May Hill Stakes Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (St Leger Festival)

Updated: 1162 Horse Racing

See which trainers and jockeys have performed well in this fact-packed blog for the May Hill Stakes. This is a race that is hosted at Doncaster during the St Leger Festival with the race being run over a distance of 1m, see which trends the past winners of the May Hill Stakes have set for this year.

May Hill Stakes Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (St Leger Festival)
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.

2024 May Hill Stakes Preview

Run at the St Leger Festival at Doncaster racecourse in September of each year, the May Hill Stakes is open to two-year-old fillies only. The race was upgraded to a Group 2 back in 2003 and it is run over a straight one mile.

May Hill Stakes Information:

Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Doncaster tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet? 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 May Hill Stakes market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2004 when the race had an over-round of 110%. The race in 2007 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 120%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the May Hill Stakes, the over-round has been 114%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £114 which is bet.

May Hill Stakes Trends:

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the May Hill Stakes next time out then you would have backed a total of 8 winners. Backing all 20 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +8.27. Ahead of the 2024 May Hill Stakes why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?

Over the last 20 renewals, it was Playful Act, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Jimmy Fortune who set the fastest winning time in the May Hill Stakes, the runner won the race in a time of 1:35.40 when winning the race in 2004. At the other end of the scale, it was the combination of trainer Saeed bin Suroor and jockey Silvestre De Sousa with Ihtimal who set the slowest winning time, the race-winning time was 1:43.30 in the 2013 renewal.

These are the top three quickest-run May Hill Stakes over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Playful Act (1:35.40) in 2004
  2. Nasheej (1:36.67) in 2005
  3. Turret Rocks (1:36.82) in 2015

May Hill Stakes Past Winners

Here are the May Hill Stakes' 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 May Hill Stakes are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.

YearHorse (Drawn)Info
2023
1:41.38
Darnation (IRE)
2yo 9-2 (3 of 7) 11/10F
Clifford Lee
K R Burke (GB)
2022
1:38.34
Polly Pott (GB)
2yo 9-2 (7 of 8) 40/1
Daniel Tudhope
Harry Dunlop (GB)
2021
1:37.47
Inspiral (GB)
2yo 9-0 (5 of 6) 2/9F
Frankie Dettori
John & Thady Gosden (GB)
2020
1:38.84
Indigo Girl (GB)
2yo 9-0 (9 of 9) 100/30
Frankie Dettori
John Gosden (GB)
2019
1:39.31
Powerful Breeze (GB)
2yo 9-0 (1 of 9) 6/1
James Doyle
Hugo Palmer (GB)
2018
1:38.71
Fleeting (IRE)
2yo 9-0 (1 of 11) 12/1
Donnacha O'Brien
A P O'Brien (IRE)
2017
1:40.06
Laurens (FR)
2yo 9-0 (4 of 8) 11/4F
P J McDonald
K R Burke (GB)
2016
1:41.24
Rich Legacy (IRE)
2yo 9-0 (7 of 9) 3/1
Oisin Murphy
Ralph Beckett (GB)
2015
1:36.82
Turret Rocks (IRE)
2yo 9-0 (2 of 8) 7/2
Kevin Manning
J S Bolger (IRE)
2014
1:37.20
Agnes Stewart (IRE)
2yo 9-0 (1 of 8) 11/4
W J Lee
Edward Lynam (IRE)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the May Hill Stakes have been based:

  • GB: 17 winners with an additional 33 placings from 151 runners
  • IRE: 3 winners with an additional 0 placings from 12 runners

May Hill Stakes Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the May Hill Stakes over the last 20 renewals is K R Burke who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from Laurens (2017) and Darnation (2023).

Here are the May Hill Stakes trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals for trainers who have entries in the 2024 renewal, those not listed have not had a runner. (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
K R Burke4-2-3+1.85+1.29
A P O'Brien5-1-1+8.00+3.20
Charlie Appleby3-0-3-3.00+0.86
Ed Walker1-0-1-1.00+4.50
Ollie Sangster1-0-0-1.00-1.00

May Hill Stakes Jockey Statistics

Here are the May Hill Stakes jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals for jockeys who have entries in the 2024 renewal, those not listed have not had a runner. (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
Ryan Moore8-1-1+7.00+1.75
Oisin Murphy5-1-2-1.00-1.20
Silvestre De Sousa2-1-1+0.10-0.31
William Buick8-0-3-8.00-4.50
Tom Marquand4-0-1-4.00+1.50
Sean Levey3-0-1-3.00-1.50

May Hill Stakes Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +36.74 is when runners ran on Good To Firm ground when last winning. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 career wins in Flat (Turf) races, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-28.

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

  • 2023: Winner in 3 (7) [7 Runners]
  • 2022: Winner in 7 (3,1) [8 Runners]
  • 2021: Winner in 5 (1) [6 Runners]
  • 2020: Winner in 9 (7,1) [9 Runners]
  • 2019: Winner in 1 (2,9) [9 Runners]

The course which has produced the most winners of the May Hill Stakes is Newmarket (July), there has been a total number of 9 winners of this race who ran at Newmarket (July) last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Curragh, there has been a total number of 3 winners of this race who ran at Curragh last time out.

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the May Hill Stakes, that stallion Dynaformer has produced 2 winners (2010,2008).

Looking over the past renewals, there is only one stallion whose offspring have been disappointed with multiple attempts but no wins in the May Hill Stakes, that stallion is Galileo who has failed to produce a winner from 6 runners.

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Polly Pott in 2022, winning for Harry Dunlop at odds of 40/1 under the guidance of Daniel Tudhope. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 8 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2024 May Hill Stakes head over to see which other runners today are being backed by the best racing tipsters today.

May Hill Stakes Trend Shortlist

Doncaster will host the 2024 renewal of the May Hill Stakes which will be run at 3:00 pm on Thursday 12th September 2024 and these are the runners who perform best based on the trends along with the trainer and jockey and their record in the race (Runs-Wins-Places Win LSP / EW LSP):

  • 15/15 January (6/1)
    • A P O'Brien (5-1-1 +8.00 / +3.20)
    • Sean Levey (3-0-1 -3.00 / -1.50)

Others: Anshoda (14/15), Desert Flower (14/15), Ecstatic (14/15), Miss Tonnerre (14/15), Elsies Ruan (13/15), Flight (13/15), Biniorella Bay (12/15), Serving With Style (12/15) and Manila Thriller (10/15).

*Trainer & Jockey numbers are Runs-Wins-Places Win LSP / EW LSP, Runners, Odds and Trends Passed/Failed correct at the time of posting (10:55 am Wednesday 11th September 2024), if no odds were available at the time of posting then forecasted odds are used.

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
13:50
Carrie Red Fillies Nursery
Chic Colombine (FR)
2yo - 9/4
George Boughey
William Buick
14:25
Doncaster 2yo Stakes
Room Service (IRE)
2yo - 10/1
Kevin Ryan
Tom Eaves
15:00
May Hill Stakes
Darnation (IRE)
2yo - 11/10
K R Burke
Clifford Lee
15:35
Park Hill Stakes
Sumo Sam (GB)
3yo - 4/1
Paul & Oliver Cole
Rossa Ryan
17:50
St Leger Festival Class 3 1m4f Handicap
In The Breeze (IRE)
5yo - 15/2
Michael Appleby
Tom Marquand

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
13:50
Mallard Handicap
Legendary Day (GB)
5yo - 12/1
Adrian Paul Keatley
Mark Winn
14:25
Flying Scotsman Stakes
Dancing Gemini (IRE)
2yo - 5/1
Roger Teal
Lewis Edmunds
15:00
Flying Childers Stakes
Big Evs (IRE)
2yo - 9/4
Michael Appleby
Tom Marquand
15:35
Doncaster Cup
Trueshan (FR)
7yo - 100/30
Alan King
Hollie Doyle

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
13:50
Champagne Stakes
Iberian (IRE)
2yo - 3/1
Charles Hills
Tom Marquand
14:25
Portland Heritage Handicap
Annaf (IRE)
4yo - 7/1
Michael Appleby
Rossa Ryan
15:00
Park Stakes
Sandrine (GB)
4yo - 11/2
Andrew Balding
Oisin Murphy
15:40
St Leger
Continuous (JPN)
3yo - 3/1
A P O'Brien
Ryan Moore
16:15
PJ Towey Construction Handicap
La Yakel (GB)
4yo - 13/8
William Haggas
Tom Marquand
17:25
St Leger Festival Class 2 Mile Handicap
Liberty Lane (IRE)
3yo - 11/2
K R Burke
Clifford Lee

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
14:40
City of Doncaster Handicap
Poet Master (IRE)
3yo - 9/2
K R Burke
Sam James
15:15
Sceptre Stakes
Matilda Picotte (IRE)
3yo - 6/1
Kieran P Cotter
Oisin Murphy
16:15
St Leger Festival Class 2 Sprint Handicap
Baradar (IRE)
5yo - 100/30
George Boughey
William Buick

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this May Hill Stakes Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. 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.

Darren Brett

Darren Brett

Tipster competition manager

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.
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

No Comments

There are no comments here. Be the first to comment...

Keep Reading

By using this site you confirm you are 18+ and consent to our use of cookies and processing of personal data as set out in our Privacy Policy
Got it!