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The oldest of the Classics, the St Leger Stakes, dates back to 1776. The race was first proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Anthony St. Leger, and was organised at Doncaster Racecourse by his friend – politician and aristocrat, Charles Watson-Wentworth the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham.
The first Classic was contested by five 3 year old thoroughbred colts and fillies owned by Rockingham and his aristocratic peers, and resulted in a horse owned by Rockingham pipping one owned by St. Leger at the finishing post. The race was unnamed until 1777, when Rockingham proposed that the event be named after the man who had first suggested it.
The Classics of Epsom Downs
A year later a dinner party hosted by the 12th Earl of Derby at The Oaks, his country residence, resulted in plans being set for a fillies’ race on the Epsom Downs. It took a year for Derby to get around to organising the event, which he named after the country house in which it had been conceived.
The inaugural Oaks went to one of the Earl of Derby’s own horses, Bridget. At the subsequent celebration of the Earl’s success in The Oaks, it was proposed that he should organise an additional race for thoroughbred colts over the same distance. A coin toss ensued between Sir Charles Bunbury and Derby for the naming rights for the race, with Derby prevailing and giving his title to the race for posterity.
The Epsom Derby made its debut on the Epsom Downs in 1779. Sir Charles Bunbury avenged his defeat in the coin toss by winning the inaugural running of the Derby with his horse, Diomed.
The Guineas
Galvanised by the success of both the Oaks and the Derby, Sir Charles Bunbury proceeded to add another two 1 mile races to the English racing calendar. On the 18th of April 1809, Sir Bunbury presided over the inaugural running of the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. The race was named after the prize fund offered by Sir Bunbury for the inaugural event.
A year later Sir Bunbury arranged for a fillies event to be added to the Newmarket meeting, offering a purse of 1,000 Guineas to the finest filly miler in the land.
The Classics
These five races for 3 year old thoroughbreds evolved rapidly from parochial contests between the stables of aristocratic racing enthusiasts into the most demanding tests of thoroughbred talent in the United Kingdom. By the early 1800s the basic formats for each of the races had been exported to the various English colonies as well as continental Europe.
Whilst the Classics were by no means the only important thoroughbred races run in the United Kingdom, these races were set apart by restricting entry to 3 year old thoroughbreds, thereby creating a sense of continuity across the various races held each season. Over the decades the distances run in each of the races were tweaked, with the St Leger shortened to a 1 mile 6 furlong race, and an additional 4 furlongs added to the Derby and the Oaks.
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