Legend has is that the
Derby was so-called as the result of a coin toss between its
co-founders, Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby, and Sir
Charles Bunbury, Chairman of the Jockey Club. The veracity of that
claim is debatable but, either way, the Derby Stakes was run for the
first time on May 4, 1780.
Derby had already
founded the Oaks Stakes, open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies,
and run over a mile-and-a-half on Epsom Downs, the previous year. By
contrast, the Derby Stakes was open to three-year-old thoroughbred
colts and fillies but, for the first three years of its existence,
was run not over a mile-and-a-half, but over a straight mile. It was
not until 1784 that the distance was extended by four furlongs and
the sweeping, downhill turn into Tattenham Corner was incorporated
into the Derby course. Apart from the years 1915-1918 and 1940-1945,
when Epsom Downs was commandeered by the Army and a substitute race,
known as the ‘New Derby, was run on the July Course at Newmarket,
the Derby has continued, uninterrupted, ever since.
That said, the Derby
was ‘interrupted’ on June 4, 1913, when suffragette Emily Davison
ran out onto the course at Tattenham Corner. Her purpose for doing so
is debated to this day, but she was struck by Anmer, owned by King
George V, suffered a fractured skull and died from her injuries four
days later, without regaining consciousness.
On a lighter note, the
Derby is, and probably always will be, synonymous with the legendary
Lester Piggott who, with nine winners, is far and away the most
successful jockey in the history of the Epsom Classic. Piggott became
the youngest jockey ever to win the Derby when, at the age of
eighteen, he rode 33/1 chance Never Say Die to victory in 1954 and
subsequently added Crepello (1957), St. Paddy (1960), Sir Ivor
(1968), Nijinksy (1970), Roberto (1972), Empery (1976), The Minstrel
(1977) and Teenoso (1983) to his impressive winning tally.
