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Epsom and Ewell - the Derby
 The
1999 Derby field rounding Tattenham Corner
The corncob philosopher Irwin S. Cobb once wrote: "Until you go to Kentucky
and with your own eyes behold the Derby you ain't been nowhere and you ain't
seen nothin". Kentucky's imitation may have been extended these days into
a fourteen day party. But it still needs the Kentucky label attached. Only
Epsom's great race, to be run for the 219th time in 1998, is known the world
over simply as THE Derby, with no need of further explanation.
The first winner of the Epsom Derby in 1780 was Diomed, who was later exported
to America. When he died there, apparently, there was as much mourning as
there was over George Washington's demise. And while there may be richer
horse racing purses in the world, although not many, the Epsom Derby remains
as the ultimate test, the prize everybody wants to win. Win the right to
have your horse's name on the Japan Cup and you share it with half a dozen
or so others. Earn an inscription on the Derby trophy and you are part of
history.
The annual "scurry over Surrey", one of the greatest sporting and social
events of the British calendar for top-hatted toffs and exuberantly under-dressed
day-trippers on "the Hill" alike is quite unlike any other Classic race.
Some call it the supreme test of the thoroughbred. A few argue that it is
a grotesque terrain on which to test the quality of the finest racehorses.
The three year old colts carry 9 stone each (any fillies who take on the
colts carry only 8st 9lb but despite that weight concession few try and
the last of them to win was Fifinella in 1916). The mile and a half race
begins on the far side of the course from the stands with the horses, often
highly-charged from the parade and preliminaries, running uphill on to a
gradual right hand bend. Jockeys then have the one real chance to settle
their mounts as they switch to the other rail, still racing uphill, towards
the top of Tattenham Hill. From the top of the hill, 502 feet above sea
level, there is a sweeping left handed descent, becoming steeper as the
horses approach Tattenham Corner, where the suffragette Emily Davison threw
herself in front of King George V's horse Anmer in 1913. As they swing into
the straight with half a mile to the winning post they continue downhill
briefly then meet a steady rise towards the end of the race, combined with
a slope down from the stands to the inside of the track which tends to make
tired horses hang to their left.
What makes it such a test is that horses have to be able to handle the uphill
grind and the downhill charge to Tattenham Corner. They have to have the
stamina and balance to see out the mile and a half on rising ground and
the fortitude to cope with the camber. But they need speed and agility too
to keep out of trouble and win a handy position in running. And they need
the temperament to cope with hustle and bustle of the fairground and the
roars of one of racing's biggest crowds.
The incomparable Lester Piggott, rider of no fewer than nine times, wrote
in his autobiography: "Size is less important than the manner of racing.
You need a horse that can lay up handy, a few places behind the leaders:
getting too far back at Epsom can be disastrous, as there is no part of
the course where you can readily make up ground forfeited early on. You
have to get up into a reasonable place and keep out of trouble as beaten
horses fall back on the downhill run".
Some jockeys too have had trouble with the course, notably the French. After
the Gallic champion Freddie Head on his first Epsom ride swung wide into
the finishing straight, losing many lengths, English jockey Geoff Lewis,
now an Epsom trainer, famously declared that if the French rider had gone
any wider the gypsies would have been demanding danger money.
The Derby is a race of character, a true segment of British tradition which
belongs to the people. Faced with tough competition from such events as
football's European Cup the Derby has not in recent years attracted quite
the crowds it did when it was traditionally London's Day Out with packed
open-topped charabancs arriving on the Downs from early in the morning.
But enterprising efforts by United Racecourses' management to give the Hill
back to the people, with reduced parking charges and renewed fairground
attractions, and to switch to running the race on Saturdays rather than
the traditional Wednesday have seen a recovery in attendance figures.
 Considering
the form: horses - and bookies
In 1997 the Derby, these days sponsored by Vodafone, won back its buzz.
And new arrangements have ensured that horses which prove their credentials
in recognised Derby trials like the Dante Stakes at York, the Chester Vase,
the Thresher Classic Trial at Sandown or the Lingfield Derby Trial without
holding a Derby entry can now, at a significant cost, buy their way into
the field at the last minute, so ensuring that it is a race for the best.
Today's cosseted thoroughbreds, who live their lives in equine five star
hotels, have it easy. The 1825 winner Middleton was accidentally allowed
by the lad plaiting his mane to drink a bucket of water so trainer James
Edwards walked him four miles to the course. And there is invariably a story
about the Derby winner.
There was a court case over the 1839 winner Bloomsbury, who was entered
with incorrect breeding details. But there was no legal action over the
rumours that he was, in fact, a four year old. When Pinza took the Coronation
Year Derby in 1953 it was the first Derby victory for jockey Sir Gordon
Richards, at his 28th and final attempt on the race. In 1891 the race was
run in such a torrential downpour that the jockeys were allowed to pass
the scales despite all weighing in 2lb heavier after the race in their sodden
silks than they were before it.
The longest-priced horses to win the Derby at 100-1 were Jeddah (1898),
Signorinetta (1908) and Aboyeur (1913). The shortest was Ladas at 2-9 in
1894. Since the war the biggest outsider to win was the firm-going specialist
Psidium in 1961 at 66-1 and the shortest priced favourite was Sir Ivor at
4-5. The youngest ever winning jockey was, almost inevitably, Lester Piggott,
who was only 18 when scoring on Never Say Die in 1954 and the oldest was
John Forth, who rode Frederick to win in 1829 at over sixty.
 After
it's over, there's always the funfair
Since the War the Derby has gone to nine Irish-trained horses, six of them
handled by Vincent O'Brien, and to seven French-trained horses. Silver Patriarch
having failed by the narrowest of margins to catch Benny The Dip in 1997
Airborne remains the last grey to have won the race, which he did in 1946.
This introduction to the Derby was kindly written specially for Epsom and
Ewell on the Internet by Robin Oakley, Political Editor of the BBC and also
Racing Correspondent of "The Spectator", where you can read his weekly articles
on the British racing scene.
For more information, please see our background information
page.
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