Helicopters, Hill tricks and a naked Frankie - the inside story of the Derby's most radical (and still hugely controversial) transformation
Lee Mottershead looks back 30 years to 1995, when Epsom ditched the Derby's traditional Wednesday slot for a Saturday
The Derby was in the doldrums.
Long since gone was the time when crowds in their hundreds of thousands flocked to Epsom on the first Wednesday of June. The world's greatest Flat race no longer felt like an event of huge national significance. It was decided something had to be done. The agreed solution was radical, controversial and one that three decades later is still guaranteed to spark a debate.
Not since the coronation year of 1953 had the Derby been run on a Saturday. Not since 1994, the year Erhaab charged home under Willie Carson, has the Derby been run on a Wednesday. It is hard to imagine it ever being run on a Wednesday again, even though many would dearly love to turn back the clock. Next weekend's 246th edition of the premier Classic will mark the 30th anniversary of its permanent switch to a Saturday. It was a move that changed everything.
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- 'The grief hits me quite a lot - so many people think I'm really tough but I get terribly upset by things inwardly'
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- 'I know people will say they've heard it all before - but when I see Constitution Hill now, he's suddenly developed quality'
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