SIDELINES : England’s St. Leger Race Called Off; Holes in Track Cause Horses to Fall

Britain’s St. Leger horse-racing classic was abandoned today fewer than 24 hours before it was due to take place after holes in the course led to a second fall in three days.

The Doncaster course was declared unsafe, and the rest of the four-day meeting canceled by stewards after a horse fell in today’s first event.

Two jockeys spent two days in a hospital following a three-horse pileup Wednesday caused by another fall. Both animals that fell seemed to put a foot in large holes about two furlongs from the finish, although on different sides of the track.

The stewards inspected the course and decided it was unsafe, saying there had been subsidence in part of the course drainage system.

The Leger was first run in 1776, four years before the inaugural Epsom Derby.