Major Fraud at the 1844 Derby

The Start of the Memorable Derby of 1844
By JF Herring Snr

Horse racing is renowned for race fixing but what happened at the 1844 Derby was probably the first major fraud committed in a prestigious English race.   The Derby is only for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies

At first sight the winner of the 1844 race was an outsider, a horse called Running Rein owned by Anthony Wood, with second place going to a horse called Orlando.  However rather than cheering the winner the crowd booed.  They had heard rumours that something was not right with Running Rein.

Running Rein
Image Source Illustrated London News 25 May 1844

Rumours that some owners were intending substituting horses older that the race’s 3 year old limit had started circulating many weeks before.   Lord George Bentinck raised the matter with the Epsom Stewards and the Jockey Club but surprisingly they both dismissed his concerns.

Orlando’s owner Colonel Jonathan Peel  (brother of the famous politician Robert Peel) was a close friend of Bentinck and appealed the decision.  It turned out that  a 4 year old horse called Maccabaeus had been disguised with hair dye and substituted for Running Rein. 

On 1 July 1844 Peel sued Wood in the High Court.   Wood was found innocent but suspicions immediately fell on Abraham Goodman Levy who had previously owned both Running Rein and Maccabaeus.   With a large amount of evidence against Goodman the judge  ordered that he produce Running Rein.  Goodman failed to do so the judge found that a fraud had been committed, and that Orlando was the winner. The judge then concluded that fraud had been proven. The horse Orlando was designated as the winner. Goodman and his co-conspirators fled to France.

Orlando, The 1844 Derby Winner
Image Source – Wikimedia

With so much attention focused on the race it transpired that another horse had also been swapped, this time a 5 year old, was substituted for a horse called Leander but was put down following a clash of hooves with Running Rein.  Other crimes involving the race came to light including doping of several horses including the two favourites and submission of false documents.

Peter Reed 2022