Grandstand's name should reflect its links with history

It does sound rather like a non-runner at Plumpton.

She has suggested the name of the winner of the first St Leger, which was Allabaculia in 1776. The majority of the racing fraternity and Doncaster’s residents may not be able to relate to this name but Doncaster Council Watch does agree that the name of a St Leger winner would be appropriate but this should be a horse with which we can associate, such as Nijinsky, which won the race in 1970, ridden by the legendary jockey Lester Piggott who managed between 1960 and 1984 to get eight winners in the frame, and therefore, Piggott’s name, surely, should have been a consideration for renaming purposes.

Knowing how keen Coun Schofield is to get things right, Doncaster Council Watch would be surprised if she was to oppose these suggestions.

However, it is pleasing to see that the new grandstand is not linked with any name associated with the local authority, as so often has been the case in the past when naming rooms and buildings, such as the Gallimore Suite at The Dome.

As far as Doncaster’s racing heritage is concerned, Ras Prince Monolulu, who claimed to be the Chief of the Falasha tribe of Abyssinia (but wasn’t) certainly was a very popular character who stood head and shoulders among all of the tipsters who used to make a living in Doncaster Market place, and Racecourse, during St Leger week.

Ras Prince Monolulu, at the time, was Britain’s most famous black man and a racing institution, just like Lester Piggott. This was in the days when Doncaster was a genuine racing town, and when racegoers came in droves. During St Leger raceweek, in those days every night was a great party night and Ras Prince Monolulu was only too pleased to join in on his way back to his digs in Highfield Road, just off Doncaster’s town centre.

Ray Nortrop, Doncaster Council Watch