the b.h.a. & epsom brought it on themselves.

​The Betfred Epsom Derby will be off at 1.30 pm this year as the F.A. Cup Final between the Manchester rivals (two Derbies in one day) must kick-off at 3.00 pm at the behest of the Metropolitan Police due to the possibility of riot and hooliganism by City and United fans. I suspect supporters of the losing side will be overly-grumpy at the defeat they have suffered, will be mocked as losers by City fans, so changing the time of kick-off will only result in riot and hooliganism later in the evening when the Derby winner will be tucked up for the night in his stable.
Once upon a time the Epsom Derby was a highly significant social event; Parliament would recess at noon so that members could catch the train or horse-drawn carriage to the track to hobnob with both their social equals and their aristocratic betters. Some of the sitting M.P.’s even had an interest in racing, with perhaps a runner in the race. If only that were the case today! The Epsom Derby, due as much to this decision as any other reason, is now reduced to the status of a horse race and nothing more. It is one aspect of life to have a classic rearranged due to the coronation of a King but to have the sport’s supreme classic shuffled into the backwater of the day for no better reason than a football match is being played close by should be seen as a wake-up call.
This farce could be avoided if someone at the B.H.A. had noticed that this year’s Cup Final was to take place on the same day as the scheduled Epsom Derby and an early decision taken to stage the great race on a different day altogether. Perhaps the following Sunday, even if the French Derby is slated for the same day. Or the Friday before, with the Oaks run on the Saturday. Running the race at 1.30 is, to my mind, was the worst option open to the B.H.A. and yet they chose to slight the importance and reputation of the race. It smacks of ‘get the race run by hook or by crook’.
The dilemma, of course, is not rooted to the 2023 staging of the Cup Final at 3 pm but in the decision to make redundant history and tradition and stage the race on the first Saturday in June for betting and television reasons rather than keep to the historic date of the first Wednesday in June.
When staged on the first Wednesday in June, the Epsom Derby was a special day for Londoners and those living in the immediate environs of Epsom Downs. For city dwellers it was a day-out, a mid-week holiday, a ride on a charbanc. A day to look forward to. A day off work. A day out in the fresh air. A party on the Downs. All the fun of the fair and all that with a horse race on top and within shouting distance of Britain’s toffs, with perhaps even a glimpse of the Queen or King.
And, of course, they don’t play F.A. Cup Finals on a Wednesday afternoon, do they?
There is another reason why the Epsom Derby should be returned to a Wednesday and that is the ‘premierisation’ of racing; the keeping of Saturdays as holy days for the elite racecourses and the elite races for the benefit of increased betting turnover. Returning to tradition and running the Derby and Oaks mid-week would open-up a Saturday for those racecourses not considered ‘elite’ by the B.H.A to stage meetings to advertise all they have to offer the racing public. Instead of shuffling Mussleburgh, for instance, and their showcase meeting to the backwaters of morning or evening racing, as is proposed, such racecourses could take up the marketing mantle and hold sway on the first Saturday in June. All-turf Saturday, perhaps, a celebration of the country’s smaller racecourses from Musselburgh to Carlisle to Salisbury and through to Brighton. Or whichever racecourses wishes to stage a marque event to showcase all they have to offer.
The Epsom Derby does not deserve to be treated in this shabby manner. Whichever way this issue is dressed-up, it is an insult to the sport. The Epsom Derby has a far longer history than the F.A.Cup - first run in 1760. Compared to 1760, football is still running around in short trousers. A member of royalty may present the winning trophy at Wembley but the Epsom Derby was born out of royalty and our late and still missed Queen was as much associated with the race as she was with Buckingham Palace or Sandringham. Would the B.H.A. have taken the same decision if our late Queen were still alive? I doubt if the matter was even thought controversial by King Charles. No disrespect intended, your majesty.
Our late Queen held the sport and its history in high regard and desired only what would be in the best interests of the sport. Reluctantly, she may have given her consent. I, too, hold the sport and its history in high regard, though I am not tolerant in all matters and, if given a deciding vote, would have rejected the 1.30 start time in favour of almost any other option. This decision, to my mind, goes into the mad, bad and sad category of B.H.A. decision-making. The message it sends-out to the wider sporting public is this: horse racing no longer is no longer relevant; not even our premier flat race, ‘the greatest race in the world’, apparently.