In the early 1990s, Derby day was visibly dying from one year to the next and the switch to Saturday gave it a huge boost and opened up the race to new potential audiencesAs soon as Lucas Moura scored his winning goal in Amsterdam last month, it was obvious that this year’s Derby was going to have even more of a struggle than usual to grab the attention of the British sporting public. What with the big match in Madrid, the Cricket World Cup, a Brit in a heavyweight title fight and England women’s last warmup before the World Cup, Flat racing’s most famous race had a lot to contend with both before and after the event.Inevitably, there were calls...
Chances must be seized as the second-string jockey and it seemed as though Heffernan had missed his opportunity in the Derby when beaten on the favourite a decade agoChances must be seized when you’re the second-string jockey and it seemed as though Seamie Heffernan had missed his opportunity in the Derby when Fame And Glory was the beaten favourite a decade ago. Not, it should be hastily added, that he did anything wrong that day and in hindsight it was clearly mad of us punters to make Fame And Glory favourite over Sea The Stars, but on Saturday the most quiet of many quiet men at Ballydoyle got due reward for his durability with a first Derby success at the...
Staying the trip is the only significant doubt about the well-backed filly before the Classic at Epsom on FridayIt takes around 20 seconds for a horse to cover the last two furlongs in the Oaks, and for Maqsad (4.30), it could feel like the longest 20 seconds of her life. Stamina is the one significant doubt about William Haggas’s filly before Friday’s Classic at Epsom, but even after support from 7-1 to 11-2 since Thursday afternoon, that is factored into her price and she is well worth supporting to give her trainer a second Oaks winner.Despite having spent some time sifting through the stats for Siyouni’s offspring in search of positive evidence that she will get 12 furlongs, the news...
Fast ground for the Classic will be a new test for Sir Dragonet, who has had ease in the ground for two races so farMy first confident assertion of Derby week is that Sir Dragonet is not going to get the same ground on which he was so impressive at Chester. Weather-related predictions are, um, not exactly danger-free but we’re only five days from the greatest Classic and there is no sign of the precipitation that would surely help the favourite.“The only threat of rain I can see in the forecast just now is in the next 48 hours,” Epsom’s clerk, Andrew Cooper, told me this morning. “It’s really confined to Tuesday afternoon and is expected to be showery in...
The Ballydoyle trainer has four of the top six in the betting for the Epsom Derby but has even spoken of running likely favourite Sir Dragonet at ChantillyThis year, more than any other year, it has become important to anticipate Aidan O’Brien’s running plans for the Derby. The master of Ballydoyle has four of the top six in the betting plus other potential runners, only he’s considering sending a couple of them to the French Derby instead. He has even spoken of the possibility of Sir Dragonet, who would start favourite for Epsom if he ran there, turning up at Chantilly. A significant edge awaits any punter who can work out the plans in advance although he has been speaking...