Bretby is a village in Derbyshire, near Burton-on-Trent and the eastern border of Staffordshire. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book and may be the location of a battle between the Danes and the rulers of Mercia in 880.
Bretby Hall was built in 1630 for Thomas Stanhope, whose grandson had been dubbed the 1st Earl of Chesterfield two years previously. It became the seat of the subsequent Earls. The 5th Earl built a new Hall in 1812.
The Bretby Stakes, founded at Newmarket in 1844 ten years after the inauguration of the Chesterfield Stakes (qv). Both were in honour of the 6th Earl (1805-66). Among family historians he is known as “the racing earl”.
Eventually Bretby Hall passed into the hands of the Earls of Carnarvon. They didn’t live there, but used it as a base for recreation shooting parties. The 5th Earl sold the hall to finance the Tutankhuman expedition of 1922. The Hall is now divided into 30 private apartments.
As is pointed out in The Heath and the Horse, though the last Bretby Handicap was in 1996, the last six furlongs of the Rowley Mile are still formally described as the Bretby Stakes Course.
Sources include:
The Heath and the Horse (Oldrey, Cox & Nash)
The Oaks Stakes (Michael Church)
www.greyhoundderby.com
https://bretbyparishcouncil.org.uk/history/