User talk:Peter Holdridge

Derby numbering
I happened by your message to, and thought I‘d drop you a line here (along with the above menu, which I hope you find helpful) with a proposed explanation of the apparent discrepancy in the numbering at Kiplingcotes Derby. I got distracted before sending it, and in the meantime Keith has suggested the same thing, but here’s a little more detail … Until the mid-eighteenth century, the year began in England on Lady Day, the 25th of March. The third Thursday in March (falling between the 15th and the 21st inclusive) on which the first derby was run would thus have been near the end of the year 1519, not a quarter of the way through as nowadays. Projecting the modern calendar backward, we would find that the first race was held in 1520, because we would consider the year to have turned on the preceding January 1. If I reckon correctly, the 233rd race was held near the end of 1751 (O.S.), and the 234th in early 1753. When it comes to calendars, the math is rarely straightforward.—Odysseus 1 4 7  9  03:04, 19 February 2017 (UTC) Thanks for this. I knew the calendar had changed but didn't realise the detail. Yes, that does explain the Kiplingcotes Derby numbering. (Peter 28/2/2017)