A photograph of Abdul Gaffoor performing conjuring tricks at Epsom on Derby Day, taken by George Roper for the Daily Herald newspaper on 21 May, 1939.

A photograph of Abdul Gaffoor performing conjuring tricks at Epsom racecourse on Derby Day, taken in May 1939 by George W Roper for the Daily Herald.

Gaffoor was one of many tipsters at the Epsom Derby, but he clearly also enjoyed entertaining the crowds by performing tricks and selling the perfume seen lined up behind him. In the late 1770s, Lord Derby and Sir Charles Bunbury decided to create a race that would find the best horse of its generation - and tossed a coin to see who the race would be named after. Although Bunbury lost the toss, his horse Diomed won the first ever Epsom Derby in 1780.