Wikipedia seems to contradict itself somewhat in this matter.
The current Doncaster Racecourse stands on Town Moor, where there has been a racecourse since at least the 16th century. Cantley Common is approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) to the east – further out of the town.
On its St. Leger Stakes page, Wikipedia states that "The inaugural running was held at Cantley Common on 24 September 1776." But on the Doncaster Racecourse page, we read that "The earliest important race in Doncaster's history was the Doncaster Gold Cup, first run over Cantley Common in 1766 ... Ten years later the Racecourse moved to its present location and in 1776 Colonel Anthony St. Leger founded a race in which five horses ran."
This suggests that the St. Leger was first run in 1776, but at what we now know as Doncaster Racecourse – even though it doesn't state it implicitly.
If we look at the About Us page on Doncaster Racecourse's own website, we read that "The earliest important race [to be run at Doncaster] was the Doncaster Gold Cup, first run over Cantley Common in 1766, ten years before a move to the racecourse's present location. In 1776 Colonel Anthony St. Leger founded a race in which five horses ran." This is suspiciously like the wording quoted above from Wikipedia, which suggests that the current operators of Doncaster Racecourse don't really know its history and have turned to Wikipedia for help. (It could be the other way round, but similar wording is used on several other websites and I suspect it would have come from Wikipedia rather than the Racecourse's own website. For the page in question, the only source that Wikipedia gives is The Daily Telegraph Chronicle of Horse Racing – edited by Norman Barrett, and published in 1995.)
Another page on the Doncaster Racecourse website gives a brief history of the St. Leger, and this does seem to clear the matter up. It tells us that the St. Leger was first run in 1776, and goes on to explain that Anthony St. Leger (an Irish–born British army officer, and MP for Grimsby) "established a two–mile race for 3 year–old horses on the Cantley Common in Doncaster [in 1766]. This was to become the St Leger Stakes. The St Leger Stakes moved to Town Moor (Doncaster Racecourse) in 1778 where a rather impressive grandstand had been erected."
In other words: the Doncaster Gold Cup was set up by Anthony St. Leger, and was first run on Cantley Common in 1766. In 1776 it was renamed in honour of its founder, and in 1778 it moved to the racecourse on Town Moor, which is now known as Doncaster Racecourse.
So Wikipedia's St. Leger Stakes page is correct, and so is the setter of this question. ("After all that", I hear you say.)
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