Talking Horses: what could King’s coronation mean for the Derby?

Derby day and Royal Ascot were apparently the first dates to be blocked off on the late Queen’s calendar every year. Her successor, on the other hand, has different interests and priorities, and it will certainly ring the changes from racing’s point of view if, as has been suggested, the first Saturday in June 2023 is chosen as the date for King Charles III’s coronation.

The days when the Derby was the most significant sporting occasion of the year, little or nothing could stand in its way and Parliament would adjourn to allow the honourable members to attend are, of course, ancient history – though it is fun to take a trip back in time through the medium of the internet.

“Whether we approve or whether we deplore it,” Lord Elcho told the House in 1890 as he moved the motion to adjourn, “the fact remains that tomorrow, the ‘flowing tide’ will be towards Epsom.”

Warming to his theme, Elcho continued: “I venture to say that the prospects of the [parliamentary] Session are, by many, less intelligently discussed than those of the racing season, that the withdrawal of a great Government measure would cause less excitement than the scratching of the favourite; and that, greatly as the country respects right honourable gentlemen on the Government bench, the news that the whole of them were laid low by a severe attack of influenza would be received with a feeling mild in comparison with that which would be displayed if the horse which has been principally backed were to suffer from a mild attack of the same complaint.”

Football dominates the sporting landscape these days and it may yet work to racing’s advantage that the FA Cup final is also scheduled for 3 June, perhaps persuading the new King and his planners to find a