A HISTORY OF SURREY 



he beat in a match over the four mile Beacon 

 course at Newmarket in April 1 770, made a 

 sort of race with him. He never ran at 

 Epsom again, but was always trained on the 

 adjoining downs. 



The first Derby was worth ^1,125, all of 

 which went to the winner. Nowadays the 

 race is never worth less than ;^6,000, and in 

 the year 1903 the winner received ^^6,450 

 (after his own stake had been deducted), 

 while the second received ;^400, and the 

 third ;^200. The stake is still the same, a 

 subscription of ^50, half forfeit, but owners 

 can save the bulk of this by paying a minor 

 forfeit of £$ fourteen months before the race 

 comes off. It is needless to trace in detail 

 the history of the Derby, nor does space 

 permit it, but some facts in connection with 

 it may be noticed. For instance in the 

 fourth year of its existence the distance was 

 increased to a mile and a half, and at this it 

 has remained ever since. In the preceding 

 year (1782) the second received ;^ioo out of 

 the stakes, and in 1784 the weights were 

 raised 3lbs., colts carrying 8st. 3lbs. and 

 fillies 8st. Two years later the race, which 

 had previously been run on Thursday, was 

 run on Wednesday, but in the following 

 year Thursday was again chosen, and this 

 continued to be the day of the race until 

 1838, when Wednesday was once more 

 chosen, and has been ' Derby Day ' ever 

 since. In 180 1 the weight for fillies was 

 reduced to 7st. I albs., that carried by colts 

 remaining unchanged at 8st. These condi- 

 tions remained in force only two years, for in 

 1803 a fresh rule was made under which 

 colts were required to carry 8st. 5lbs., and the 

 fillies 8st. In 1 807 a further increase of 2lbs, 

 was imfKJsed upon both sexes, which weights 

 remained in vogue until 1862, when colts 

 were required to carry 8st. lolbs., and fillies 

 8st. 5lbs. In the year 1884 the weights 

 were raised to gst. for colts, and 8st. gibs. 

 for fillies, and there they remain to this day, 

 further change in this matter being most 

 improbable. 



Though the stake money for the Derby 

 has never been increased, the race is now 

 worth six times as much as it was in the year 

 of its inception. This increase in value has 

 been brought about by the rise in the number 

 of subscriptions. The rise was very gradual 

 at first, and at times has not been continued. 

 Thus the first Derby secured thirty-six sub- 

 scriptions, but for thirteen years there was a 

 slight falling off, until 1793, in which year 

 Waxy proved himself the best of an original 

 entry of fifty. After this date the members 

 dropped to below fifty, and did not reach 



that total again until 1813, when Smolensko 

 was the winner, from an entry of fifty-one. 

 The numbers have never again fallen below 

 fifty ; they rose gradually to one hundred and 

 five in 1 83 1, and after that came a somewhat 

 rapid rise, the subscriptions in 1848 reaching 

 215. Since that date they have fluctuated 

 considerably, falling below 200 on thirteen 

 different occasions, and only once, in Diamond 

 Jubilee's year, exceeding 300. Diamond 

 Jubilee's Derby holds the record with 301 

 subscriptions, while the Derbys of 1785 and 

 1786 tie for lowest place in the list, with 

 twenty-nine subscriptions apiece. 



Omitting the last three years, the sub- 

 scribers and starters for 120 Derbys can be 

 thus tabulated : — 



For the first twenty years of the race the sub- 

 scriptions averaged . 36, the starters 10 



For the second ditto . . 43, „ 12 



„ third „ . . 93, „ 18 



„ fourth „ . . 194, „ 26 



,, fifth „ . . 237, „ 22 



„ sixth „ . . 228, „ 12 



It will be seen that fields are now very 

 much smaller than they used to be ; this is 

 due to two very simple causes. Firstly the 

 training reports and accounts of trials which 

 are published make known much more con- 

 cerning the form of racehorses than was the 

 case about fifty years ago, when the average 

 number of starters stood highest. Secondly, 

 so many other valuable prizes have sprung 

 into existence in late years, that unless a 

 horse has a first-rate chance of winning the 

 Derby he is very often kept for some other 

 race which he appears to have a greater 

 chance of winning. If we go back a quarter 

 of a century to the period immediately before 

 the advent of the gate-money meeting, and 

 examine the calendars for a few years, it will 

 be found that, with the exception of the four 

 classic races, Derby, Oaks, and One and Two 

 Thousand Guineas, there were no really 

 valuable prizes for three year olds before the 

 Ascot meeting. The Newmarket Biennial, 

 the Craven Stakes, and the Biennial at Bath, 

 were the best three year old prizes of the 

 spring, apart from the classic races, but of late 

 all the successful enclosed meetings have been 

 offering rich prizes for three year olds, and 

 the Newmarket Stakes has been remodelled, 

 and is now a very valuable race. In short, 

 apart from the honour and glory of being 

 represented in the great Epsom race, there is 

 no particular reason why an owner should 

 start a second-class horse in the Derby, when 

 he can almost certainly find a less valuable 

 but yet a most desirable prize, in competing 



494 



