The Park Hill Stakes is a Group 2 race for fillies and mares aged three years and upwards at the Doncaster St Leger meeting in September.

The Park Hill Stakes takes place on Day 2 of the St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse.

Many other popular races take place on Day 2 of the festival such as the May Hill Stakes.

It is over a mile and three-quarters and is often referred to as “the fillies St Leger”.

Notable past winners include May Hill (1975), Shoot A Line (1980), Allegretto (2008)and Simple Verse (2016).

Find out more about the Park Hill Stakes:

Contents

1 Race Overview – The Park Hill Stakes
2 Famous Park Hill Stakes Winners
3 Key Park Hill Stakes Trials
4 Park Hill Stakes Betting Trends
5 Park Hill Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys
6 Best Park Hill Stakes Betting Sites
7 Popular Questions
8 Summary of Park Hill Stakes
9 2025 Doncaster St Leger Festival Posts
10 Related September Articles
11 Resources

Race Overview – The Park Hill Stakes

The Park Hill Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race for fillies and mares aged three and above that takes place in the United Kingdom. It is run over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs, and 115 yards at Doncaster every year in September.

Famous Park Hill Stakes Winners

The Park Hill Stakes was first run in 1839 with victory going to Mickleton Maid.

The race was not opened up to fillies and mares aged four and upwards until 1991.

1975 winner May Hill won the Yorkshire Oaks to be rated the best filly of her generation. She is remembered by a race for two-year-old fillies at Doncaster, also at the St Leger meeting.

Shoot A Line won for Dick Hern and Willie Carson in 1980. Her other victories included the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Yorkshire Oaks. She was kept in training at four and finished runner-up to Ardross in the Ascot Gold Cup. The same combination teamed up to win the race with Swiftfoot in 1982, another top-class filly. She also won the Cheshire Oaks and the Irish Oaks.

Other high-class Park Hill Stakes winners include Patricia (1991), Eva Luna (1996) and Echoes in Eternity (2004).

2008 winner Allegretto was trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by Ryan Moore. The daughter of Galileo had won the Goodwood Cup the previous season along with the Henry II Stakes and the Prix Royal-Oak. She attempted to repeat her win in France and arguably ran the best race of her career when finishing second to four times Gold Cup winner Yeats.

Simple Verse (2016) had become the first filly to win the St Leger since User Friendly in 1992 when win the Doncaster Classic in 2015. The race was hugely controversial with the filly initially disqualified and then re-instated 11 days later. Simple Verse was named Cartier Champion Stayer for 2015.

Key Park Hill Stakes Trials

Park Hill Stakes winners come from a wide variety of races but typically attracts fillies who have fallen short in the Classic races or trials. Fillies that contested the Epsom Oaks, Ribblesdale Stakes or Yorkshire Oaks can run here with an extra couple of furlongs to tackle.

The Fillies and Mares Stakes at Ascot is the most popular target for Park Hill Stakes winners.

Four of the last twelve winners ran there, Silk Sari finishing runner-up in 2014. Enbihaar (2019) and Pista (2020) were both placed in the Prix de Royallieu next time out.

Park Hill Stakes Betting Trends

There have been four winning favourites in the last twelve seasons; Wild Coco (2012) at 7-4, The Lark (2013) at 15-8, Enbihaar (2019) at 6-5 and Free Wind (2021) at 15-8.

There have been a further six winning second or third favourites.

The only shock result in the Park Hill Stakes in recent years was provided by 25-1 chance Alyssa. She was a four-year-old trained by Ralph Beckett and ridden by Pat Dobbs.

The only other winner outside the top three in the betting was Silk Sari (2014) at 8-1.

Four-year-olds account for eight of the last twelve winners with the other three coming from the current Classic generation.

Only two horses aged five have won since the race was opened up to older fillies and mares; Sweet Stream (2005) and Allegretto (2008).

An official rating of 107 or higher is normally required to win the Park Hill Stakes.

The lowest rated winner in recent years was Silk Sari (rated 99) in 2014. Four fillies were rated 113; Meeznah (2011), Wild Coco (2012), Simple Verse (2016) and Enbihaar (2019).

Park Hill Stakes – Top Trainers and Jockeys

Two trainers currently share the top spot as the leading trainer in the history of the Park Hill Stakes. They are John Scott (1839 to 1869) and Noel Murless (1954 to 1974) who each trained seven winners of the race.

In more modern times, Luca Cumani won the race six times; Alma Ata (1981), Casey (1988), Lucky Song (1989), Noble Rose (1995), Silk Sari (2014) and God Given (2018). Henry Cecil also won it six times, his last victory coming with Wild Coco in 2012. His other winners were Royal Hive (1977), Madame Dubois (1990), Patricia (1991), Coigach (1994) and Eva Luna (1996).

Frankie Dettori is currently level with Sim Templeman (1840 to 1855) and John Osborne Jnr. (1859 to 1889) who each rode six Park Hill winners. Dettori’s winners were Anna of Saxony (1993), Noble Rose (1995), Echoes in Eternity (2004), Eastern Aria (2010), Meeznah (2011) and Free Wind (2021).

Best Park Hill Stakes Betting Sites

The Park Hill Stakes puts the emphasis firmly on stamina and the first three in the betting have dominated the outcome in recent years. Fillies that have run well in the Epsom Oaks are entitled to respect here as they clash with the older generations.

The field has only once been below eight runners so plenty of each-way betting opportunities in a race that seldom produces a shock result.

The Park Hill Stakes is one of the highlights of the St Leger Festival and has been voted one of the favourites in recent seasons.

Here are the best Park Hill Stakes betting sites offering free bets or great existing customer promotions: