Doncaster takes its name from the River Don, on which it is situated, and it was the only town in England, after London and York, that possessed a “Mansion House.”  We had walked for five days over the broad acres of Yorkshire and had seen many fine horses, for horse-breeding, we found, was a leading feature in that big county, and horses a frequent subject of conversation.  Doncaster was no exception to the rule, as the Doncaster Races were famous all over England, and perhaps in other countries beyond the seas.  We were too late in the year for the great St. Leger race, which was held in the month of September, and was always patronised by Royalty.  On that occasion almost every mansion in the county was filled with visitors “invited down” for the races, and there was no doubt that agricultural Yorkshire owed much of its prosperity to the breeding of its fine horses.  The racecourse was situated on a moor a little way out of the town, the property of the Corporation, and it was said that the profit made by the races was so great that the Doncaster people paid no rates.  This might of course be an exaggeration, but there could be no doubt that the profit made by the Corporation out of the moor on which the races were held would largely reduce the rates of the town.

Doncaster races owed their origin to a famous Arab horse named Rasel-Fedawi (or the “Headstrong"), which was purchased from the Anazeh tribe of Arabs by a Mr. Darley, an Englishman who at that time resided at Aleppo, a Turkish trading centre in Northern Syria.  This gentleman sent the horse to his brother at Aldby Park in Yorkshire, and what are now known as “thoroughbreds” have descended from him.  His immediate descendants have been credited with some wonderful performances, and the “Flying Childers,” a chestnut horse with a white nose and four white legs, bred from a mare born in 1715, named “Betty Leedes,” and owned by Leonard Childers of Doncaster, was never beaten.  All sorts of tales were told of his wonderful performances:  he was said to have covered 25 feet at each bound, and to have run the round course at Newmarket, 3 miles 6 furlongs, in six minutes and forty seconds.  After him came another famous horse named “Eclipse” which could, it was said, run a mile a minute.  When he died in 1789 his heart was found to weigh 14 pounds, which accounted for his wonderful speed and courage.  Admiral Rous records that in the year 1700 the English racehorse was fifteen hands high, but after the Darley Arabian, the average height rose to over sixteen hands.  It was said that there were races at Doncaster in the seventeenth century, but the great St. Leger was founded by General St. Leger in 1778, and the grand stand was built in the following year.  The Yorkshire gentlemen and farmers were naturally all sportsmen, and were credited with keeping “both good stables and good tables.”  The invitation to “have a bite and a sup” was proverbial, especially in the wold or moorland districts, where hospitality was said to be unbounded.