Epsom Downs Racecourse the turf. In the summer of 1779 Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby, organised a race for himself and his friends to race their three-year-old fillies. He named it the Oaks after his nearby estate. The race became so successful that in the following year 1780 a new race was added for three-year old colts and fillies—-the Derby. In 1784 the course was extended to its current distance of a mile and a half and Tattenham Corner was introduced. Henry Dorling, step-father to cookery writer Mrs Beeton, was a Clerk of the Course at Epsom, appointed in 1840. In 1913
Oswestry Race Course was designated as a wildlife site in the 1999 Local Plan, and is officially registered as an area of common land. Oswestry Race Course Oswestry Race Course (also known as Oswestry Old Racecourse Common) is a historic racecourse on ‘Cyrn y Bwch’ hill close to Oswestry in Shropshire that was used by the Welsh and English to socialise and race horses. Covering an area of , the course was closed to racing in 1848 and is now an area of common land for recreation. It is a well travelled walking route because Offa's Dyke Path passes through the site. The