious Goodwood meeting, with runners also appearing at their subsequent meetings in Sussex prior to heading north. The value appeared to come with those not beaten too far at Goodwood:
Runners from Goodwood at Doncaster
Won or beaten a neck: 4-27 (-13) A/E 1.01
Beaten 1/4L to under 5L: 11-60 (+4) A/E 1.35
Beaten 5L or further: 0-36 (-36) A/E 0
NEWMARKET (JULY)
Newmarket’s summer meeting at the July course have chipped in with 12 winners at the St Leger meeting, with the age-groups providing clues:
Runners from Newmarket (July) at Doncaster
3yo: 7-24 (+3) A/E 1.41
A closer look also shows that of the 24 3yo’s to have turned up on Town Moor from Newmarket, 5 others were placed, making it a total of 12 of the 24 to make the frame (7 won & 5 placed).
Additionally, 6 of those 3yo Doncaster winners were also beaten 1/4L to under 5L at Newmarket for a very tidy record of 6-10 (+15) A/E 2.44.
NEWBURY
Newbury is the only track of the five named above that returned a clear profit with its next time out runners at Doncaster, although Newbury winners did struggle:
Runners from Newbury at Doncaster
Won: 1-20 (-14) A/E 0.40
Beaten up to 10L: 8-43 (+27) A/E 1.82
ASCOT
As for Ascot form, then not many patterns emerged as to the ideal type to look for, although it could pay to avoid females (0-18).
LAST TIME OUT - TOP TRIALS
When it comes to the specific race a horse ran in prior to Donny, then some familiar races proved trustworthy stepping-stones down the years.
Leading UK trials for Doncaster since 1997
Trial race / Doncaster race | Trend Tip | 2026 Result |
Lonsdale Cup / | First three from the Lonsdale Cup in the Doncaster Cup: | 1. Al Nayyir |
Great Voltigeur / | First three from the Great Voltigeur in the St Leger: | 1. Maltese Cross |
1m Hcap (Ebor) / | All runners from the 1m York Hcp in the Doncaster Hcp: | 1. The Lost King |
Melrose / | First three from the Melrose / Mallard Handicap: | 1. Infraad |
Sweet Solera / | Winners from the Sweet Solera / May Hill Stakes: | 1. Sugar Yes Please |
Gimcrack / | All runners from the Gimcrack in the Flying Childers: | 1. Arapaho Gold |
Lillie Langtry / | Winners from the Lillie Langtry in the Park Hill Stakes: | 1. Goodie Two Shoes |
Gordon Stakes / | Winners from the Gordon Stakes in the St Leger: | 1. Enceladus |
Goodwood Cup / Doncaster Cup (6 wins) | First three from the Goodwood Cup / Doncaster Cup: | 1. Scandinavia |
Lennox / | First five from the Lennox in the Park Stakes: | 1. Lake Forest |
Great St Wilfrid / Portland Handicap | All runners from the Great St Wilfrid in the Portland: | 1. Royal Zabeel |
City of York / | First five from the City of York in the Park Stakes: | 1. Notable Speech |
Vintage / | First five from the Vintage in the Champagne Stakes: | 1. Dr Rascal |
There are already some interesting entries featuring the above trials, including Al Hudaiba, who was an excellent third in Goodwood’s Vintage Stakes, and could run in the Champagne Stakes, while the top five from the City of York Stakes did well in the Park Stakes, flagging up Lake Forest (second), Marvelman (third), and Zavateri (fifth), from last month’s running.
HANDICAPS
One of the final form pointers to look for involves the handicaps where classier runners came out well in recent years, especially those rated in the 100’s.
Doncaster St Leger Festival - Handicaps (last five years)
Official rating | W-R | £1 | Places | A/E |
102 or higher | 6-23 | +47 | 6 | 2.22 |
It’s also interesting to note this was very much a changing trend during the last 25 years, with the classier handicappers getting on top since 2019 compared to the previous 16 years . . .
Doncaster St Leger Festival Handicaps - Runners rated 102 or higher
Year | W-R | £1 | A/E |
2025-2019 | 8-33 | +54 | 2.09 |
2018-1997 | 9-147 | -102 | 0.58 |
Looking at just the last five years, there were also a number of close-hits with these highly rated handicappers as 6 finished in the frame, including Apollo One, who was runner-up twice at 16/1 and 12/1.
Backing all of them each-way returned a higher return of 6 wins & 6 placed from 23 runs for +£64.