The race was created through the efforts of
pub landlord, Samuel Powell Beeton in response to a call for support from the
Clerk of the Course at Epsom, who wanted to upgrade the Epsom Spring Meeting. Beeton ran The Dolphin pub, near to
St Mary-le-Bow church in London, an establishment so well known as a betting premises, it became known as 'the
Tattersalls of the
East End'. Together with fellow licensees and bookmakers, he raised a collection of £300 to sponsor the race, which for its first year attracted a field of 29 runners. It thus became one of the first horse races in Britain to be sponsored. In contrast to its early days, it is now a fairly typical middle ranking, middle distance handicap. The first occasion that a photo-finish camera was used to decide a result at a British racecourse was for the 1947 Great Metropolitan, run on 22 April 1947, when second place was determined by the camera. In 1891, a race in
United States adopted the same name. Nowadays, the American
Metropolitan Handicap, which since 1904, with a few exceptions, has been run at
Belmont Park, far eclipses its British counterpart. It is a
Grade 1 race which in 2012 was won by
Preakness Stakes winner,
Shackleford. == Winners since 1985 ==