Derby Day

Derby Day, the last Wednesday in May or (occasionally) the first in June, on which the "Derby Stakes" for three-year-olds are run for at the summer meeting on Epsom Downs. They were instituted in 1780, and are called after the then Earl of Derby. The journey there and back from London by road, the subject of many caricatures, has been shorn of much of its former glory (and disorder) by increased railway facilities. The course is 1-1/2 miles. The quickest time hitherto has been 2 min. 43 sec (1888). Colts now carry 9st.; fillies 8st. 91bs.