- This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 6 months ago by
.
- Posts
- Total Posts 17716
The idea that the Derby ought by Immortal Tradition to be held on the first Wednesday of June is often encountered on the Forum. I thought it was worth flagging up that it is something of an urban myth.
The Derby was instituted as a Thursday race, and run in late May or early June (dependent on the Easter schedules) until 1838, the year of the first Wednesday running. The change was made to fit in with railway timetables, and was generally considered a fiasco.
The management stuck with Wednesday, though the date was sometimes as early as May 13th. In 1915-1918 it was on a Tuesday, to confuse the Germans, reverting to Wednesday in 1919, by which time opposition from the old-fashioned “Thursday” brigade had died out.
The first Saturday Derby was nearly 70 years ago, in 1942 (on 13th June) at Newmarket. It was run on a Saturday also in 1943, 1944, 1945. The reversion to Wednesday in 1946 was not a success, and the Saturday date was resumed by demand of vox pop in 1947 (ah, socialism!)
Saturday continued to be the chosen day in 1948, 1949, 1950, and 1953 (my year). After that the conservative “Wednesday” set again gained the upper hand, until Lammtarra’s year (1995) since when it has stuck with Saturday.
What is “traditional”? Only Monday, Friday and Sunday have not been Derby Day at some point in time. Our idea of “tradition” often accords with “how it was when I was a lad”. In particular, the idea of “first Wednesday in June” is a myth, applying only to something like 30% of all Derbies run to date.
An excellent post, Pinza. Can’t argue with the facts.
However, if you are asking the critics to desist on the grounds of being a slave to a myth, I would argue that you’re missing the point. If you’re not then you can skip the next bits.
Before 1995, the sport of horse racing had a day all to itself. A showcase day, a day with little else going on, a day where the national dailys desperate for news, could get behind the event, a unified day where we could promote the sport of flat racing to the wider population.
What else occurs on the first Wednesday in June? A cookery show or two. A Brotherhood of Man reunion concert. Someone loses a set of golf clubs in Banbury. A swallow migrates early to the Ivory Coast. The mayor of Norwich absconds with the petty cash.
What an opportunity to have the TV and the newspapers all to ourselves. Crying marketing men the world over beat a path to the Jockey Club’s marbled halls. I mean, look at Australia on the first Tuesday in November. The world and her husband knows thats when they run the Melbourne Cup. Its called a Unique Selling Point.
So what do we do?
With all this free PR time going begging, all this monopoly potential and all this back page acreage to exploit we move the race to a Saturday.
Talk about Gordian Knot Resolution, Pinza! Lets just chop at the problem with a pointy sword shall we?
Lets move it in competition with the European Football Championships (didn’t exist as a TV medium between 1944-1953.) The World Cup (ditto.) England friendlies. League Play offs.
Lets put it up against golf. Rugby tours to the southern hemisphere. Test cricket. Athletics. Pap paps.
(The Jockey Club, huh. I’d back a chipped housebrick against a British aristocrat in a game of snap.)
Why not swap an entire day to showcase a sport, a day with its own name and its own cultural identity for a Saturday?
You never know, we might eventually get to fit the world’s oldest classic, the root race, the race which gave everything which ever happened over the next 250 years some
context,
into the half time break of a football match.
And what’s the long term outcome of that 1995 decision? Well, look at the Derby in 2009. A shocking day. How many British runners? How many French runners? How much TV coverage? How many backpages given over to discussion? Seathewho? And the attendance wasn’t too chipper either I understand.
A poor decision Pinza and probably an irreversible one in todays day and age.
As you say a ‘tradition’ is something you grew up with that provides structure, meaning, familiarity and comfort in later life.How ever much you try to avoid it increasing age brings with it increasing inflexibility and fear or dislike of change.
The loss of those traditions etched deeply on the youthful psyche become ever more irksome as the years pass.
No doubt the message boards in 1838 were full of old timers denouncing the move from Thursday to Wednesday as an afront to civilisation due to an over-riding obsession with these new-fangled train thingies.
What on earth is wrong with the sedate three hour journey from Westminster to Epsom by stagecoach?
Personally,I do miss the ever-so-slightly louche atmosphere of that first Wednesday in June
No doubt the message boards in 1838 were full of old timers denouncing the move from Thursday to Wednesday as an afront to civilisation due to an over-riding obsession with these new-fangled train thingies.
…whereas I’m merely affronted that a Saturday Derby detracts coverage away from the Valerie Lewis Memorial at Worcester and the season’s final hunter chase at Hexham. No pleasing everyone all of the time.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
- Total Posts 17716
More important than the day it’s run, is today’s news that the race is about to lose its place on the list of protected terrestrial free-to-air sporting events, in favour of the home Ashes test matches.
No surprise at all that the Derby will lose its protected status, sadly. The bell it rings in the national conciousness nowadays has a peal no louder than that sounding when the Saturday featuring the now similarly unprotected Rugby League Cup Final comes around.Minority interests both; one wasn’t, one always has been.
Welcome news that The Ashes will be back on terrestrial, and one would like to think this decision will catalyse the return of all Home test matches to auntie beeb
West, Arlott, Laker, Benaud, Dexter, Graveney…
What a wunnerful ‘tradition’
I feel 50 years younger
Though by 2017 I will need to feel 60 years younger…gawd
What an opportunity to have the TV and the newspapers all to ourselves. Crying marketing men the world over beat a path to the Jockey Club’s marbled halls. I mean, look at Australia on the first Tuesday in November. The world and her husband knows thats when they run the Melbourne Cup. Its called a Unique Selling Point.
So what do we do?
With all this free PR time going begging, all this monopoly potential and all this back page acreage to exploit we move the race to a Saturday.
I understand your Unique Selling Point Max but we live in a very weekend orientated world these days. Weekends are when more people have more freetime. In order to attend a Wednesday Derby people would need to take days off work and its not during the school holidays. By having the race on a saturday you are giving yourself a larger share of potential racegoers – even if that means competing with other saturday sports as you mention.
If you asked 1000 random people in the street when the Melbourne Cup was run my guess is a very tiny proportion (less than 5%) would know its the first Tuesday in November (unless of course the survey was done on that day lol). Im guessing most wouldn’t know what the Melbourne Cup was!!! Same goes for the Derby. If its held on first Wednesday in June every year its not going make it more known.
This is just my opinion though. Its not based on hard facts or evidence.
I must admit that if I was Prime Minister I would consider as one of my first acts to revert Derby Day back to midweek, and to make both Derby Day and Cheltenham Gold Cup Day National Holidays. One of the problems is that Cheltenham is nearish to Easter, and Derby Day is just after two BHs in May. I don’t think there is anything than can be done about the former, and it might be the first BH for 10 weeks, as I can’t remember all the other new National holidays that I was planning to introduce. As regards the latter, one of the other changes I am introducing is that if a BH falls on the weekend, tough titty, there is none of this making the following Monday a BH. In this way, I reckon I can get a few more National Holidays into the calendar, as some of them will sometimes fall at weekends. November 5th will be one – wow will we have some great bonfires with the dads let loose for the day!
I do think that there is a feeling that something has been lost, with Prime Ministers such as Lord Bentinck having runners, and Parliament having the day off. Also, society has fragmented, and there are few things that bring everyone together. We still have national television broadcasters and national newspapers, but who reads them nowadays?
There is something both louche and comforting about having a day such as the Derby midweek, and travelling on the charabanc to it, taking the day off work, rather than having to go to it on Saturday when one is supposed to be having one’s leisure time.
Sorry about being a bit garrulous, been on the Stella all afternoon, apart from the bits when I was sleeping.
Haven’t the powers that be occasionally teased us about sanctioning another bank holiday. Why not Derby Day Wednesday? It’s unique mid-week setting breaking the working week for many and what better way to spend then to either go for a day out on the Downs or park in front of the Telly?
OOPS! Reality Check – If this wish was granted, no doubt the FA would gatecrash and plonk a meaningless England friendly on the same day! Either that or families would embark on a day trip to shopping malls and B&Q! Anyway, another bank holiday will surely not be sanctioned for a mere horse race. That would be far too frivolous.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.