Epsom and the Derby – the early years
- During the English Civil War a group of royalists met on the Downs near Epsom in spring 1648 under the pretext of holding a race meeting but in actual fact it was to muster troops and horses – what this confirms is that the site was already well a well-known venue for racing
- The first Derby was run in 1780, was called the Derby Stakes, and took place on Thursday 4 May, the second day of a four-day meeting
- Diomed, owned by Sir Charles Bunbury, won the inaugural race, beating eight rivals and collecting £1,128 prize-money – all the runners were colts carrying 8st
- The race distance was a mile, run on a four-mile track and it’s long been thought the race started to the north-east of where the stands are now, and joined the current home straight approximately two-and-a-half-furlongs from the finish – however, Derby historian Michael Church has established that the start was in fact situated south of where the current start is
- The original start didn’t have the right-hand dog-leg bend after a furlong, and the track joined today’s course just before Tattenham Corner
- A consequence of the start’s position was that it was in a dip and out of sight from the finish, and the race was plagued by false starts – to rectify this, the start was moved to nearer its current position in 1848, visible from the stands
- The current Derby Course was first used in 1872 when the start was again moved to avoid ongoing conflict with a neighbouring landowner over whose property part of the race was run
Derby stats http://wp.me/p8e3Dl-23a
Derby runners guide http://wp.me/p8e3Dl-23j
Epsom Dash stats http://wp.me/s8e3Dl-7984
Coronation Cup stats http://wp.me/p8e3Dl-23K
Oaks runners guide http://wp.me/p8e3Dl-22R
Oaks stats http://wp.me/p8e3Dl-23H
Epsom and the Derby: the early years http://wp.me/s8e3Dl-7961
Epsom racecourse guide http://wp.me/s8e3Dl-7935
