Construction worker backs Epsom Derby winner thanks to ‘spooky’ time capsule tip

By David Hills • June 7, 2026 • Sport

A construction manager backed Derby winner Christmas Day after a note found in a 1960s time capsule urged bets on a horse ‘associated with Santa Claus’

A construction site manager is cashing in after placing a bet on the winner of Saturday’s Derby horse race at Epsom, after he was encouraged to do so by a note found under a statue in a 1960s time capsule. Josh Smalls, site manager on the restoration project at Crystal Palace Park 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. 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 “can in some way be associated with ‘Santa Claus’”. Smalls – speaking before Saturday’s race – told the BBC: “Unbelievably, there is a horse in this year’s Derby called Christmas Day … To find a piece of history like that – and for it to link up so well with the horse this year – it was kind of spooky. I looked through the rosters of the last few years and couldn’t find any other horse with a Christmassy name.” 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’Brien, a 12th win in Britain’s premier Classic. Smalls had placed a £20 bet on the horse, saying “hopefully he’ll make everyone a bit of money”, while Bromley’s mayor, Christine Harris, placed a £15 bet, pledging the winnings to two charities, Madlani Cancer Support and the Dyslexia Association of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham. The time capsule was first discovered in April by Smalls’s colleague, Craciun Marius Dorin, a member of the team overseeing the park’s regeneration, who said: “I’m Romanian and Craciun in Romanian actually means Christmas – isn’t that crazy?” The note, transcribed by the Crystal Palace Trust, read: “These coins were planted in the year that ‘Santa Claus’ won the Derby. When unearthed, the monetary value should be laid on a horse in the Derby who’s name can be in some way be associated with “Santa Claus”. (And the best of British luck). P. Wright Paterson.” The bust of Paxton was being removed from its plinth to be restored and relocated as part of the £21.8m regeneration plan. The bust has been moved to the Italian Terraces at the top of the park near where the Crystal Palace stood before it was destroyed by fire in 1936. The note and coins will go on display at the Crystal Palace Museum.

Source: The Guardian