Epsom horse racing course info

Epsom Downs racecourse is home to the Vodafone Derby - the original and ultimate test over the unique mile and a half course on the first Saturday in June. Epsom is a unique course with its downhill run entering the straight which a lot of horses do not act on very well. The Derby was up to a few years ago staged on the first Wednesday in June and provided the gentry with a day off work from the city.

In recent years with the Vodaphone sponsorship the derby is now held at the weekend which has boosted the crowds in recent years. It is an occasion to put on top and tails and for the ladies to don there Ascot hats prior to the Royal Meeting. In the last couple of years during the long evening in the summer the fantastic Epsom Live! series of four evening meetings featuring live racing and live music! has taken off bringing a new breed of customer to the track.

The Derby Stakes, known colloquially as The Derby and internationally as the Epsom Derby, is considered one of the most prestigious flat thoroughbred horse races in the world. The race takes place each year in June (first weekend) at Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom, Surrey, England. The Derby is one of the five British Classic Races and is the second leg of the English Triple Crown, preceded by the 2,000 Guineas and followed by the St Leger. It is a Group 1 race for three-year-old colts and fillies - colts 9 st (126 lb or 57.2 kg), fillies 8 st 9 lb (121 lb or 54.9 kg). In modern times the race is almost always contested by colts only. Fillies and older horses also run the same course and distance for the Oaks and Coronation Cup respectively.

Many Derby contenders are prepared for the race by running in one or more of the recognised Derby Trials. Derby winners will often go on to compete for the big international races later in the season, such as the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in France and the Breeders' Cup in the United States.

Records:
Most successful jockey - Lester Piggott, 9 wins
Most successful trainers - Robert Robson, John Porter and Fred Darling, 7 wins
Most successful owners - 3rd Earl of Egremont and Aga Khan III, 5 wins
Fastest winning time (at Epsom) - 2m 32.31s, Lammtarra (1995)
Widest winning margin - 10 lengths, Shergar (1981)
Longest odds winners - Jeddah (1898), Signorinetta (1908), Aboyeur (1913), 100/1
Shortest odds winner - Ladas (1894), 2/9
Most runners - 34 (1862)
Fewest runners - 4 (1794)
Course Details Flat:
Left-handed, U-shaped course of 1m4f with steep undulations. 3 1/2f run-in with pronounced camber, initially downhill, rising in final furlong. Races up to 8 1/2f essentially sharp, particularly on 5f track, which is the fastest in the world.
Effect Of Draw:
High numbers best over 5f and 6f, low numbers best from 7f to 1m 2f.


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Contact Epsom race course

Epsom Downs Racecourse
Epsom Downs
Surrey
KT18 5LQ

Tel: 01372 726311


e-mail: epsom@jockeyclubracecourses.com
Internet site: http://www.epsomderby.co.uk/

How to get to Epsom race course