VRC St Leger Stakes
| Listed race | |
| Location |
Flemington Racecourse Melbourne, Australia |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1857 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | Victoria Racing Club |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 2,800 metres |
| Surface | Turf |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-year-olds |
| Weight | Set weights with penalties |
| Purse | $200,000 (2017) |
The Victoria Racing Club St Leger is a Listed Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run at set weights with penalties, over a distance of 2800 metres at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on ANZAC Day.
The race name is the only surviving one as other race clubs around Australia have eliminated the long distance race from their calendar.
First run in 1857, the race was originally held in March as part of the VRC Autumn Carnival. In 1907 the race was run on the same race card as the Newmarket Handicap.
In an effort to promote the Australian Thoroughbred breeding industry, from 1932 to 1956 geldings were banned from competing in the St. Leger. Past St Leger Stakes winners include Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductees Grand Flaneur (1881), Poseidon (1907),Phar Lap (1930),Tranquil Star (1941) and Tulloch (1958). Several winners also captured Australia's most prestigious race, the Melbourne Cup. They are: Grand Flaneur (1881), Comic Court (1949), Delta (1950), and Gurner's Lane (1982). In 1956, Sailor's Guide won the race and in 1958 raced in North America where he defeated a top international field in the forerunner to the Breeders' Cup Turf, the then very prestigious Washington, D.C. International Stakes.
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