The Derby is Flat racing's Blue Riband. The crème de la crème of racing thoroughbreds, all chasing prestige as much as prize money. Planet Sport has all you need to know about the big races at Epsom.
One mile, four furlongs and six yards is all the top racehorses have to travel to win The Derby.
But the Epsom track is much more complicated than that. It is a true test of the best colts and fillies in racing, and the ultimate prize for owners, trainers and jockeys.
But the Epsom Derby Festival is more than just one race it also packs in two Group 1 races in The Oaks and the Coronation Cup, plus the Group 3s the Diomed Stakes and the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, and don’t forget the blink and your miss it Dash.
Planet Sport’s presents guide to one of the biggest Festivals of the Flat season.
Where is the derby?
The Derby is run at Epsom racecourse in Surrey, just a short 30-45 minute train ride from central London.
The true pros catch the quick London train to the rarely used Epsom Downs station, the racecourse is a 20 minute walk from there. It’s a 35 minute uphill walk from Epsom’s main town train station. Get a taxi if you want to sit in traffic on Derby Day.
Epsom used to be filled with pubs named after Derby winners, but now only The Blenheim (1930 winner) remains. Eclipse (1781), Spread Eagle (1795), The Amato (1838), The Sefton Arms (1878), The Ladas (1894) have all closed in the last couple of decades.
However, you can still get a drink in various horse-related pubs in the area. The Derby Arms, the Rubbing House and the Tattenham Corner all sit close to the track.
The Epsom track has been compared to a rollercoaster in the racing world. A steep climb, followed by a tough descent turn at Tattenham corner and a tricky camber in the home straight.
When was the derby first run?
The Derby was first run in 1780, when it was won by Diomed, after whom a race on Derby Day is still named.
The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Desert Crown won the 2022 Derby with Richard Kingscote in the saddle.
Which horses are allowed to run in the derby?
The Derby is open to three year old colts and fillies only. Geldings may not compete.
However, fillies rarely run and usually go in their own Classic the Oaks on Friday.
What are the big races at the derby festival?
The Epsom Derby Festival starts on Friday, June 2 and continues on Saturday, June 3
On Friday’s card you find the Group 1 Coronation Cup (1510) and The Oaks (1630), plus five other contests. It’s also Ladies Day on the Friday so wear your best hat and frock.
Derby Day is slightly different in 2023. The he big race starts at 13:30, moved forward so it doesn’t clash with the FA Cup final.
Saturday also boasts the Group 3 Diomed Stakes (1250), the Princess Elizabeth Stakes (1410) and the five furlong ‘Dash’ (1520).
EPSOM derby key stats
Fastest winning time: Workforce (2010) set a new course record of 2m 31.3s.
Widest winning margin: In 1981, Shergar won the Derby by 10 lengths.
Biggest priced winners: There have been three 100/1 winners of the great race: Jeddah (1898), Signorinetta (1908), Aboyeur (1913)
Shortest-priced winner: The 1894 winner Ladas did so at odds of just 2/9.
Did you know EPSOM derby stats
In 1913, the King George V’s horse Anmer ran into suffragette Emily Davison, who had got onto the race track. She died four days later.
In 1927, the BBC broadcast the race for the first time.
26-time champion jockey Sir Gordon Richards won the race only once, on Pinza, in 1953.
In 1960, the race was first broadcast on television.
In 1996, Alex Greaves became the first female jockey to ride in the ride. She rode Portuguese Lil, finishing last of the 20 runners.
In 2020, the race was run in July due to the Covid-19 lockdown preventing it from taking its usual slot on the calendar.
EPSOM legends: Lester Piggott
Lester Piggott will forever by synonymous with the Derby. As a jockey, he rode a record nine winners of the race, spanning four decades.
Piggott’s winners were: Never Say Die (1954); Crepello (1957); St Paddy (1960); Sir Ivor (1968); Nijinsky (1970); Roberto (1972); Empery (1976); The Minstrel (1977); Teenoso (1983).
The 86-year-old Piggott died on May 29, 2022 a week before the running of that year’s Derby.
This year Frankie Dettori will lay a wreath at the statue of Lester Piggott on Derby day, as Epsom also permanently renames a race in memory of one of the sport’s most decorated jockeys.
Epsom has announced that each year moving forward a member of the weighing room will lay a wreath in the colours of Piggott’s 1970 Derby hero Nijinsky at the statue of the rider situated on the Queen Elizabeth II Stand lawn.
Dettori will take this year’s wreath-laying duties as he makes his final appearance on Derby day before retirement, while the track has also renamed the £75,000 10-furlong handicap staged on Saturday as the Lester Piggott Handicap Stakes.
Dettori – who had a mural commemorating his Derby win on Golden Horn commissioned by Epsom prior to the track’s opening meeting of the season – classed Piggott both as a good friend and hero and is honoured to become the first jockey to lay the annual wreath.
EPSOM legends: Aidan O’Brien
Irishman Aidan O’Brien has trained the winner of the Derby a record eight times, all in the 21st Century.
O’Brien’s winners have been: Galileo (2001), High Chaparral (2002), Camelot (2012), Ruler of the World (2013), Australia (2014), Wings of Eagles (2017), Anthony Van Dyck (2019), Serpentine (2020)
Which horse is Frankie Dettori riding in his final Epsom Derby?
Arrest can give Frankie Dettori the perfect Epsom swansong by triumphing in the Derby.
Twice a winner of the premier Classic twice aboard Authorized (2007) and Golden Horn (2015), the 52-year-old’s career is tailor-made for Hollywood scriptwriters and he can have his blockbuster ending on the Surrey Downs.
The most recent of Dettori’s two Derby triumphs came for trainer John Gosden, who along with son Thady, is responsible for preparing Arrest for his date with destiny on Saturday.
And the signs are promising judged on what the son of Frankel has shown so far.
Always held in the highest of regard by the team at Clarehaven, the colt built on a third-placed debut to score twice at a mile before tackling a Group One assignment in his final start of the season, when beaten a short-head by the reopposing Dubai Mile over 10 furlongs in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud.
That performance highlighted Arrest’s Classic potential and he looked much more the finished article on his seasonal reappearance at Chester when blitzing the field in the Chester Vase.
Dettori kicked for home early on the Roodee and with stamina assured, plus a pleasing track reconnaissance complete during a recent gallops morning, Derby number three could be about to head the way of racing’s retiring hero.
Top trainer entries for the 2023 Epsom Derby
When it comes to finding the winner of the Derby, the runners provided by the top trainers are always worth noting. Here are the entries from trainers who have previously won the Derby.
Aidan O’Brien (eight wins): Auguste Rodin, Adelaide River, San Antonio
Charlie Appleby (two wins): Military Order
Sir Michael Stoute (six wins): Passenger
John Gosden (two wins): Arrest
