172 Fun Facts About Derby

Legend says the Derby was named by a coin toss between Lord Derby and which racing figure?

Sir Charles Bunbury was Steward of the Jockey Club and may simply have deferred to his host, the 12th Earl of Derby, with no coin involved; either way, his colt won the first running.

Which horse won the inaugural running of the Epsom Derby in 1780?

Diomed won the first Derby, then in his twenties was sold and shipped to Virginia, where he became one of the foundation sires of American racing.

What is the approximate distance of the Epsom Derby?

1 mile, 4 furlongs has been the trip only since 1784: the first four Derbys were dashes over the last mile of the old course.

Which railway company made Derby its engineering headquarters after its 1844 formation?

The Midland Railway was created in 1844 by merging three companies whose lines met at Derby, the Midland Counties among them, so the junction town became its headquarters and workshop.

Which nut goes into the original, trademarked Derby-Pie of Kentucky?

Walnuts and chocolate chips fill the original, whose makers guard the name so fiercely that the pecan-and-bourbon versions baked across Kentucky have to be sold as something else.

What distinguishes a Derby shoe from an Oxford?

Open lacing means the eyelet tabs are stitched on top of the vamp and can spread apart; the Oxford tucks them underneath, which is why it counts as the dressier shoe.

Which salad is said to have been born at the Brown Derby, the Los Angeles chain whose first restaurant was hat-shaped?

Cobb salad is named after Brown Derby owner Bob Cobb, who in the best-known telling threw it together from leftovers late one night for theatre owner Sid Grauman.

In sports, what does the term 'derby' typically refer to?

A match between two nearby rival teams borrows the name of the Epsom Derby: 'derby' came to mean any big sporting contest, and by the 1880s newspapers were writing of 'the local Derby'.

Which US president was in the White House when the first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875?

Ulysses S. Grant was midway through his second term on 17 May 1875, and the race has been run every year since, surviving two world wars and a pandemic with nothing worse than a postponement.

Who rode Secretariat to victory in the 1973 Kentucky Derby?

Ron Turcotte left school at 14 to work as a lumberjack in New Brunswick and got his start at a Toronto track walking hot horses; a fall in 1978 ended his riding career.

Which nonsense poet painted the animals in the Earl of Derby's private zoo in the 1830s?

Edward Lear was hired as an animal artist at Knowsley Hall; a rumour later spread that he was only the Earl of Derby writing under a pen name, since 'Lear' is an anagram of 'Earl'.

On Derby Day, which hat must men wear in Epsom's most formal stand?

Top hat and morning dress are the rule in Epsom's grandest stand on Derby Day, while a short walk away on the open Downs anyone can watch for free in whatever they like.

Which river flows through the city of Derby?

The River Derwent rises on the Peak District moors and joins the Trent just below Derby, and its steady flow drove the waterwheels of the early factories along its banks.

Epsom Downs racecourse, home of the Derby, lies in which English county?

Surrey's Epsom was famous before the racing: a bitter spring on its common drew 17th-century crowds to take the waters, and the mineral left behind is still sold as Epsom salts.

In which month is the Epsom Derby normally run?

June: for decades the Derby was run on the month's first Wednesday, moving to the weekend only in 1995, and the pandemic pushed the 2020 running back to July.

The Kentucky Derby has been run over what distance since 1896?

1¼ miles dates from 1896: the founder, who liked long races, had run short of money and sold the track, and its new owners trimmed the Derby to the shorter trip then in fashion.

Derby was granted city status in 1977 to mark which royal anniversary?

Her Silver Jubilee, 25 years on the throne: that July the monarch came to Derby herself and handed the charter to the mayor on the steps of the Council House.

Théodore Géricault's painting of the 1821 Derby at Epsom hangs in which museum?

The Louvre bought it in 1866; its horses fly along with all four legs outstretched, a pose that Eadweard Muybridge's photographs later proved no galloping horse ever strikes.

Which railway pioneer engineered the North Midland line, whose 1839 roundhouse still stands in Derby?

George Stephenson struck coal while tunnelling for the line and opened his own collieries beside it; the engine shed built at its Derby end survives as one of the world's oldest roundhouses.

In American English, what other name is often given to the derby shoe?

Blucher is strictly a close cousin of the derby, named after the Prussian field marshal Blücher, who is said to have ordered boots with open side flaps to keep his troops better shod.

Which jockey, nicknamed 'The Long Fellow' for his height, won a record nine Epsom Derbys?

Lester Piggott won the Derby nine times between 1954 and 1983; jailed for tax fraud in 1987 and stripped of his OBE, he returned to riding in 1990 and won a big race in America within days.

What feature of the Churchill Downs grandstand, added in 1895, became the symbol of the Kentucky Derby?

Its twin spires were ordered by the syndicate that bought the struggling track in 1894, and they have so outgrown the grandstand that the company's betting arm is simply called TwinSpires.

What is the traditional beverage associated with the Kentucky Derby?

The Mint Julep has been pushed by the track itself since 1938, and nearly every one sold on Derby weekend comes in that year's collectible glass, which racegoers take home.

Which industry's early water-powered mills put Derby among the cradles of Britain's Industrial Revolution?

Textiles: Lombe's silk mill, begun in Derby in 1717, was probably the world's first fully mechanised factory, half a century before Arkwright's cotton mills made the idea famous.

Which Kentucky Derby winner did NOT complete the US Triple Crown?

Spectacular Bid won the 1979 Derby and Preakness but finished third in the Belmont after stepping on a safety pin in his stall that morning.

What was the derby hat created for when it was first made in 1849?

Protection for gamekeepers was the brief: riding through woodland, their tall, fragile hats kept being knocked off by low branches, so a Norfolk estate ordered something low and close-fitting.

Which Rolls-Royce aero engine, first built in Derby, powered the wartime Spitfire and Hurricane fighters?

Merlin was not named after the wizard: Rolls-Royce called its piston engines after birds of prey, and a merlin is a small falcon. The first few hundred were built at the firm's Derby works.

Which material is a traditional Derby hat made from?

Hard felt was the whole point: the first customer is said to have put the prototype on the floor and stamped on it twice before agreeing to pay his 12 shillings.

Derby County were founded in 1884 as an offshoot of a club that played which sport?

Cricket: Derbyshire's county side set up a football team to keep players and supporters busy through the winter and bring in extra money, and the footballers shared its ground until 1895.

Ivy Leaguers' suede derbies gave rise to which nickname for prestigious law firms?

White-shoe firms took their name from the pale laced derbies with red soles that were all but a uniform at Ivy League colleges, whose graduates filled the old-line East Coast practices.

Which unbeaten 2006 Kentucky Derby winner shattered a hind leg two weeks later in the Preakness?

Barbaro broke three bones in his right hind leg moments after the start; surgeons rebuilt it and thousands of get-well cards covered his stall, but he was put down eight months later.

Derby Arboretum, given to the town in 1840, is often described as Britain's first what?

Public park: mill owner Joseph Strutt gave the grounds so working people had somewhere to walk, yet at first entry was free only on Sundays and Wednesdays and everyone else paid for the upkeep.

The Epsom Derby is exclusively open to horses of what age?

Three-year-olds only, colts and fillies alike, which means every horse gets exactly one chance at the Derby: there is no coming back to try again next year.

Alongside Rolls-Royce, which other major transport manufacturer had significant operations in Derby, England?

Derby has a rich history in engineering, with Rolls-Royce being prominent, and was also home to significant operations of the Canadian-based company Bombardier Inc. in rail manufacturing.

Istanbul's Fenerbahçe–Galatasaray match is called the Intercontinental Derby because the clubs sit on opposite sides of which strait?

The Bosphorus splits Istanbul between two continents: Fenerbahçe play on the Asian shore and Galatasaray come from the European side, so every meeting crosses from one to the other.

Mick the Miller, who won his sport's Derby in 1929 and 1930, was what kind of animal?

A greyhound: Mick the Miller won the Greyhound Derby at London's White City two years running and grew so famous that he was cast as the title dog in the 1934 film Wild Boy.

At which bend do Derby runners turn into Epsom's home straight?

Tattenham Corner is the sweeping downhill left-hander into the straight, and it was here in 1913 that the suffragette Emily Davison stepped out in front of the King's horse.

Which promoter created the Transcontinental Roller Derby in the mid-1930s?

Leo Seltzer staged the first Transcontinental Roller Derby at the Chicago Coliseum in August 1935, a month-long simulated road race for two-person skating teams that evolved into a contact sport.

Which 2015 Kentucky Derby winner went on to end a 37-year wait for a Triple Crown?

American Pharoah carries a permanent typo: 'Pharaoh' was misspelt when his name was registered and the slip stuck, so the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed is forever spelt wrong.

Which slugger hit the warehouse beyond right field on the fly during the 1993 Home Run Derby in Baltimore?

Ken Griffey Jr. reached the old railway warehouse behind Camden Yards, which no batter has ever hit in a game, and still lost the title that day in a playoff with Juan González.

Which horse won the very first running of the Kentucky Derby?

Aristides won the very first Kentucky Derby although owner H. Price McGrath had entered him mainly to set the pace for stablemate Chesapeake, who finished well back.

Which birds of prey became webcam stars after nesting on the tower of All Saints' in Derby in 2006?

Peregrine falcons got a helping hand: volunteers fixed a nest platform to the tower in 2006, the pair laid eggs the same year, and webcams added in 2007 let viewers around the world watch the chicks.

The derby hat became popular with which group in the American West during the 19th century?

Cowboys and railroad workers prized a hat that stayed put in a strong wind, whether on horseback or leaning out of a speeding train.

Which British monarch's horse Minoru won the Epsom Derby in 1909?

King Edward VII had won twice as Prince of Wales, but Minoru made him the first reigning monarch to win the Derby, and the crowd sang the national anthem as he led the colt in.

Which town completed the Danelaw's Five Boroughs alongside Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Stamford?

Nottingham made five fortified Danish army towns; Derby was the first the English took back, stormed in 917 by Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians.

Which silent-film star topped his most famous character's baggy trousers and tight coat with a small derby hat?

Charlie Chaplin said he wanted the Tramp's outfit to be a mass of contradictions: the trousers baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large.

As of 2025, which jockey shares the record of five Kentucky Derby wins with Bill Hartack?

Eddie Arcaro was born so small that a boyhood baseball team turned him away; as a jockey he won five Derbys and is the only rider to sweep the Triple Crown twice.

On which day of the week is the Kentucky Derby traditionally run?

The Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday in May; even the 1945 and 2020 runnings, postponed by war and pandemic, were held on Saturdays.

The Louisville Jockey Club founder was the grandson of which famous 1804 expedition explorer?

Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, toured Epsom and Longchamp in 1872–73 before organising the Louisville Jockey Club.

What did brothers John and Henry Churchill provide that put their family name on the Kentucky Derby's racetrack?

The land: they leased 80 acres to their nephew, the track's founder, and within a few years of the first race people were calling the place Churchill Downs.

In the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, what did 13 of the 15 jockeys have in common?

They were African American, like most leading riders of the day; within a generation, intimidation by white jockeys and owners' hiring had driven Black riders off the track almost completely.

As of 2025, which Kentucky farm, founded on a baking-powder fortune, has bred the most Kentucky Derby winners?

Calumet Farm began in 1924 as a stud for trotting horses, named after its founder's baking powder; only after switching to Thoroughbreds did it turn out two Triple Crown winners in a decade.

Which Black jockey won the Kentucky Derby in both 1901 and 1902?

Jimmy Winkfield won back-to-back Derbies on His Eminence in 1901 and Alan-a-Dale in 1902, then left for a riding career in Russia and France.

Which Kentucky Derby winner of the 1940s became the first racehorse to earn a million dollars?

Citation was brought back to the track at six, well past his best, purely to chase the million; he retired the moment a big California win carried him over the line.

Which Daily Racing Form writer is credited with popularising the term 'Triple Crown' in 1930?

Charles Hatton made the phrase stick while covering Gallant Fox's 1930 sweep, though a few reporters had tried it as early as 1923; Sir Barton had won all three races in 1919 before the feat had a name.

Which Depression-era underdog beat the 1937 Kentucky Derby winner War Admiral in 1938's 'Match Race of the Century'?

Seabiscuit won by four lengths, and the rivals were family: War Admiral's sire, Man o' War, was Seabiscuit's grandsire.

As of 2025, which American jockey is the only rider to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Epsom Derby?

Steve Cauthen won America's Triple Crown as a teenager in 1978, then crossed to England, where he became champion jockey three times and took Epsom's great race in 1985 and 1987.

Which 1968 winner was the first Derby victor to be disqualified?

Dancer's Image finished first in 1968 but a urine test found the painkiller phenylbutazone, and runner-up Forward Pass was awarded the win.

Which jockey became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby, in 1970?

Diane Crump finished 15th on Fathom; a year earlier she had needed a police escort through a hostile crowd at Hialeah to become the first woman to ride in a US betting race.

Whose 1964 record did Secretariat break with his 1:59.4 in 1973?

Northern Dancer's 2:00 flat from 1964 stood until Secretariat, running each quarter faster than the last, clocked 1:59 2/5 in 1973.

Which 2001 winner joined Secretariat as the Kentucky Derby's only winners under two minutes?

Monarchos clocked 1:59.97, and as of 2025 no winner has done it since; Secretariat's 1973 runner-up, Sham, is reckoned to have beaten two minutes as well and still lost by two and a half lengths.

Which nickname did Secretariat share with Man o' War, the 1920 champion who never ran in the Kentucky Derby?

Big Red suited two big chestnut colts; Man o' War missed the Derby because his owner thought the race asked too much of a young horse so early in the year.

Which luxury marque's 1930s cars are known as 'Derby' models because they were built in the Rolls-Royce factory there?

Bentley went bust and was bought by its rival in 1931; the Derby-built cars that followed were sold as 'the silent sports car', and the founder himself is reported to have liked them best.

Football's Steel City derby is contested by two clubs from where?

Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday drew each other in the 1993 FA Cup semi-final, and pressure from both sets of fans forced the FA to move the game to Wembley.

Which monarch attended the Kentucky Derby in 2007?

Queen Elizabeth II, who rarely missed the Derby at Epsom, had said that seeing Kentucky's was one of her dreams; she got there in 2007, on her first trip to the United States since 1991.

Which fast-food company became presenting sponsor of the Derby in 2006?

Yum! Brands, the company behind KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, has its headquarters in the Derby's home city, so a hometown fried-chicken empire fronted the race until a bourbon took over in 2018.

As of 2025, which Swiss watchmaker is the official timekeeper of the Kentucky Derby?

Longines built its first chronograph in 1878 and made its name timing horse races and show jumping, so keeping the clock on America's most famous race was a natural fit.

What thick meat-and-vegetable stew is a Derby Day staple?

Burgoo began as a hunter's pot of whatever was to hand, squirrel, rabbit and venison included; the 1932 Derby winner Burgoo King was named after a grocer famous for his.

What are the expensive box seats at the Derby nicknamed?

Millionaire's Row is the nickname for the pricey boxes and dining rooms on Churchill Downs' upper levels, where owners and celebrities watch the race.

Which bugle tune brings the horses onto the track before the Kentucky Derby?

Call to the Post is really the US Army's 'First Call', borrowed by racetracks before the 1860s; at the Derby the bugler sounds it moments before the crowd sings the state song.

The Kentucky Derby winner's trophy, a design first presented in 1924, is made of which metal?

Gold: for 75 years its horseshoe pointed downward, until in 1999 the track turned it the other way, bowing to the racing superstition that luck runs out of a shoe hung ends-down.

Which singer wrote 'Run for the Roses' for the 1980 Kentucky Derby?

Dan Fogelberg wrote it to order: ABC commissioned a song for its telecast of the 1980 race and first played it on the eve of the Derby; it reached the Top 20 in 1982 as a single from The Innocent Age.

What traditional command sends Kentucky Derby jockeys onto their mounts before the race?

'Riders Up!' is by tradition the Paddock Judge's line, but in recent years the track has handed it to a celebrity guest: the quarterback Baker Mayfield called it out in 2019.

Which airshow and fireworks display opens the Kentucky Derby Festival?

Thunder Over Louisville usually pulls in about five times the Derby's own crowd, lining both banks of the Ohio River for an afternoon airshow and a huge fireworks display.

Which Elizabethan countess, the richest woman in England after the Queen, lies beneath a grand monument in Derby?

Bess of Hardwick married four times, growing richer at each step, built a house famous as 'more glass than wall', and had her own tomb put up in Derby while she was still alive.

Which 2018 winner broke the 'Curse of Apollo' as the first Kentucky Derby winner since 1882 not to race at two?

Justify did not race until February 2018, eleven weeks before the Derby, yet went on to take the Triple Crown; with the jinx gone, Mage also won the Derby unraced at two just five years later.

Which jockey won three Derbies in a four-year span, 2007 to 2010?

Calvin Borel hugged the inside rail so faithfully to save ground that he became known as 'Bo-rail', and the trick made him the first jockey to win three Derbys in four years.

Which trainer prepared Seattle Slew for his 1977 Kentucky Derby win?

Billy Turner trained Seattle Slew, who won the 1977 Derby on the way to an unbeaten Triple Crown; the owners replaced Turner with Doug Peterson later that year.

Football's 'Derby d'Italia' pits Juventus of Turin against which club from another city?

Inter Milan: journalist Gianni Brera coined the name in 1967 for a rivalry between clubs from two different cities, which makes it a derby in name only.

Which stallion sired the Kentucky Derby winners Authentic and Sovereignty?

Into Mischief drew so little interest when he went to stud that his fee was cut; he then became North America's leading sire, with Derby winners in 2020, 2021 and 2025.

As of 2025, which horse is the longest-priced winner in Kentucky Derby history, at odds of 91-1?

Donerail paid $184.90 for a $2 ticket in 1913; his own owner-trainer thought the race a waste of the entry fee until the colt's jockey talked him into running.

How much notice did Rich Strike's owner get that his horse was in the 2022 Derby?

30 seconds was all the warning the owner got: Ethereal Road was withdrawn just before the scratch deadline, Rich Strike took the last place in the field, and the next day he won at 80-1.

Which 50-1 Kentucky Derby winner reached Churchill Downs in a trailer towed from New Mexico behind his trainer's pickup truck?

Mine That Bird, a $9,500 yearling, was left far behind at the start in 2009, then slipped up the rail to win by nearly seven lengths, the widest margin since 1946.

As of 2025, which trainer shares the record of six Kentucky Derby wins with Ben Jones?

Bob Baffert's six run from Silver Charm in 1997 to Authentic in 2020; a seventh, Medina Spirit in 2021, was wiped from the record after a failed drug test.

Which horse was promoted to winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby after Medina Spirit's disqualification?

Mandaloun was beaten half a length on the day and became the winner nine months later, when Kentucky's racing commission threw out the first horse home over a steroid found in his sample.

Which jockey became the oldest Kentucky Derby winner when he rode Ferdinand home in 1986, aged 54?

Bill Shoemaker won on an 18-1 outsider 29 years after throwing away the 1957 Derby, when he misjudged the finish line and stood up in his stirrups too soon.

Which 19th-century jockey, a three-time Kentucky Derby winner, claimed to have won 44% of his races?

Isaac Murphy, born into slavery in Kentucky in 1861, counted 628 wins from 1,412 rides; when racing's Hall of Fame opened in 1955, he was the first jockey voted in.

Which filly won the 1988 Kentucky Derby?

Winning Colors went to the front under Gary Stevens and held on by a neck, the third filly to win the Derby after Regret in 1915 and Genuine Risk in 1980.

By how many lengths did Secretariat win the 1973 Belmont Stakes?

31 lengths was the margin as Secretariat drew off from Twice a Prince, with announcer Chic Anderson calling him 'moving like a tremendous machine'; it sealed the first Triple Crown in 25 years.

Which horse was placed first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security's disqualification?

Country House, a 65-1 shot, was moved up to first in 2019 after stewards disqualified Maximum Security for interference in the final turn, the first Derby winner thrown out for an in-race foul.

At which Maryland track was the Preakness Stakes first run in 1873?

Pimlico opened in Baltimore in 1870 with the colt Preakness winning its feature, the Dinner Party Stakes; three years later Maryland's governor named the track's new race after him.

Which flowers are draped on the Preakness winner?

Black-eyed Susans don't bloom until weeks after the May race, so the winner's blanket has never held a real one: daisies were once painted to look the part, and chrysanthemums now stand in.

What is the Belmont Stakes nicknamed, after its flowers?

The Run for the Carnations comes from the winner's blanket: about 700 white carnations are flown in from Colombia and worked into a cover weighing 40 pounds.

Which colt finished second to Affirmed in all three Triple Crown races of 1978?

Alydar lost the Derby by a length and a half, the Preakness by a neck and the Belmont by a head, closing the gap on Affirmed each time without ever getting past.

What garland does the Kentucky Oaks winner receive?

Lilies became the Oaks winner's official garland only in 1991, when one was commissioned as a feminine answer to the Derby's; Lite Light wore the first, and the race is now tagged 'Lilies for the Fillies'.

Which unbeaten mare narrowly lost the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs?

Zenyatta had won all 19 of her races, the 2009 Classic among them; in her final start she came from far back and fell just short of Blame at the wire.

Which Kentucky whisky brand supplied the Derby's official cocktail from 1987 until Old Forester took over in 2015?

Early Times held the contract for 28 years even though the version sold in America could not be called bourbon, because some of it was aged in used barrels rather than new ones.

Which novel likely inspired 'My Old Kentucky Home', the Stephen Foster song heard before the Kentucky Derby?

Uncle Tom's Cabin had been out for less than a year when Foster wrote the song, and a draft in his sketchbook was titled 'Poor Uncle Tom, Good-Night!' before he dropped the name.

Which jockey rode Shergar to his ten-length Derby win in 1981?

Walter Swinburn, then 19, eased Shergar home by a record ten lengths; a suspension then cost him the ride when the colt won the Irish Derby three weeks later.

Which jockey finally won the Derby on Authorized in 2007?

Frankie Dettori had lost on all 14 of his previous Derby rides, despite winning every other British Classic at least twice, before the favourite Authorized won comfortably in 2007.

On which island did a 17th-century Earl of Derby found a 'Derby' horse race, long before Epsom's?

Isle of Man: James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, became Lord of Mann in 1627 and donated a cup for racing on the Langness peninsula, a contest that became known as the Manx Derby.

The Oaks, the fillies' Classic founded by the 12th Earl of Derby, took its name from what?

His estate near Epsom, The Oaks at Carshalton, hosted the 1778 party where the race was planned; a year later, celebrating its first running, the same circle dreamed up the Derby.

Sir Peter Teazle, Lord Derby's 1787 Derby winner, was named after a character by which playwright?

Sheridan's comedy The School for Scandal turns on old Sir Peter Teazle and his young wife; Elizabeth Farren, an actress noted as Lady Teazle, later married Lord Derby himself.

Which prime minister owned the Derby winners of 1894 and 1895, both while in office?

Lord Rosebery won with Ladas in 1894 and Sir Visto in 1895 during his brief premiership; he is reputed to have named three aims in life: win the Derby, marry an heiress and become prime minister.

Where was the wartime 'New Derby' run in 1915-18 and 1940-45?

The 'New Derby' was run at Newmarket in both world wars, 1915–18 and 1940–45, because Epsom Downs was given over to the war effort; in every other year the race has been at Epsom.

Why was Running Rein, first home in the 1844 Derby, disqualified?

Too old: 'Running Rein' was really an older horse called Maccabeus, switched in for a betting coup, and the race went to the runner-up, Orlando.

Which television pioneer broadcast the 1931 Derby live from Epsom, a first for an outdoor sporting event?

John Logie Baird's first live outside broadcast, transmitted by the BBC from Epsom, came five years before the corporation began its regular television service in 1936.

Which artist painted the crowded 1858 canvas The Derby Day?

William Powell Frith's The Derby Day, exhibited in 1858 and held by Tate Britain, needed a rail to hold back crowds at the Royal Academy; the racing is pushed to the margins behind the fairground.

Which sponsor backed the Derby from 2009 to 2020?

Investec sponsored the Derby from 2009 to 2020, following Ever Ready (1984–94) and Vodafone (1995–2008); Cazoo took over in 2021 and Betfred in 2023.

Which BBC series set its series 2 finale at the Derby?

Peaky Blinders ended its second series with Tommy Shelby's plot to assassinate a field marshal at the 1922 Epsom Derby.

Hunter S. Thompson's 1970 report on the Kentucky Derby is regarded as the first piece of which style of journalism?

Gonzo journalism was an editor's label for 'The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved': facing a deadline with no story, Thompson tore pages from his notebook, numbered them and sent them in.

What was the name of the King's horse that struck Emily Davison in 1913?

Anmer, King George V's colt, was brought down when Davison stepped out and reached for his reins; jockey Herbert Jones was concussed but recovered, and Davison died four days later.

Which Titanic survivor's brother owned Craganour, the disqualified 1913 Derby winner?

Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, had survived the Titanic a year earlier; his brother Bower's colt passed the post first, but the stewards lodged their own objection and gave the race to a 100-1 shot.

Which body once adjourned so its members could attend the Derby?

Parliament used to break off for Derby Day, when the midweek race drew huge crowds out of London; on the open Downs anyone could, and still can, watch without paying a penny.

Which is the only English Classic older than the Oaks?

The St Leger, first run at Doncaster in 1776, is the oldest Classic; it had no name until a dinner in 1778, when its host turned down the honour and proposed Anthony St Leger instead.

Which Irish course hosts the Irish Derby?

The Curragh in County Kildare has staged the Irish Derby since 1866; a sweepstake tie-up in 1962 swelled the prize money, and Epsom winners began crossing over to try for the double.

The Prix du Jockey Club, known as the French Derby, is run at which racecourse?

Chantilly has been its home since 1836, though revolution and two world wars moved some runnings to Versailles, Longchamp and Le Tremblay.

Where is the German Derby run each July?

Hamburg-Horn has been the race's home since it began in 1869 as the Norddeutsches Derby; the only breaks came around the two world wars, when it was moved to Berlin, Munich and Cologne.

Which colt in 1970 became the first English Triple Crown winner since Bahram in 1935?

Nijinsky swept all three legs in 1970, a feat still unmatched as of 2025, then lost his unbeaten record by a head to Sassafras in the Arc that autumn.

Who owned the kidnapped Derby winner Shergar?

The Aga Khan kept six of the 40 shares when Shergar was syndicated at a £10 million valuation; the thieves asked £2 million, but talks ended when the owners rejected their proof that the horse was alive.

What happened to Shergar after gunmen stole him in 1983?

Never found: masked men made head groom Jim Fitzgerald help load the stallion on 8 February 1983, talks broke down within days, and no body has ever been identified.

After the 2000 Guineas and Derby, which race capped Sea the Stars' unbeaten 2009 season?

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe made it six wins from six in 2009: seemingly boxed in on the rail turning for home, Sea the Stars found a gap and won by two lengths.

From 2010 to 2020, which Derby winner was leading sire in Britain and Ireland every year?

Galileo, the 2001 Derby winner, was champion sire in 2008 and every year from 2010 to 2020; when the run ended in 2021, the title passed to his own son Frankel.

Aidan O'Brien became the trainer at which stables in 1996?

Ballydoyle, the County Tipperary yard made famous by Vincent O'Brien, passed in 1996 to Aidan O'Brien, who is no relation despite the surname, as private trainer to John Magnier's Coolmore.

What was the Roman name for the settlement at Derby?

Derventio was the Roman fort and settlement at Little Chester, on the east bank of the Derwent a mile north of the modern city centre, and took its name from the river.

Which Jacobite leader reached Derby on 4 December 1745 on his march toward London?

Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, reached Derby on 4 December 1745, but his council voted the next day to retreat, and the army turned back for Scotland instead of marching on London.

Which carmaker opened a car factory at Burnaston, southwest of Derby, in 1992?

Toyota built its plant on the old Burnaston airfield, so the flying club based there had to find a new home; it bought farmland two miles away and opened its own grass airfield the same year.

From which present-day country did John Lombe reputedly steal the silk-throwing secrets behind Derby's 1717 mill?

Italy: Lombe studied the silk-throwing machines of Piedmont, an early case of industrial espionage, and came home with the know-how and some Italian workers; he is alleged to have been poisoned in revenge in 1722.

Derby's Silk Mill reopened in 2021 under what new name?

The Museum of Making had been open little more than two years when Storm Babet sent the river through its ground floor in October 2023, shutting it for three months of repairs.

All Saints' Church in Derby gained what status in 1927?

A cathedral since 1927, when the new diocese needed a seat for its bishop, All Saints' left Derby in the odd position of a town with a cathedral but no city status until 1977.

Which video game heroine, created at a Derby studio, has a stretch of the city's ring road named after her?

Lara Croft was created at Derby's Core Design for Tomb Raider; in a 2009 public vote, 89% of more than 27,000 voters chose 'Lara Croft Way' for the new road, which opened in 2010.

Which monarch let Derby's porcelain factory add a crown to its mark?

George III let William Duesbury put the royal crown on his backstamp, making the firm Crown Derby; Queen Victoria finished the name in 1890 by appointing it her porcelain maker, as Royal Crown Derby.

Joseph Wright of Derby was noted for which dramatic painting technique?

Tenebrism, an exaggerated chiaroscuro, lights An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump from a single candle; by turning the effect on science, Wright has been called the first painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution.

Derby County were founder members of which competition in 1888?

The Football League kicked off on 8 September 1888, and the Rams marked the day by coming from 3-0 down to win 6-3 at Bolton Wanderers, though they finished only tenth of the twelve.

Which stadium did the Rams move to in 1997 after 102 years at the Baseball Ground?

Pride Park, opened by the Queen in July 1997, replaced a ground first laid out by ironfounder Francis Ley as part of his personal quest to bring professional baseball to Britain.

Why was the Rams' first league match at their new stadium abandoned in August 1997?

Floodlight failure stopped the game against Wimbledon early in the second half with the score at 2-1; the referee abandoned it after engineers spent over half an hour failing to restart two generators.

Which club did Brian Clough lead to two European Cups after managing Derby?

Nottingham Forest won the European Cup under Brian Clough in 1979 and 1980; in 2005 the A52 linking the two rival cities where he made his name was renamed Brian Clough Way.

The hollow boab tree outside Derby, Western Australia, is reputed to have been used as what?

A prison, in local legend: the Boab Prison Tree is said to have held Aboriginal captives in the 1890s, but researchers found no evidence it ever did and traced the story back to 1948.

Derby, Kansas, is the largest suburb of which city?

Wichita's largest suburb began as El Paso; in 1880 the Santa Fe railway renamed its station after an official, C. F. Derby, to stop mix-ups with El Paso, Texas, and the city took the name in 1956.

In Derby Line, Vermont, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House was deliberately built across what?

The Canada–US border crosses the building as a thick black line on the floor: opened in 1904, it puts the stage and the books in Stanstead, Quebec, and most of the seats in Vermont.

Derby, Connecticut, holds what distinction among the state's cities?

Smallest by area at about five square miles, the city began in 1642 as a trading post called Paugasset and was renamed in 1675 after Derby in England.

Which herb flavours the green-marbled Derby cheese once made only for harvest time and Christmas?

Sage gives Sage Derby its flavour but not always its colour: the green marbling may come from spinach juice or 'green curd' rather than the leaves. The cheese dates from the 17th century.

Which London hatters commissioned the first derby hat in 1849?

Lock & Co. of St James's took the order from Edward Coke, who is said to have stamped on the finished hat twice to test its strength before paying 12 shillings for it.

Which South American country's Quechua and Aymara women adopted the derby hat?

Bolivia's Aymara and Quechua women made the hat, known there as a bombín, their own; it is said to have arrived with British railway workers in the 1920s, and after years of being imported from Europe it is now made locally.

In Goldfinger, which henchman kills with a razor-edged derby hat?

Oddjob, played by Olympic weightlifting medallist Harold Sakata, throws the hat with deadly accuracy; Bond finally kills him by electrocution inside Fort Knox.

What are derby shoes with soft, napped leather uppers colloquially called?

Bucks take their name from buckskin, the soft hide of the original uppers; later pairs were often plain suede or nubuck on a red sole, long a favourite on American college campuses.

Which Texas city sparked roller derby's modern revival in the early 2000s?

Austin skaters relaunched the sport as an all-female, skater-run game; the Texas Rollergirls, founded there in 2003, wrote the flat-track rules that leagues elsewhere went on to adopt.

In roller derby, which blocker may take over as jammer during a jam?

The pivot is the only blocker who can become the jammer mid-jam, and only if the jammer personally hands the role over; for the next jam, both jobs can go to different skaters.

Which sportswriter helped turn roller derby into a contact sport in the late 1930s?

Damon Runyon persuaded the sport's promoter to change the rules for more skater contact, and the old skating marathon became a collision sport that drew over five million spectators in 1940.

Who directed the 2009 roller derby film Whip It?

Drew Barrymore made her directing debut with Whip It and cast herself as Smashley Simpson; writer Shauna Cross drew on her own time as a derby skater, when she went by 'Maggie Mayhem'.

Demolition derby is often traced to a 1958 event at Islip Speedway, a track in which state?

New York's Islip Speedway, on Long Island, staged it after promoter Larry Mendelsohn noticed that crowds preferred the wrecks to the racing; a rival claim credits a California track in 1947.

Which magazine's 1954 plans spread the pinewood derby nationwide?

Boys' Life, the Boy Scouts' magazine, ran track and car plans in October 1954, a year after Cubmaster Don Murphy devised the race for a son who was too young for soap box racing.

What alone powers a pinewood derby car down the track?

Gravity does all the work on the sloped track, which is why builders pack weight into a car until it sits right at the usual five-ounce limit.

Who founded the Soap Box Derby in 1934?

Myron Scott, a Dayton Daily News photographer, came across boys racing home-made carts in 1933, staged a race for them that summer and launched the All-American Soap Box Derby the following year.

Which Ohio city hosts the All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship?

Akron's civic leaders lured the race from Dayton in 1935, pitching their city's central location and hilly terrain; a year later relief workers built it a permanent track, Derby Downs.

On which day of the week is the MLB Home Run Derby customarily held?

Monday is Derby night, the eve of the All-Star Game; the contest went untelevised in its first years in the 1980s, was shown on tape delay from 1993 and has aired live only since 1998.

Who set the single-round Home Run Derby record with 41 homers in 2023?

Julio Rodríguez hit 41 in the first round in front of his home crowd in Seattle, then went out 21-20 in the semifinal to the eventual champion, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Which slugger won back-to-back Home Run Derbies in 2019 and 2021, with no contest held in between?

Pete Alonso won as a rookie in 2019 and again in 2021, after the pandemic wiped out the 2020 event; the second title came in a year when he was not even picked for the All-Star Game.

Which two clubs make up Scottish football's Old Firm?

Celtic and Rangers: the nickname's origin is unclear, but one account traces it to a 1904 cartoon of a sandwich-board man advertising 'Rangers, Celtic Ltd', a dig at the money their meetings made.

Which club left Anfield in 1892 after a rent row with their landlord?

Everton had played at Anfield since 1884; when they walked out, landlord John Houlding founded Liverpool FC to fill his empty ground, and the first league derby between the two followed in 1894.

The North London derby rivalry began in 1913 when Arsenal moved from where?

Woolwich, south of the Thames, was Arsenal's first home; the move to Highbury put them four miles from Tottenham, and in 1919 the League voted Arsenal into the top flight ahead of relegated Spurs.

Under which name did Manchester United play the first Manchester derby in 1881?

Newton Heath won that first meeting 3-0 away to St Mark's of West Gorton, the future Manchester City; served with a winding-up order in 1902, the club was rescued by new backers and renamed Manchester United.

The Derby della Madonnina is named after a statue atop which building?

Milan Cathedral's gilded Madonnina tops its highest spire; by tradition no building in the city may rise above her, so when skyscrapers did, replicas were placed on their roofs.

The Revierderby takes its name from a German contraction meaning what?

Mining area: 'Revier' is short for Bergbaurevier, a nickname for the Ruhr; Schalke, one half of the classic fixture with Borussia Dortmund, is still called 'Die Knappen', the miners, after its early players and fans.

The Tyne–Wear derby sets Newcastle United against which club?

Sunderland, on the River Wear, first met their Tyneside rivals in 1883, but the feud is traced back to the English Civil War, when Newcastle held for the King and Sunderland sided with his opponents.

Besides racing, the 12th Earl of Derby, founder of the Derby, was devoted to which now-banned sport?

Cockfighting was said to outrank even racing in his affections: he built a cockpit at Preston at his own expense, and an obituary recalled spurred birds fighting in his drawing room late in his life.

Which 2005 Japanese Derby winner sired Auguste Rodin, winner of the Epsom Derby in 2023?

Deep Impact won Japan's Triple Crown in 2005 and was put down in 2019; Auguste Rodin, from his final crop of foals, won at Epsom four years later.

Unusually, the Hong Kong Derby has been restricted since 1981 to horses of what age?

Held since 1873, it moved from Happy Valley to Sha Tin in 1979 and closes the Four-Year-Old Classic Series.

Which carmaker was the Soap Box Derby's generous national sponsor until dropping out in 1972?

Chevrolet's withdrawal after 1972, a 1973 cheating scandal and slumping enrolment sent the All-American Soap Box Derby into a tailspin it took years to recover from.

What did the 1973 Soap Box Derby winner hide in his car?

An electromagnet in the nose, switched on when the driver leaned his head back, pulled the car toward the steel starting gate as it swung away; his times slowed as the battery drained, which gave him away.

Which ABC programme televised the demolition derby championship from the mid-1960s to 1992?

ABC's Wide World of Sports made the demolition derby championship a late-summer staple, and in 1972 even had Mario Andretti, A. J. Foyt and Bobby Unser smash new cars at the LA Coliseum.

In roller derby, how is the team's scoring skater, the jammer, identified?

A star on the helmet cover marks the jammer; the first one through the pack becomes lead jammer and can call the jam off early by tapping hands on hips.