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
Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States, with a capacity of 50,000. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actually the fourth oldest racetrack in the US (after 3rd oldest Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack, 2nd oldest Fair Grounds Race Course, and oldest Freehold Raceway). Saratoga Springs was the site of standardbred racing as early as 1847. On August 3, 1863, casino operator and future congressman John Morrissey organized the first