June · Flat

The Derby

The most famous Flat race in the world — a mile-and-a-half Classic over Epsom's switchback contours.

The Derby, run at Epsom on the first Saturday in June, is the ultimate Classic: a mile-and-a-half test for three-year-old colts and fillies that has defined the careers of the breed's greatest horses for over two centuries. Winning it confers a status nothing else in Flat racing can match, and its bloodlines shape the sport for generations.

Epsom is a fierce, idiosyncratic test — a switchback, undulating track with a sharp downhill run to Tattenham Corner and a camber in the home straight. It demands a genuine mile-and-a-half stayer that also has the balance and temperament to handle the gradients and the big-race atmosphere; horses that can't cope with the contours are exposed. Trial form from Lingfield, Chester and the Dante at York is the classic pointer, and pace and a good position into the descent matter.

The championship races

  • The Derby
  • The Oaks
  • Coronation Cup

How Algohorse reads the The Derby

Through the meeting, our model reads every race — probabilities and value against the market — and publishes its selections, registered before the off and graded against the result. See today's racecards or how it works.

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