Certain races are now designated by common consent "classic." These, in the order of their occurrence, are the Two Thousand Guineas, One Thousand, and the Derby, Oaks, and St. Leger, but why they should be "classic" more than some other events of the turf I am unable to explain; they have, at any rate, become standing dishes of our racing bills of fare. In point of origin, the St. Leger is entitled to precedence as premier of "the classics." Much controversy has taken place about the exact date of the first of the great Town Moor struggles, caused, no doubt, by the fact that no name had been bestowed upon it when it was instituted. The race in reality should date from the year 1788, when Hollandaise won, but it was first run two years earlier, when Allabaculia, ridden by J. Singleton, proved victorious. The name was fixed upon, as has been often narrated, at a dinner held in the "Red Lion Inn," in Doncaster. At that dinner the Marquis of Rockingham proposed that "the sweepstakes," first run for in 1776, should be named the "St. Leger," in compliment to Lieutenant-General Anthony St. Leger, of Park Hill, and the proposition was unanimously adopted. After a time, the Doncaster race became as famous as the Derby, and its celebration during the last sixty years has, in some degree, become an event of national significance. The names and performances of the winning horses and successful jockeys of the St. Leger have been sedulously chronicled for many years past, and it may be said that, for good horses and exciting incidents, as well as for the value of the stakes and the betting that takes place upon it, the great Doncaster race is not behind the Derby, which is indebted for much of its success to the fact of its taking place within twenty miles of the populous city of London. Doncaster, where the race for the St. Leger is run, is not so easy of access to large numbers of spectators as the far-famed downs of Epsom; still, on the eventful day, the Town Moor becomes crowded by thousands, chiefly enthusiastic Yorkshiremen, eager to witness the grand spectacle.