{"id":624868,"date":"2026-06-06T19:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T19:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/624868\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T19:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T19:29:08","slug":"construction-worker-backs-epsom-derby-winner-thanks-to-spooky-time-capsule-tip-horse-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/624868\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction worker backs Epsom Derby winner thanks to \u2018spooky\u2019 time capsule tip | Horse racing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A construction site manager is cashing in after placing a bet on the winner of Saturday\u2019s Derby<\/a> horse race at Epsom, after he was encouraged to do so by a note found under a statue in a 1960s time capsule.<\/p>\n

Josh Smalls, site manager on the restoration project at Crystal Palace Park<\/a> in south London, said the note and four old coins were discovered by a colleague underneath the giant bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the Victorian designer of the Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n

The note explained that the money was the winnings from a bet on a horse named Santa Claus in the 1964 Epsom Derby. The writer urged any future finder of the time capsule to use the money to bet on a horse in the Derby with a name that \u201ccan in some way be associated with \u2018Santa Claus\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

Santa Claus wins the Derby at Epsom in 1964. Photograph: PA<\/p>\n

Smalls \u2013 speaking before Saturday\u2019s race \u2013 told the BBC: \u201cUnbelievably, there is a horse in this year\u2019s Derby called Christmas Day \u2026 To find a piece of history like that \u2013 and for it to link up so well with the horse this year \u2013 it was kind of spooky. I looked through the rosters of the last few years and couldn\u2019t find any other horse with a Christmassy name.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and the mayor of Bromley placed bets on the horse, which duly romped home as a 7-1 winner. It never looked in danger soon after entering the straight, staying on strongly to the line and repelling a late challenge from Maltese Cross, giving his trainer, Aidan O\u2019Brien, a 12th win in Britain\u2019s premier Classic.<\/p>\n

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Smalls had placed a \u00a320 bet on the horse, saying \u201chopefully he\u2019ll make everyone a bit of money\u201d, while Bromley\u2019s mayor, Christine Harris, placed a \u00a315 bet, pledging the winnings to two charities, Madlani Cancer Support and the Dyslexia Association of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham.<\/p>\n

The time capsule was first discovered in April by Smalls\u2019s colleague, Craciun Marius Dorin, a member of the team overseeing the park\u2019s regeneration, who said: \u201cI\u2019m Romanian and Craciun in Romanian actually means Christmas \u2013 isn\u2019t that crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Paxton bust pictured during the regeneration project at Crystal Palace Park. Photograph: Adrian Chinery\/Alamy<\/p>\n

The note, transcribed by the Crystal Palace Trust, read: \u201cThese coins were planted in the year that \u2018Santa Claus\u2019 won the Derby. When unearthed, the monetary value should be laid on a horse in the Derby who\u2019s name can be in some way be associated with \u201cSanta Claus\u201d. (And the best of British luck). P. Wright Paterson.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bust of Paxton was being removed from its plinth to be restored and relocated as part of the \u00a321.8m regeneration plan. The bust has been moved to the Italian Terraces at the top of the park near where the Crystal Palace stood<\/a> before it was destroyed by fire in 1936. The note and coins will go on display at the Crystal Palace Museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A construction site manager is cashing in after placing a bet on the winner of Saturday\u2019s Derby horse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-624868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}