The Racing Post’s epic summer series, The Story of Horseracing in 20 Races, has now crossed the finish line – and you can catch up with everything you’ve missed now by joining Racing Post+ Ultimate with 60% off your first month.
So, here we are, at the end of our tour of racing history in search of the races that changed the landscape and ultimately shaped the sport as we know it today. Our selections spanned around 250 years of the turf’s long and glorious history, from the first Derby in 1780 through to the current century, with a few certainties on the list but a fair number that might have kept you guessing.
When the sport has evidently been through so much and seen so many superstars along the way, it might seem unlikely to suggest we are able to finish off with the greatest horse racing has ever known. Some accusations of recency bias would be understandable, given the usual tendency for people to act like amnesiac goldfish when it comes to selecting the best of all time and simply select the latest horse or race that tickled their fancy.
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