Major-General Anthony St Leger (1731/32 – 19 April 1786) was a successful soldier, a Member of Parliament for Grimsby, and the founder of the St. Leger Stakes horse race. Born in February 1731 at Grangemellon, County Kildare, Ireland, he was the fourth son of Sir John St Leger (1674–1743), who was a judge of the Court of Exchequer (Ireland), and his second wife Lavinia, daughter of Kingsmill Pennefather of Cashel, County Tipperary. He was educated at Eton College. He attended Peterhouse, Cambridge, before embarking on a career in the army. His brother Barry St. Leger was also a distinguished army officer. They belonged to the junior branch of a long established landowning family from County Cork: the head of the senior branch was Viscount Doneraile.