The Mansion House is a handsome Grade 1 building in Doncaster built in the Palladian style, primarily as a place of entertainment, in 1748. In that respect it differs from the Mansion Houses in London and York, which were designed to be mayoral residences. In 1751 racing at Doncaster resumed after a gap and it became the venue for race balls and other jollifications in Leger week. It is still owned and run by the local authority and used for civic purposes such as official receptions, as well as weddings and other private functions.
The Mansion House Chase, a fairly valuable two mile handicap, began in February 1948, fourteen months after Doncaster’s new jumps track had been installed.
There can have been no better quality races than the four-runner affair in 1981, when Night Nurse ran against the future Queen Mother winner Rathgorman only for both to lose out to Beacon Light. He was a high class hurdler and chaser over two miles with the misfortune to be around at the same time as a surfeit of exceptional horses. In the Mansion House Chase he received 13lbs from Rathgorman and 23 from Night Nurse and beat them by four lengths and three.
This is one of many races whose name I instinctively thought was still in existence, but its last manifestation at Doncaster was on 29 January 2005 on Great Yorkshire Chase day. The meeting was transferred to Southwell the following year while Doncaster was being redeveloped. There, Almaydan was the final winner of the Mansion House.
The name went, but the race itself came back on the Friday of the two-day meeting at the end of January 2012. It’s carried on since then as just another sponsored race. The 2022 winner Funambule Sivola excelled himself by going on to finish a 40/1 second in the Queen Mother.