What are the longest and shortest winning margins in the history of the Derby?

Established in 1780, the Derby is run over a mile and a half at Epsom Downs Racecourse on the first Saturday in June. The fourth Classic of the season has seen some wide-margin winners in its history, but the widest of all was the subsequently ill-fated Shergar, who put 10 lengths between himself and his nearest pursuer, Glint Of Gold, in the 1981 renewal. Indeed, approaching the final furlong, commentator Peter Bromley was caused to exclaim, “There’s only one horse in it. You need a telescope to see the rest!” The late John Matthias, who rode Glint Of Gold, famously said afterwards, “I thought I had won.”

Over half a century before Shergar, in 1925, Manna, who had won the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, sluiced home by eight lengths at Epsom to complete the second leg of the Triple Crown in some style. More recently, in 2010, Workforce – trained, like Shergar, by Sir Michael Stoute – also showed his rivals a clean pair of heels, winning by seven lengths in a still-record time of 2:31.33.

At the other end of the scale, there have actually been two dead-heats in the Derby, between Cadland and The Colonel in 1828 and Harvester and St. Gatien in 1884. Since the Derby was first decided by photo-finish camera in 1949, when Nimbus beat Amour Drake and Swallow Tail by a head and the same, several horses have won by what was, at the time, the minimum possible margin, a short-head. Roberto did so in 1972, Secreto in 1984, Benny The Dip in 1998 and, most recently, Sir Percy came out best in a blanket finish in 2006, when the first four home were covered by half a length, or a short-head, a head and a short-head to be precise.