The Investec Derby Trial, formerly known as the Blue Riband Trial Stakes, is a flat

Flat racing

Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...

 horse race

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

s. It is run at Epsom Downs

Epsom Downs Racecourse

Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half...

 over a distance of 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 18 yards (2,028 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in April.

History

For a period the Blue Riband Trial Stakes was contested over 1 mile and 110 yards. It was given Group 3 status when the present system of race grading was introduced in 1971. It was relegated to Listed level in 1986, and it later became an ungraded conditions race.

The Blue Riband Trial Stakes was discontinued for several years in the mid 1990s. It returned in 1997, and from this point its distance was 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards. The race was cut to its present length, 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 18 yards, in 1999.

The banking group Investec

Investec Bank

Investec is an international specialist banking and asset management group. It provides a range of financial products and services to a select client base in three principal markets: the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia. Investec is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the...

, the sponsor of the Epsom Derby

Epsom Derby

The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...

 since 2009, began to sponsor this race in 2010. It is now titled the Investec Derby Trial.

The event serves as an early-season trial

Trial races for the Epsom Derby

Trial races for the Epsom Derby are horse races during April and May which are contested by three-year-olds likely to run in the Epsom Derby in early June....

 for the Derby (sometimes referred to as flat racing's "Blue Riband"), which is held at the same venue in early June. The last horse to achieve victory in both races was Blue Peter

Blue Peter III

Blue Peter was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse whose career was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. He won the Epsom Derby and was later a Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland....

 in 1939.

Records

Leading jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 since 1970 (4 wins):

• Pat Eddery
  Pat Eddery
  Patrick James John "Pat" Eddery is a former flat racing jockey. Pat's father Jimmy Eddery was a jockey, as is his brother Paul Eddery.-Career:...
  
   – Oats (1976), Lightning Dealer (1985), Eton Lad (1990), Palio Sky (1997)

----
Leading trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 since 1970 (4 wins):

• Barry Hills
  Barry Hills
  Barry Hills is a British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.-Biography:Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage: John, Michael, and Richard. John is a horse trainer, and both Michael and Richard are jockeys. After his divorce, he married Penny Hills, and had two more...
  
   – Last Fandango (1980), The Glow-Worm (1998), Storming Home (2001), Slumber (2011)

Winners since 1970

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Time
1970	Decies	Lester Piggott Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....	Bernard van Cutsem	1:52.50
1971	Spoiled Lad	Ernie Johnson	Bernard van Cutsem	1:44.00
1972	Baragoi	Willie Carson Willie Carson William Fisher Hunter Carson, OBE is a retired jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.-Life and career:Best known as "Miserable Willie", Carson was born in Stirling, Scotland. In 1957 he was apprenticed to Captain Gerald Armstrong at his stables at Tupgill, North Yorkshire...	Bernard van Cutsem	1:49.50
1973	Gospill Hill	Geoff Lewis Geoff Lewis Geoff Lewis is a Welsh retired jockey who was born in Talgarth, .He moved to London with his family in 1946. He came from a large family and started his career with Ron Smyth, who was a trainer in Epsom. He will be best remembered as the jockey that won the 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas, Oaks ,...	Noel Murless Noel Murless Sir Charles Francis Noel Murless began his career as a racehorse trainer in 1935 at Hambleton Lodge in Yorkshire before moving to Hambleton House after the war, at one time sharing premises with the equally legendary Ryan Price...	1:47.80
1974	Pitcairn	Ron Hutchinson	John Dunlop John L. Dunlop John L. Dunlop is a successful race horse trainer based in Arundel, Sussex, with over 3000 winners between 1966 and 2002.He was the British flat racing Champion Trainer in 1995....	1:44.60
1975	Romper	Frank Morby	Fulke Johnson Houghton	1:55.30
1976	Oats	Pat Eddery Pat Eddery Patrick James John "Pat" Eddery is a former flat racing jockey. Pat's father Jimmy Eddery was a jockey, as is his brother Paul Eddery.-Career:...	Peter Walwyn Peter Walwyn Peter Tyndall Walwyn is a retired British racehorse trainer. He was based at stables at in the Lambourn, Berkshire, area and enjoyed his period of greatest success in the mid 1970s when he was British flat racing Champion Trainer twice....	1:46.30
1977	Be My Guest Be My Guest (horse) Be My Guest was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred in Kentucky by Walter Haefner, a Swiss businessman and owner of Moyglare Stud Farm in Ireland...	Lester Piggott Lester Piggott Lester Keith Piggott is a retired English professional jockey, popularly known as "The Long Fellow". With 4,493 career wins, including nine Epsom Derby victories, he is one of the most well-known English flat racing jockeys of all time....	Vincent O'Brien Vincent O'Brien Dr. Michael Vincent O'Brien was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history, according to a worldwide vote hosted by the Racing Post newspaper...	1:46.45
1978	Roland Gardens	Frankie Durr	Duncan Sasse	1:48.56
1979	Foveros	Edward Hide	Clive Brittain Clive Brittain Clive Brittain is a British race-horse trainer. He began training as an apprentice in 1949, and on his own as a licensed trainer in the early 1970s. He currently trains at Carlburg Stables in Newmarket, Suffolk...
1980	Last Fandango	Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen is a retired American jockey.Cauthen, the son of a trainer and a farrier, grew up in Walton, Kentucky around horses, which made race-riding a logical career choice. He rode his first race on May 12, 1976 at Churchill Downs; he finished last, riding King of Swat...	Barry Hills Barry Hills Barry Hills is a British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.-Biography:Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage: John, Michael, and Richard. John is a horse trainer, and both Michael and Richard are jockeys. After his divorce, he married Penny Hills, and had two more...
1981	Centurius	Walter Swinburn Walter Swinburn Walter R. Swinburn is a retired flat racing jockey who competed in Great Britain and Ireland as well as internationally.Swinburn was born in Oxford...	Michael Stoute Michael Stoute Sir Michael Ronald Stoute is a Barbadian British thoroughbred horse trainer in flat racing. Stoute, whose father was the Chief of police for Barbados, left the island in 1964 at the age of 19 to become an assistant to trainer Pat Rohan and began training horses on his own in 1972...
1982	Count Pahlen	Geoff Baxter	Bruce Hobbs Bruce Hobbs Bruce Robertson Hobbs was an American jockey and horse trainer.Born on Long Island, New York, Hobbs became the youngest jockey ever to ride the winner of the English Grand National when successful on Battleship, a son of Man o' War, in 1938 just three months after his 17th birthday...
1983	no race 1983
1984	Long Pond	George Duffield George Duffield George Duffield MBE is a retired English flat racing jockey.He served a seven year apprenticeship with Jack Waugh, and rode his first winner on 15 June 1967 at Great Yarmouth Racecourse on a horse called Syllable, trained by Waugh.He became stable jockey for trainer John C...	Paul Kelleway
1985	Lightning Dealer	Pat Eddery Pat Eddery Patrick James John "Pat" Eddery is a former flat racing jockey. Pat's father Jimmy Eddery was a jockey, as is his brother Paul Eddery.-Career:...	Paul Kelleway
1986	Beldale Star	Greville Starkey Greville Starkey Greville Starkey was an English jockey who rode almost 2,000 winners during a 33-year career on the flat.Starkey scaled the heights of his profession during his 33-year career in which he rode 1,989 winners on the Flat...	Guy Harwood Guy Harwood Guy Harwood is a retired British racehorse trainer. Harwood was born in Pulborough, West Sussex, in 1939. Harwood began riding at the age of 18 and won 40 point-to-point races and 14 National Hunt races over the next few years...
1987	Lyphento	Greville Starkey Greville Starkey Greville Starkey was an English jockey who rode almost 2,000 winners during a 33-year career on the flat.Starkey scaled the heights of his profession during his 33-year career in which he rode 1,989 winners on the Flat...	Guy Harwood Guy Harwood Guy Harwood is a retired British racehorse trainer. Harwood was born in Pulborough, West Sussex, in 1939. Harwood began riding at the age of 18 and won 40 point-to-point races and 14 National Hunt races over the next few years...
1988	Shuja	Richard Hills	Harry Thomson Jones Harry Thomson Jones Harry Thomson Jones , often known as Tom Jones, was a British racehorse trainer whose career lasted from 1951 to 1996...	1:55.08
1989	Shining Steel	Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen is a retired American jockey.Cauthen, the son of a trainer and a farrier, grew up in Walton, Kentucky around horses, which made race-riding a logical career choice. He rode his first race on May 12, 1976 at Churchill Downs; he finished last, riding King of Swat...	Henry Cecil Henry Cecil Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil is a successful English horse racing trainer who has had many winners in the Epsom Derby, 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Oaks and the St. Leger Stakes....	1:54.30
1990	Eton Lad	Pat Eddery Pat Eddery Patrick James John "Pat" Eddery is a former flat racing jockey. Pat's father Jimmy Eddery was a jockey, as is his brother Paul Eddery.-Career:...	Neville Callaghan	1:44.28
1991	Fair Average	Chris Rutter	Henry Candy	1:40.05
1992	no race 1992–96
1997	Palio Sky	Pat Eddery Pat Eddery Patrick James John "Pat" Eddery is a former flat racing jockey. Pat's father Jimmy Eddery was a jockey, as is his brother Paul Eddery.-Career:...	John Dunlop John L. Dunlop John L. Dunlop is a successful race horse trainer based in Arundel, Sussex, with over 3000 winners between 1966 and 2002.He was the British flat racing Champion Trainer in 1995....	2:39.94
1998	The Glow-Worm	Michael Hills	Barry Hills Barry Hills Barry Hills is a British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.-Biography:Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage: John, Michael, and Richard. John is a horse trainer, and both Michael and Richard are jockeys. After his divorce, he married Penny Hills, and had two more...	2:51.44
1999	Daliapour	Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé is a jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in April 1983 and his success during his apprenticeship under Patrick-Louis Biancone led to an offer to ride for renowned trainer François Boutin and his stable of horses belonging to Jean-Luc Lagardère...	Luca Cumani Luca Cumani Luca M. Cumani is an Italian thoroughbred horse trainer. He has trained at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket, England since 1976...	2:13.38
2000	Eternal Spring	Kieren Fallon Kieren Fallon Kieren Francis Fallon is a professional flat racing jockey and has been British Champion Jockey six times....	Ed Dunlop	2:20.81
2001	Storming Home Storming Home Storming Home is a retired, British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire who was trained in the United Kingdom and the United States during a racing career which ran from 2000 to 2003...	Michael Hills	Barry Hills Barry Hills Barry Hills is a British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.-Biography:Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage: John, Michael, and Richard. John is a horse trainer, and both Michael and Richard are jockeys. After his divorce, he married Penny Hills, and had two more...	2:20.79
2002	Swing Wing	Jimmy Fortune Jimmy Fortune (jockey) Jimmy Fortune is an Irish thoroughbred jockey who, through 2008, has 76 wins from 528 rides. He apprenticed with Jim Bolger in Ireland. He was first licensed in 1987 and his first win came in 1988 at Thirsk riding Hitchinstown...	Paul Cole Paul Cole Paul F. I. Cole is a British racehorse trainer. Since 1987 he has been based at Whatcombe Estate in Oxfordshire, the former stables of Dick Dawson and Arthur Budgett....	2:11.17
2003	Franklins Gardens	Darryll Holland Darryll Holland Darryll Paul Holland is a United Kingdom flat racing jockey who has ridden for trainers such as Luca Cumani, Geoff Wragg, and Mark Johnston....	Mark Tompkins Mark Tompkins Mark Tompkins is a British horse racer and trainer. He is currently the chairman of the Newmarket Trainers Federation. He worked as an assistant for the trainers Walter Wharton and Ryan Jarvis before working he began training independently. He has been a trainer at the Flint Cottage Stables for the...	2:09.70
2004	Bull Run	Johnny Murtagh Johnny Murtagh Johnny Murtagh is a Irish flat racing jockey from Bohermeen, Navan, County Meath.He excels on the big stage, having won many Group 1 races around the world...	David Loder David Loder David Loder is a retired trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses.David Loder is the son of Simon Loder, of the family of Loder Baronets, by Sandra Fleming, a descendant of Robert Fleming...	2:20.44
2005	Hallhoo	Ted Durcan	Mick Channon Mick Channon Michael Roger "Mick" Channon is a sportsman who enjoyed a career as a striker with Southampton and England in the 1970s and later became a hugely successful racehorse trainer.-Southampton:...	2:14.56
2006	Before You Go	Ian Mongan	Terry Mills	2:14.02
2007	Raincoat	Richard Hughes Richard Hughes (jockey) Richard Hughes is an Irish flat jockey who most commonly rides in Great Britain. Born in Dublin, he is the son of successful National Hunt trainer, Dessie Hughes. His main provider of rides has been trainer Richard Hannon who is also his father in law andfrom 2001 to 2007 he was also retained by...	John Gosden John Gosden John Gosden is a racehorse trainer. Having trained over 2,000 winners since his return to England in 1989, including winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Derby, the King George, the 1,000 Guineas and the St. Leger, he is generally considered one of the most successful racehorse trainers of...	2:08.35
2008	Curtain Call	Jamie Spencer Jamie Spencer Jamie Spencer is an Irish flat racing jockey currently riding in the UK. He has been champion jockey in both Ireland and Britain and has won four classics, two in each country. Spencer is widely regarded as one of the best, and most naturally talented, UK-based jockeys - despite not having a...	Luca Cumani Luca Cumani Luca M. Cumani is an Italian thoroughbred horse trainer. He has trained at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket, England since 1976...	2:14.44
2009	Debussy Debussy (horse) Debussy is a thoroughbred racehorse and winner of the 2010 Arlington Million....	Jimmy Fortune Jimmy Fortune (jockey) Jimmy Fortune is an Irish thoroughbred jockey who, through 2008, has 76 wins from 528 rides. He apprenticed with Jim Bolger in Ireland. He was first licensed in 1987 and his first win came in 1988 at Thirsk riding Hitchinstown...	John Gosden John Gosden John Gosden is a racehorse trainer. Having trained over 2,000 winners since his return to England in 1989, including winners of the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Derby, the King George, the 1,000 Guineas and the St. Leger, he is generally considered one of the most successful racehorse trainers of...	2:08.92
2010	Dreamspeed	Jimmy Fortune Jimmy Fortune (jockey) Jimmy Fortune is an Irish thoroughbred jockey who, through 2008, has 76 wins from 528 rides. He apprenticed with Jim Bolger in Ireland. He was first licensed in 1987 and his first win came in 1988 at Thirsk riding Hitchinstown...	Andrew Balding	2:09.88
2011	Slumber	Michael Hills	Barry Hills Barry Hills Barry Hills is a British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.-Biography:Barry Hills had three sons in his first marriage: John, Michael, and Richard. John is a horse trainer, and both Michael and Richard are jockeys. After his divorce, he married Penny Hills, and had two more...	2:08.98

The 1991 running took place at Kempton Park

Kempton Park Racecourse

Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, which is a western suburb of London 16 miles from the city centre. The site is set in of land....

 over a distance of 1 mile.


The 2008 edition was run at Nottingham

Nottingham Racecourse

Nottingham Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated at Colwick Park, close to the River Trent and about 3 km east of the city centre....

over 1 mile, 2 furlongs and 50 yards.