City of Doncaster Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (St Leger Festival)

If you are a fan of horse racing trends then this preview of the City of Doncaster Handicap will be perfect for you! Not only do we look at the trends but we look at past winners as well as trainer and jockey records for the City of Doncaster Handicap, a race run over 7f at Doncaster during the St Leger Festival.
City of Doncaster Handicap Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (St Leger Festival)
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Content Editor

Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.

2025 City of Doncaster Handicap Preview

Introduced in 2007 and run at the St Leger Festival at Doncaster in September of each year is this class two handicap that is run over a distance of seven furlongs and is open to runners aged three years old.

City of Doncaster Handicap Information:

We also have a dedicated Doncaster tips page that will cover this race as well as all of the other races on the day of the race, see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are predicting to win this race and the others on the cards. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Other Principal races during the Doncaster St Leger Festival section for links to these.

How competitive is the City of Doncaster Handicap market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 14 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2019 when the race had an over-round of 108%. The race in 2013 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 124%, whilst on average over the last 14 renewals of the City of Doncaster Handicap, the over-round has been 115%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £115 which is bet.

City of Doncaster Handicap Trends:

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 14 if you had followed the winner of the City of Doncaster Handicap next time out then you would have backed a total of 4 winners. Backing all 14 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +4.16. Ahead of the 2025 City of Doncaster Handicap why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?

The runner that holds the record over the past 14 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2013 renewal when Breton Rock from David Simcock under the guidance of Martin Lane, won in a time of 1:27.46, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Haqeeqy, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Jim Crowley set the quickest time of 1:23.98 in the 2020 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run City of Doncaster Handicap over the last 14 renewals:

  1. Haqeeqy (1:23.98) in 2020
  2. Modern News (1:24.00) in 2021
  3. Sulaalaat (1:24.12) in 2015

City of Doncaster Handicap Past Winners

Here are the City of Doncaster Handicap past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the City of Doncaster Handicap are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2024
1:26.17
Telemark (IRE)
3yo 9-4 (10 of 9) 12/1
Harry Davies
Simon & Ed Crisford (GB)
2023
1:24.17
Poet Master (IRE)
3yo 9-3 (6 of 8) 9/2
Sam James
K R Burke (GB)
2022
1:24.93
New Kingdom (GB)
3yo 9-9 (6 of 10) 14/1
William Buick
Charlie Appleby (GB)
2021
1:24.00
Modern News (GB)
3yo 9-5 (4 of 7) 6/4F
William Buick
Charlie Appleby (GB)
2020
1:23.98
Haqeeqy (IRE)
3yo 8-13 (5 of 13) 12/1
Jim Crowley
John Gosden (GB)
2019
1:26.79
Mutamaasik (GB)
3yo 9-7 (1 of 4) 5/6F
Jim Crowley
Roger Varian (GB)
2018
1:25.63
Best Alliance (IRE)
3yo 8-3 (3 of 8) 20/1
Paul Hanagan
Richard Fahey (GB)
2017
1:26.66
Lahore (USA)
3yo 8-9 (6 of 8) 7/2F
Silvestre De Sousa
Roger Varian (GB)
2016
1:26.62
Stamp Hill (IRE)
3yo 9-3 (7 of 6) 5/1
Tony Hamilton
Richard Fahey (GB)
2015
1:24.12
Sulaalaat (GB)
3yo 9-5 (3 of 8) 14/1
Paul Hanagan
Brian Meehan (GB)

City of Doncaster Handicap Trainer Statistics

There are multiple leading trainers in the City of Doncaster Handicap over the last 14 renewals with Richard Fahey, Roger Varian and Charlie Appleby having all won the race two times. Richard Fahey's winners have been with Stamp Hill (2016) and Best Alliance (2018). Roger Varian winners have been with Lahore (2017) and Mutamaasik (2019). Charlie Appleby winners have been with Modern News (2021) and New Kingdom (2022).

Here are some of the top City of Doncaster Handicap trainer statistics over the last 14 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
Richard Fahey10-2-4+17.00+18.06
Roger Varian6-2-2+0.33-1.90
Charlie Appleby5-2-3+12.50+8.64
Kevin Ryan6-1-2+3.00+3.06
John Gosden3-1-2+10.00+7.88
Michael Bell3-1-1+5.50+3.69
Brian Meehan2-1-1+13.00+8.40
David Simcock2-1-2+11.00+7.30
K R Burke2-1-2+3.50+5.50
Simon & Ed Crisford1-1-1+12.00+7.20

City of Doncaster Handicap Jockey Statistics

There are two leading jockeys in the City of Doncaster Handicap over the last 14 renewals with both William Buick and Jim Crowley who have both won the race two times. William Buick winners have been with Modern News (2021) and New Kingdom (2022). Jim Crowley winners have been with Mutamaasik (2019) and Haqeeqy (2020).

Here are some of the top City of Doncaster Handicap jockey statistics over the last 14 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
William Buick7-2-4+10.50+8.58
Jim Crowley6-2-3+8.83+9.30
Silvestre De Sousa5-1-2-0.50+2.48
Jamie Spencer4-1-2+4.50+4.49
Sam James2-1-2+3.50+4.70
Harry Davies1-1-1+12.00+7.20
Tony Hamilton1-1-1+5.00+3.13
Andrea Atzeni6-0-3-6.00+0.87
Frankie Dettori5-0-2-5.00-1.17
Sean Levey4-0-1-4.00+0.35

City of Doncaster Handicap Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 7+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +44.50 is when runners had 0 starts in the past 30 days. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had a furthest trip placed of 1m, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-33.

Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:

  • 2024: Winner in 10 (8,1) [9 Runners]
  • 2023: Winner in 6 (9,8) [8 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 6 (3,2) [10 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 4 (3) [7 Runners]
  • 2020: Winner in 5 (9,7) [13 Runners]

The courses that have produced the most winners of the City of Doncaster Handicap are Goodwood and Newmarket (July), there has been a total number of 4 winners from each of those courses.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 13 winners from a total of 124 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 1 winner from a total of 10 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the City of Doncaster Handicap:

  • Dubawi (2 Wins)
  • Lope De Vega (2 Wins)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 14 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Best Alliance in 2018, winning for Richard Fahey at odds of 20/1 under the guidance of Paul Hanagan. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 14 renewals there have been 3 winning favourites in the race. Remember to use the best racing tipsters along with the information on this page to find you a bet on the 2025 City of Doncaster Handicap.

Other Principal races during the Doncaster St Leger Festival

Here is the schedule for the four-day St Leger Festival for races which we cover with blogs, each race will be linked to the race blog and detail last year's winner in the table below.

Thursday at St Leger Festival

There are a couple of Group 2's which take centre-stage on the opening day of the St Leger Festival, the £120k May Hill Stakes where the two-year-olds feature and then the £150k Park Hill Fillies Stakes where the older fillies compete.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Carrie Red Fillies NurseryGhost Run (GB)
2yo - 5/1
Andrew Balding
Oisin Murphy
Doncaster 2yo StakesHallasan (GB)
2yo - 15/2
Charlie Appleby
William Buick
May Hill StakesDesert Flower (IRE)
2yo - 1/1
Charlie Appleby
William Buick
Park Hill StakesNakheel (FR)
3yo - 10/1
Owen Burrows
Jim Crowley
St Leger Festival Class 3 1m4f HandicapKildare Legend (IRE)
3yo - 100/30
James Ferguson
Daniel Muscutt

Friday at St Leger Festival

On Friday, the feature race of the day is the Group 2 Doncaster Cup which is part of the British Champion Series and carries a £140k purse. The Flying Childers Stakes is another race on Friday which carries a decent purse, £130k on offer for the two-year-olds.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Mallard HandicapFaylaq (GB)
8yo - 18/1
Jim Goldie
Amie Waugh
Flying Scotsman StakesBenevento (IRE)
2yo - 7/1
Raphael E Freire
David Egan
Flying Childers StakesAesterius (IRE)
2yo - 7/2
Archie Watson
James Doyle
Doncaster CupSweet William (IRE)
5yo - 7/4
John & Thady Gosden
Robert Havlin

Saturday at St Leger Festival

The feature race of the festival, the St Leger takes place on Saturday, another race which is part of the British Champion Series, this Group 1 carries a purse of £700k. The three races before the St Leger all carry decent purses too, the Champagne Stakes (£150k), the Portland (£100k) and the Park Stakes (£140k).

RaceLast WinnerInfo
Champagne StakesBay City Roller (IRE)
2yo - 9/2
George Scott
Callum Shepherd
Portland Heritage HandicapAmerican Affair (GB)
4yo - 4/1
Jim Goldie
Paul Mulrennan
Park StakesKinross (GB)
7yo - 11/4
Ralph Beckett
Rossa Ryan
St LegerJan Brueghel (IRE)
3yo - 11/4
A P O'Brien
Sean Levey
PJ Towey Construction HandicapDaysofourlives (IRE)
4yo - 100/30
Marco Botti
Jack Mitchell
St Leger Festival Class 2 Mile HandicapJohan (GB)
7yo - 18/1
Jack Channon
Rossa Ryan

Sunday at St Leger Festival

Sunday is a bit more low-key, only one class one race which is the £85k Sceptre Stakes for the fillies over 7f and there are also a couple of decent handicaps carrying good purses of £70k and £65k.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
City of Doncaster HandicapTelemark (IRE)
3yo - 12/1
Simon & Ed Crisford
Harry Davies
Sceptre StakesGreat Generation (IRE)
3yo - 8/1
Marco Botti
Marco Ghiani
St Leger Festival Class 2 Sprint HandicapBaldomero (IRE)
6yo - 10/1
Michael Appleby
Silvestre De Sousa

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this City of Doncaster Handicap Preview are at hand, Andy and James. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for Flat Racing.

James Banting

James Banting

Tipster Competition Assistant

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Club provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Content Editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for flat racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful flat racing blogs for OLBG.

Other Principal Races at Doncaster Racecourse

Here are some other notable races at the Doncaster racecourse throughout the racing season that you may be interested in.

Races in January

Races in March

Races in October

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