epsom, the Derby & oaks.

​I may be alone in my view but I wish the Epsom Derby could be moved back to the Wednesday. Can anyone say, hand on heart, that staging the race on a Saturday has produced any real and lasting benefits? On the Wednesday it was a day off work for people, an event, even if only for a day skiving off work, that was a date pencilled in on the calendar. Our ancestors watched the race on a Wednesday and Parliament in the good old days skipped off early to reconvene en masse at Epsom, if only to be seen in the company of people first removed from the Royal Court, with no liking or interest in the actual horses. There is no need to run the Ascot Gold Cup on a Saturday and I have heard no convincing argument that the Epsom Derby sparkles like diamonds on a Saturday whereas on a Wednesday the lustre is dimmed by the proximity of so many scalleywags.
That said, I look forward to the Derby meeting, far more than I do the razzmatazz and fashionistas of Royal Ascot. The Coronation Cup is a race worth £250,000 to the winner, so why is it not the target for many of the top Group 1 horses across Europe? Six contest the race this year, with Pyledriver the only genuine – he did after all win the race last season – Group 1 horse in the field. He might repeat his heroics and give Frankie Dettori another excuse for a flying leap. He’s getting on, you know, one day he’s going to snap an ankle or cruciate ligament and won’t he look a fool then. I suspect that Manobo will win for Charlie Appleby and Will Buick.
Eleven go to post for the Cazoo Oaks, with the winning owner pocketing a cool £311, 905. Of the eleven, four are trained by Aiden O’Brien and two by John and Thady Gosden. Slightly to my surprise Ryan Moore has opted for Tuesday. My money was on him riding Thoughts of June, now the mount of Wayne Lorden and though she is my pick for the race, I will be delighted if she is beaten by the Holy Doyle and Nashwa. For the sport, Nashwa will be infinitely the best result, allowing editors to sneak Hollie on to the front pages of their newspapers. And she might well win. She isn’t second favourite for no good sound reason. She is improving by the run and owner, trainer and jockey must be in accord with the decision to go up in trip or she would be kept back for the French equivalent. Husband Tom will be an emotional wreck if the missus were to break one of racing’s last glass ceilings. Fingers crossed.
Emily Upjohn has looked the most likely winner since she scooted up at York but in backing her you are taking a chance on her tendency to get a bit wound up in the early stages of a race, disobeying Frankie’s clear instruction to her to ‘calm down dear’. I wouldn’t be surprised to be proved wrong but for me it is Thoughts of June to win from Nashwa and With the Moonlight. I hope Rogue Millennium gives a good account of herself and if she were to prevail, I would almost be as happy as I will be if Nashwa wins.
The Cazoo Derby is a right old enigma, isn’t it? The race could be a straight shoot out between Aiden’s three and Charlie’s three. I don’t think there is a lot of ground between Aiden’s three, with my preference being Changingoftheguard. There is little doubt Ryan will ride Stone Age and will perhaps start favourite because of his influence. Of the Godolphin three, I have a hankering for Walk of Stars, though as with Emily Upjohn in the Oaks, Walk of Stars’ temperament may defeat him. I have little doubt Desert Crown will emerge by season’s end as the top rated of Saturday’s runners. I just have it in my head that he will lose his race on the run to Tattenham Corner. There was just something about the way he came off a straight line in the Dante that has unnerved me. Of the Dante form I prefer Royal Patronage, a horse that seems to be coming to hand at the right moment and it is about time Mark Johnson and son had another classic winner.
Though it should be the turn of one of the fancied runners to win, I believe we are in for another almighty turn-up, with Glory Daze my selection to provide the shock. His form in Ireland is pretty okay or as okay as Stone Age, with the latter being far shorter odds than the former. In fact, for the forecast I would go with Westover, with Changingoftheguard third and Royal Patronage fourth.