“Evocation of Speed”
The horse racing sculpture now in Epsom Market Place

Unlike the memorial to Suffragette Emily Davison unveiled in June 2021, there is no explanatory material attached to the other piece of public art that, as below, has stood in the Market Place since 2020 – not even its title, “Evocation of Speed”.

Photograph by Roger Morgan © 2021

Indeed, the only text is on the sculpture is, as below, “DIOMED” behind the knee of the jockey on the side facing the camera above and “GALILEO” behind the heel of the jockey on the other side – names that will mean little to those not well-informed about horse racing history.

Photographs by Roger Morgan © 2021

For the record, this is the background. To celebrate the Millennium, the Epsom and Ewell Borough Council commissioned Judy Boyt (a sculptor famous for her depiction of horses) to create an iconic sculpture to connect Epsom to the famous Derby that has been run on Epsom Downs since 1780.

The sculptor’s aim was to represent the essence and speed of an actual race, with two horses neck and neck at the symbolic circle of the winning post. She gave the result historical context by making one of the horses (on the near side of the photograph above) Diomed – the winner of the very first Derby in 1780 – and the other Galileo, winner of the 2001 Derby, the first of the new millennium. The most important part of a horse race is the nose passing the winning post, and the figurative sculpture is pared back to let the focal point be the horses’ heads – past against the present and on into the future

The image of Diomed is modelled on oil paintings of the time, so the horse’s tack is of the period and the jockey (Sam Arnull) is riding in long stirrups.

“Diomed”, winner of the first Derby in 1780.
19th century mezzotint on paper after George Stubbs’ original oil painting.
Image (1955.1993) with thanks to The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Galileo, on the other hand, is shown with horse and rider (Mick Kinane) in the modern style, with short stirrups.

Galileo winning the 2001 Derby by 3½ lengths.
Image with thanks to CNN, copyright acknowledged.

In 2002, the sculpture – of patinated bronze on a polished stainless steel base – was installed in Derby Square, outside the then newly-built Ebbisham Centre (since 2018, “Epsom Square”) which, among other things, includes Epsom Library.

“Evocation of Speed” in its original location in Derby Square.
Photograph by Jim Linwood via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Derby Square was remodelled in 2018 and, after a temporary move to the nearby Oaks Square (to the rear of 16 Waterloo Road), 2020 saw the sculpture installed in its new home at the west end of Epsom’s Market Place – of which there are three views below.

“Evocation of Speed” in its Market Place location since 2020.
Diomed (1780) is on the left and Galileo (2001) is on the right.
Photographs by Roger Morgan © 2021

The Market Place has an avenue of brass plaques (arrowed in the photograph below) celebrating a number of significant Derbys over the years – two of which (see further below) commemorate Diomed’s and Galileo’s victories.

Photographs (as described above) by Roger Morgan © 2022

Details of the other plaques, together with associated Derby trivia, are at this link.

Roger Morgan © 2021 & 2022