Flat racing is one of the few top sports where some of its biggest stars, the jockeys, can compete into their 50s.

Some face a continuous battle to keep their weight down and must be up at dawn most days to ride out.

Fitness experts say despite their regimes, riders can go on longer than other sportsmen, for example footballers, as they need strength more than stamina.

And Flat jockeys do not have the additional stress of their jump colleagues, who must get their mount over a fence, and have on average one in 10 or 12 rides that end in a fall.

In the Derby, body strength, experience and speed of thought are as vital as general fitness.

BBC Sport Online looks at some of the stars, past and present, who have carried on winning down the decades.

Sir Gordon Richards