Horse Racing at Epsom
Horse racing on Epsom Downs will have had now-lost informal roots before the English Civil War. Horse racing was banned during the Commonwealth (1649-60). On its demise, the first recorded race meeting in the country took place at Epsom on 7 March 1661, in the presence of Charles II. By the early 18th Century, there were regular race meetings on the unique Epsom racecourse, from which grew the world-famous “Derby” and “Oaks” races.
Indexed below are the many pages on this site about not only the horse racing but also many related personalities and incidents.
= = =
Background
Horse Racing – Summary
Buildings
Horses
Eclipse (Wikipedia entry)
Races/Events
Derby Day 1849 (Manners – A View Of Epsom Downes)
The horse that caused a riot (winner of The Oaks, 1864)
The 1930 Derby (with nearly a sting in the tail!)
Narratives
A trip to Epsom Races (1837)
Manners – A View Of Epsom Downes (Derby Day 1849)
Epsom Races – A French Perspective (in 1856)
London : A Pilgrimage (Derby Day in about 1870)
Recollections of Epsom and the Derby (1892)
Personalities
Grant (née Primrose), Lady Sybil, champion of the Gypsies
The Tout (Peter Buchanan – racing caricaturist)
Crimes
A Woman Shot at Epsom on Derby Day
Extraordinary Fracas at the Derby
Miscellaneous
Coffin Bones, Horseboxes and Epsom
O’Kelly’s Racing Establishment
Sculpture – “Evocation of Speed“
The Times Clock Tower – Epsom Downs