digitaLmbuL’s FiLes

---

Speak! To change this standard text, you have to enter some information about your self in the Dashboard -> Users -> Your Profile box.

---

The town of Epsom first became famous for it’s natural mineral water, found up in the downs when a local farmer Henry Wicker took his cattle up to a watering hole on the

Downs in 1618. The alleged healing properties of the water brought crowds from

London who wanted to escape the squalor in return for the country air.
1661 saw the first recorded race meeting to be held on the

Downs and the tradition continued until the summer of 1779 when one of today’s greatest sporting spectacles was established.

Edward Smith Stanley, the 12th Earl of Derby, organised a race for himself and his friends to race their three-year-old fillies over one and a half miles. He named it the Oaks after his estate. The race became so successful that the following year a new race was added for colts and fillies. The title of the race was decided after the Earl of Derby and Sir Charles Bunbury, a leading racing figure of the day and friend of the Earl’s, flipped a coin. So begun the inaugural running of the ‘

Derby’ won, incidentally, by Sir Charles Bunbury’s horse Diomed. The contest was held over a mile with the starting point in a straight line beyond the current five-furlong marker. Tattenham Corner was not introduced until 1784 when the course was extended to its current distance of a mile- and-a-half. Summer starts on Derby Day, as people from all walks of life flock to Epsom Downs in party mode to celebrate the annual renewal of a race that was first run before America gained independence, before

Australia was colonised and before railways became a popular form of transport. Over the years, the great racehorse owning dynasties and the best jockeys have plotted and planned victory at Epsom Downs. Some have had and continue to have more success than others. The current Aga Khan celebrated his fourth victory in 2000 with the stunning success of his champion 3-year old colt, SINNDAR. This year sees the 20th anniversary of The Aga Khan’s first

Derby win with SHERGAR whose performance at Epsom Downs was widely acknowledged as the greatest performance of the 20th century. We all know how Lester Piggott dominated The Derby whilst he was riding but there have been many great jockeys who found victory at Epsom Downs hard to come by. Sir Gordon Richards, champion jockey 26 times between 1920 and 1954, had to wait until 1953 and the twilight of his career before he won on PINZA. Of the current generation, reigning champion Kevin Darley, George Duffield,

Richard

Hills, Richard Quinn, and Michael Roberts join Frankie Dettori in seeking that elusive

Derby win. The Vodafone Derby remains the race that not only top jockeys, but also owners, trainers and breeders most want to win.

There are countless Derbys around the world but the Vodafone Epsom Derby offers the unique challenge that pits the best horses of the Classic generation, ridden by the best jockeys around a course unlike any other anywhere in the world, and that consequently creates champions. That’s why The Vodafone Derby is known as The Blue Riband of the Turf. That’s why The Derby is the spiritual heart of flat racing.

Source: www.epsomdowns.co.uk