In horse racing in Great Britain, the British Classics are a series of horse races run over the flat (i.e. without jumps) for Thoroughbreds. Each classic is run once each year and is restricted to horses that are three years old.
In 1902 Sceptre became the only racehorse to win four British Classic Races outright. Previously, in 1868, Formosa won the same four races but dead-heated in the 2,000 Guineas Stakes.
The five races are:
| Race | Date | Distance | Course | First Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 Guineas Stakes | Late April / early May | 1 mile | Newmarket | 1809 |
| 1,000 Guineas Stakes | Late April / early May | 1 mile | Newmarket | 1814 |
| Epsom Oaks | Early June | 1 mile 4 furlongs 10 yd | Epsom Downs | 1779 |
| Epsom Derby | First Saturday in June | 1 mile 4 furlongs 10 yd | Epsom Downs | 1780 |
| St. Leger Stakes | September | 1 mile 6 furlongs 132 yd | Doncaster | 1776 |
The 1,000 Guineas and the Oaks are restricted to three-year-old fillies. The 2,000 Guineas the Derby and the St.Leger are open three-year old fillies and colts.
Famous quotes containing the words british, classic and/or races:
“When a man wants to write a book full of unassailable facts, he always goes to the British Museum.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“The great British Library—an immense collection of volumes of all ages and languages, many of which are now forgotten, and most of which are seldom read: one of these sequestered pools of obsolete literature to which modern authors repair, and draw buckets full of classic lore, or “pure English, undefiled” wherewith to swell their own scanty rills of thought.”
—Washington Irving (1783–1859)
“Arrive at New Orleans, a city of ships, steamers, flatboats, rafts, mud, fog, filth, stench, and a mixture of races and tongues. Cholera, “some.” [At] Planters’ Hotel. Mem:—Never get caught in a cheap tavern in a strange city.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)