250 years of the St Leger shows what Doncaster’s billion-pound visitor economy can do – and why the city needs more of it
As Doncaster prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the world’s oldest Classic horse race, the city’s Chamber of Commerce says the milestone is proof of what a thriving events calendar delivers for the local economy – and a prompt to build more of it.
The 2026 Betfred St Leger Festival runs at Doncaster Racecourse from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 September, a quarter of a millennium after the race was first staged in 1776. It arrives on the back of a landmark year for the city’s visitor economy, which broke the £1 billion barrier for the first time in 2025 – reaching £1.047 billion, up 9.8% year on year, supporting more than 8,600 full-time equivalent jobs and drawing over 10 million visits.
The Chamber says the Festival demonstrates why events and animations of this kind are so central to Doncaster’s economy – filling hotels, restaurants, taxis and shops far beyond the racecourse gates – and why the city should be ambitious about attracting and creating more of them, year-round.
It is also calling for a sharper focus on developing and retaining the city’s broader equine sector – the trainers, stables, veterinary, breeding and supply businesses that have grown up around three centuries of racing heritage – as a distinctive cluster that Doncaster is uniquely placed to lead on.
Doncaster Chamber will be at the heart of the week, hosting its annual St Leger Ladies Day networking event at the racecourse today, Thursday 10 September, where we are welcoming over 200 guests from across the business community.
“The St Leger is woven into the identity of this city, and to see it reach 250 years is a moment of enormous pride. But it is more than heritage – it is a working demonstration of what events do for our economy. Our visitor economy has just passed a billion pounds for the first time, supporting thousands of jobs, and weeks like this are exactly why. The lesson of the Leger is simple: great events pay their way many times over, so let’s be ambitious about bringing more of them here – and let’s look after the remarkable equine sector that three centuries of racing have built in Doncaster.” — Jill Wood, President of Doncaster Chamber and Managing Director of Signum Facilities Management
Posted on 10 September 2026
