The 1780 Epsom Derby was the inaugural running of The

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

– the horse race which would become the "greatest turf event in the world" and after which more than 140 other horse races, including the famous Kentucky Derby, are named. It took place on 4 May 1780 on

Epsom Downs Epsom Downs is an area of chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the racecourse, the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 and are open to users such as ramblers, model ...

in Surrey, England, and was won by

Diomed Diomed, foaled in 1777, was an English Thoroughbred race horse who won the inaugural running of the Derby in 1780. He was subsequently a successful sire in the United States. Racing years A bright chestnut standing 15 hands 3 inchesAhner ...

, owned by Sir Charles Bunbury and ridden by Sam Arnull.

Background

At the previous year's

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

May race meeting,

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

had instigated a 1 1/2 mile race for three-year-old

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

, which he had named the Oaks after his nearby estate. His filly

Bridget Bridget is an Irish female name derived from the Gaelic noun ''brígh'', meaning "power, strength, vigor, virtue". An alternate meaning of the name is "exalted one". Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is largely related to the popularity of ...

had won the race, and it had been a great success. Accordingly, a post-race celebration was held by Lord Derby, at which it was decided to hold another new race for both colts and fillies the following year. The matter of naming the race was discussed, with the options being naming it after Derby himself or naming it after Sir Charles Bunbury, a member of the Jockey Club, who was Derby's guest at the Oaks. According to legend, the matter was settled in Derby's favour on the toss of a coin, although it seems likely that Bunbury actually deferred to his host. This first Derby was set to be run over only 1 mile, as were the next three. It was not until 1784 that the race was run over its now familiar distance of 1 mile 4 furlongs. Colts were to be allotted a weight of 8 stone, fillies 7 stone 11 lbs, another difference between this first race and subsequent runnings.

Pre-race form

Initially, there were 36 subscribers to the race, 27 of which remained at the forfeit stage. Of these, 9 finally went to post on the day. Among them were three colts sired by the unbeaten Eclipse – Boudrow (owned by Eclipse's owner-breeder, the gambler and conman Dennis O'Kelly), Spitfire (owned by a Mr Walker) and Polydore (owned by the

Duke Of Cumberland Duke of Cumberland is a peerage title that was conferred upon junior members of the British Royal Family, named after the historic county of Cumberland. History The Earldom of Cumberland, created in 1525, became extinct in 1643. The dukedom ...

). Also in the field was Diomed, which in his only outing so far had won a 500

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

sweepstake at the Second Newmarket Spring meeting, carrying 8 stone. He was less auspiciously bred, being by

Florizel Florizel (1768–1791) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a bay son of Herod foaled in 1768. As a sire he produced 175 winners who won a total of 75,901 pounds. Offspring included Eager (winner of the 1791 Derby), Tartar (St. Leg ...

, but was beginning to be compared to the sire of his rivals, Eclipse. Another representative from the same line was Drone, a colt by Herod who was Florizel's sire and Diomed's grandsire. The field was completed by Diadem, which had been behind Diomed at Newmarket, Wotton, and unnamed colts by

Gimcrack Gimcrack (1760 – after 1777) was an English thoroughbred racehorse. Background Gimcrack was a small grey horse at 14.2 hands sired by Cripple, a son of the Godolphin Arabian, his dam Miss Elliot was by (Grisewood's) Partner. Racing career ...

and

Matchem Matchem (1748 – 21 February 1781), sometimes styled as Match 'em, was a Thoroughbred racehorse who had a great influence on the breed, and was the earliest of three 18th century stallions that produced the Thoroughbred sire-lines of today, in ...

. Diomed's unbeaten form led to him going to post as the 6/4 favourite. The two Eclipse colts, Boudrow and Spitfire, were next in the betting at 4/1 and 7/1 respectively. The Matchem colt, owned by the

Duke of Bolton Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

was at 10/1.

Raceday

The first running of the Derby had "nothing like its later glamour and importance." Rather than being the showpiece event it is today, it was sandwiched into a programme that included "cokfights icbetween the gentlemen of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and the gentlemen of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

". In fact, Lord Derby himself was known to prefer

cock-fighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

to horse racing. Moreover, in those days, the journey from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to Epsom took around 12 to 14 hours over difficult roads. All this combined to mean there were few spectators. The day is reported to have a comparatively meagre attendance, probably fewer than 5,000. Also in contrast to today, there were no professional

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

s, the gentlemen making books among themselves. All in all, it could be said that, "no public interest had yet attached itself to a race destined ultimately to become world famous". There are at least two published notices of the result. One was in the ''

London Evening Post The ''London Evening Post'' was a pro- Jacobite Tory English language daily newspaper published in London, then the capital city of the Kingdom of Great Britain, from 1727 until 1797.Cranfield, G.A. (1963). "The ''London Evening Post'', 1727–17 ...

'' on 6 May 1780 which read thus: The other in the 1780 Racing Calendar gave the full result. Diomed had won as the betting market had predicted, followed by the two Eclipse colts, Boudrow and Spitfire. The field trailed back to the Duke of Bolton's colt by Matchem.

Aftermath

The victory proved to be the high water mark of Diomed's racing career. Although he went unbeaten through his seven three-year-old races, at four he proved more than beatable. He was beaten for the first time in the Nottingham Stakes by Fortitude owned by Lord Grosvenor, a race he was fully expected to win. Boudrow also got his revenge, beating Diomed in a 300 guineas

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consi ...

at Newmarket. Diomed was in fact to win only once more before being put out to stud, where after initial problems he became tremendously successful, especially in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

where he founded many important families. He died aged 31. Boudrow's owner, Dennis O'Kelly, would not have to wait long for his first Derby win,

Young Eclipse Young Eclipse (1778 – c. 1803) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1781 Epsom Derby. He raced until he was six years old, winning seven races and retiring to stud in 1785. He was not a successful sire. Background Young Eclipse was ...

triumphing the following year. Meanwhile the race itself "fairly caught hold on the public imagination." It became the premier British classic and many of the world's top championship races were named after it.

Race details

* Winner's prize money: £1,065 15s * Going: ''not known'' * Number of runners: 9 * Winner's time: ''not known''

Full result

Winner details

Further details of the winner, Diomed: * Foaled: 1777 * Sire:

* Dam: Mare (1763) by Spectator * Owner: Sir Charles Bunbury * Breeder: Hon. Richard Vernon of Newmarket

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{authority control Epsom Derby 1780 18th century in Surrey 1780 in English sport