What Is A Classic Horse Race?
Horse racing is an age-old tradition, so it’s unsurprising that there are so many different types of horse race.
I was on holiday in the United Kingdom recently where there is a long history of enthusiastic horse racing.
One thing I kept hearing about was the English “classic race,” and while I’d heard of this on many occasions,
I wasn’t exactly sure what constituted a classic race.
So, I decided to look into it.
What is a classic horse race?
The classic races are five horse races run during the flat racing season in Britain. The horses in classic races are restricted to three-year-old horses, traditionally representing the highest achievement of the horses at the peak of their performance. These races were first run in 1776.
Horse races come under a lot of different categories, but the five classic races are widely considered the ultimate test of a generation of racehorses.
Those that win are considered exceptional horses.
The classic horse races could be thought of as like majors in golf or the Grand Slam in tennis.
Besides the Grand National, the Classics are the biggest collective horse racing event in Britain.
Let’s look a bit at the history of these races and where they take place today.
Which horse races are classics?
The British Classics are made up of five extremely long-standing group one races, which are run during the flat racing season.
Victory in any of these races is a huge achievement, the winning horses representing the very best of the generation.
The 2,000 Guineas Stakes is the first of the five runs in the year, and takes place on the Newmarket course, over about a 1-mile track.
This race usually runs in Late April or early May.
After that, the 1,000 Guineas Stakes run around the same time, at the same course.
The 2,000 Guineas stakes is run by three-year-old colts and fillies, and the 1,000 only by fillies.
In late May or early June, The Oaks race is run at the Epsom Downs course.
The Oaks race runs only fillies.
On the first Saturday in June, The Derby is run, also in the Epsom Downs course; this race runs colts and fillies.
Finally, in September, the St Leger Stakes race is run at the Doncaster racecourse.
This race runs both colts and fillies.
Where are the classic horse races run?
Most of the racecourses mentioned are in the south and eastern parts of England.
Newmarket racecourse is in Suffolk, and is often referred to as the headquarters of British horseracing. Suffolk is an East Anglian county.
Epsom Downs is in Surrey, which is in the South East of England.
The Doncaster racecourse is in the far north, on the opposite side of the country.
Which is the oldest classic horse race?
The classics are some of the oldest continuously running horse races in the world.
In Britain, horse racing became well-established and extremely popular in the 18th Century.
Some of the Classic Races were started during this time.
The oldest race is the St Leger Stakes, run in Doncaster. It was first raced in 1776.
Three years later, the first of The Oaks races was run in 1779, and the year after that, The Derby began, in 1780.
The 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas stakes were started a bit later, in 1809 and 1814 respectively.
Which jockey has won the most classics?
Since these races are so old and prestigious, it is considered a great achievement to win one or any of these races.
Victory in three is known as a Triple Crown, and is perhaps the rarest feat achieved in horseracing.
Lester Piggott is widely regarded as one of the greatest jockeys in thoroughbred flat racing.
He won the Derby 9 times, the St. Leger 8 times, the 2,000 Guineas 5 times, and the Oaks six times, not to mention all of the other high-profile races he won during his career.
In 1970, he rode the horse called Nijinsky to win the Triple Crown.
Horses are often remembered just as fondly for their Classics victories as jockeys.
In 1902, a horse named Sceptre became the only racehorse to win four Classics outright.
This never happened before or since, so it is a truly remarkable achievement.
So, horse racing may be even older than you first imagined.
We’ve been riding horses for a very long time, but it’s not even simply that we have been racing them for a long time, we’ve been running the same races for centuries in some places.
Horse racing is a great tradition adored by millions across the world, and the British Classics represent some of the highest achievements of horse racing.