St Leger Winners History
Saint Leger
St Leger winners from 1776 to 1899. In 1853, West Australian became the first ever Triple Crown winner, winning the 2000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby and the St Leger Stakes. The St Leger began to rise to prominence in 1800 when a horse called Champion headed to Doncaster having won the Epsom Derby. Yorkshire born and bred, Champion hailed from Tadcaster. After winning the Derby on his first ever run, he repeated this success in the St Leger having started as 2/1 favourite. The event was established in 1915, and it was originally restricted to three-year-olds. The first horse to win both the English and Irish St Legers was Royal Lancer in 1922. The first Irish St. Leger winner to complete a Triple Crown (having previously won the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Irish Derby) was Museum in 1935. Leger Italiano was established in the late 19th century, and it was originally restricted to three-year-olds. The first winner to complete a Triple Crown (having previously won the Premio Parioli and the Derby Italiano) was Niccolo dell'Arca in 1941.The feat was subsequently achieved by Gladiolo in 1946 and Botticelli in 1954.
Major-General Anthony St Leger (1731/32 – 19 April 1786) was a successful soldier, a Member of Parliament for Grimsby, and the founder of the St. Leger Stakes horse race.Born in February 1731 at Grangemellon, County Kildare, Ireland, the fourth son of Sir John St Leger who was a judge of the Irish exchequer, and his second wife, Levinia, daughter of Kingsmill Pennefather of Cashel, co. Tipperary. He was educated at Eton College. He attended Peterhouse, Cambridge[1] before embarking on a career in the army.
In 1761, St Leger married a Yorkshire woman, Margaret Wombwell. That same year he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the 124th Regiment of Foot, but a year later the regiment disbanded, and St Leger took on the Park Hill estate in Firbeck, where he later bred and raced horses.
From 1768 to 1774, St Leger sat as MP for Grimsby. Two years after leaving the Commons, and with the assistance of Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, he established a two-mile race for 3-year-old horses, on the Cantley Common in Doncaster. This was to become the St. Leger Stakes.
In 1779, St Leger re-entered the army as Colonel of the 86th Regiment of Foot. He subsequently achieved the rank of Brigadier General, before serving a period as the Governor of Saint Lucia. His last posting was in Ireland, by which time he was a Major General.
St Leger died on 19 April 1786. He was buried in Saint Anne's Church, Dublin.
St Leger Winners History 2019
In addition to giving his name to the St Leger Stakes, the St Leger Arms public house in Laughton en le Morthen (two miles up the road from the Park Hill estate) is also named after Anthony St Leger.
St Leger Winners History
References[edit edit source]
- ↑'St Leger, Anthony (ST750A)'. A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?sur=&suro=c&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&tex=%22ST750A%22&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50.
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joseph Mellish The Lord Luxborough | Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby with Joseph Mellish 1768–1774 | Succeeded by Joseph Mellish Francis Evelyn Anderson |
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