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They just said on C4 that the first Saturday Derby was in 1994 when Lammtarra won, but has there been a time when it went back to Wednesday's for a while before going back to Saturday again? 
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No
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It was 1995 the first Saturday
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Wednesday to Saturday in Coronation year, I think...
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Saturday Derbies:-
1942-45 1947-50 1953 1995- |
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Initially the Derby was run on a Thursday in late May or early June depending on when Easter occurred. In 1838 the race was moved to a Wednesday to fit in with the railways's time tables, but was still run on different dates depending on Easter. In the 20th century, the race was run on the first Wednesday in June from 1900 until 1995 apart from: 1915 to 1918, (during the First World War) when it was on a Tuesday; during the Second World War, from 1942 until 1945 the race was run on a Saturday as it was in the post war years of 1947 to 1950 and again in 1953.[1] In 1995 the day was changed from the first Wednesday in June to the first Saturday,[3] and since then all the races have taken place on that day.
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Just one exception to sparrow's post, and that's 1786, when it was run on a Wednesday, the only year between 1780 and 1837 when it was NOT run on a Thursday.
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ged, you are certainly better informed than wikipedia. Well done.
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there was a reason Ged ?
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Actually there are several other things wrong with the Wiki info. It was run in May quite a few times in the 20th centruy, not the first Wed in June.
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Thanks Guys
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I May
 be wrong but my guess is the Oaks and Derby are linked. Now the Derby is run on the first Saturday in June and the Oaks on the previous Friday, so the Derby could be on 1st June and the Oaks would be on 31st May.My guess is when the Derby was run on a Wednesday the first date decided each year was the date of the Oaks (on the first Friday in June?) and then the Derby was the previous Wednesday. So back then an Oaks could be on 1st June and the Derby would be 30th May. |
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Nice idea kincsem, but not right.
There was a longish thread on here a few months ago debating the reasoning behind the date, and tbh, I can't remember the full conclusion, but it was mainly do with the setting of Easter, I believe. It#s probably resurrectible(!) eg 1909 Derby Day - May 26. 1939 - May 24. |
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that was it ged
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The switch to Saturday just after WW2 was to placate the government, who wanted to stop racing completely. They were concerned about reduced productivity in factories due to the time spent on reading racing papers and arranging bets via bookies runners.
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I might have a look in The Derby bu Michael Church later. There is lots in that about the course and he might have something about the dates.
Feck sake. Now you have got me thinking and obsessing about it. |
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kincsem - I've rolled away the stone and brought that thread back to life - it's titled Epsom Derby 1966.
btw, some of what I've written has come from Michael Church's book. |
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ged - I have been searching for a thread entitled something like ...
'Has the Derby ever been run in May?'  - Because that was the gist of the thread. |
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I think that might be the one I've brought up, as a fair bit of it was about May start dates.
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