Set in the lush Surrey downs, the Investec Derby Festival is a glamorous and thrilling horse racing spectacular with a classic British twist and a proud 230-year history. Taking place this year on 3-4 June, Friday plays host to the glitz and glamour of Ladies' Day, while Saturday's events are focused around the Derby race itself, widely regarded as one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles.
The first official Derby Stakes – named after the 12th Earl of Derby – was held at Epsom Downs racecourse in 1780. Sir Charles Bunbury, the owner of the first winner, Diomed, collected the grand sum of £1,065 15s. This year's Investec Derby has a prize fund of £1.25m, making it the richest horse race in Britain and the most prestigious of the five Classics.
Open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts (males) and fillies (females), the Derby is a flat race and is run over one mile, four furlongs and 10 yards. During its illustrious history, the Derby has been won by iconic jockeys such as Frankie Dettori, who tasted success at the 14th attempt, and Lester Piggott, who won an impressive nine times between 1954 and 1983. The 1913 Derby gained notoriety as the place where suffragette Emily Davidson stepped in front of King George V's horse Anmer.
With 14 races over the two days (seven each day), there's plenty of exciting action to enjoy. As well as the Investec Derby, there is another of the classics, the Investec Oaks, on Ladies' Day, plus the Investec Coronation Cup. So there will be plenty of chances to study the odds and have a flutter – you'll be talking the language of the racetrack in no time.
Of course, the Investec Derby Festival is about so much more than horse racing; it's about style, glamour and, with more than 35,000 visitors on Ladies' Day and another 120,000 on Derby day, it offers the best people-watching opportunity you could imagine.
With Ladies' Day opening the festival, the fashion stakes are pretty high, too. In a nod to the festival's fashion heritage and place in the social calendar, British supermodel Erin O'Connor has swapped the catwalk for the racecourse to become the official face of the Investec Derby Festival. "Being part of such an historic event, and one associated with this level of glamour and high-fashion, is incredibly exciting," says O'Connor. "Dressing up for a day at the races brings a real sense of occasion to the day and it also helps that I enjoy the occasional flutter."
Felicity Brown, rising star of the fashion world and the official designer for the Investec Derby Festival, has designed a bespoke dress for O'Connor to wear on Ladies' Day. Louis Mariette, the official milliner for the Investec Derby, has designed a stunningly ornate hat to go with it. "The hat is inspired by the lilac-breasted roller bird, a beautiful African bird; it's also inspired by Erin, who is like a beautiful bird," says Mariette.
O'Connor, Mariette and Brown are judging the annual Style on the Downs competition for best-dressed lady on Ladies' Day. The first prize is a luxury weekend stay at the stylish Hotel Verta in London, plus £1,000 to spend at fashion boutique Question Air. It's a role Mariette is clearly looking forward to. What will he be looking out for on the day? "It's got to be something fabulous, darling!" says Mariette.
