Key events
The Derby (4.30pm) betting
Greg Wood
The Derby (4.30pm) preview
The Derby has been coming into ever-sharper focus ever since the last horse crossed the line in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, and at this stage, there is precious little to add to all the form, thoughts and conjecture of the last four weeks. Every punter is likely to look at the race in a slightly different way, and place a different emphasis on various performances, but for me it came down to a choice between Los Angeles and Dancing Gemini, and slightly more certainty about the likelihood of improvement at 12 furlongs narrowly tipped the balance towards the Leopardstown Derby Trial winner. That said, it would be splendid to see City Of Troy return to his exhilarating two-year-old form, or Ambiente Friendly come home in front for 91-year-old Bill Gredley. The only certainty is that the winner will join the unbroken line of Derby winners that stretches back to 1780, while the also-rans will have missed their one and only chance of Epsom Classic glory.
SELECTION: LOS ANGELES
Betfred Dash Handicap (3.45pm) result
1 Dream Composer (Joe Leavy) 6-1
2 Democracy Dilemma (Rossa Ryan) 8-1
3 Looking For Lynda (Hollie Doyle) 17-2
14 ran
Also: 5-1 Fav Silky Wilkie, 33-1 Antiphon 4th
Non Runner: 6
Betfred Dash Handicap (3.45pm)
And they’re off … zoom … this is going to be quick (again this is a contest over the fastest five furlongs in the world) so excuse the sparse description … Democracy Dilemma is off fast. … he has the rail now to help him and will go hard for the line … oh here comes a challenger and he is caught by Dream Composer on the line!
Very sad news from the 3.10pm race after Tears Of A Clown’s mishap near the end of the contest.
Tears Of A Clown has sadly been put down following a fatal injury in the Betfred 3yo “dash”
Our thoughts are with connections at this difficult time
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) June 1, 2024
Betfred Dash Handicap (3.45pm) betting
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Silky Wilkie 5/1
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Clarendon House 6/1
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Looking For Lynda 13/2
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Dream Composer 7/1
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Lethal Nymph 8/1
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Democracy Dilemma 15/2
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Chipstead 10/1
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Alligator Alley 14/1
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Night On Earth 16/1
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Live In The Moment 18/1
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BAR 28/1 – 14 Runners
Greg Wood
Betfred Dash Handicap (3.45pm) preview
A 14-runner field for the traditional precursor to the Derby following the scratching of One Night Stand, which is the smallest for 21 years. There are still more than enough possibilities to keep form students busy for many hours, however, and big outsiders including The Bell Conductor, at 33-1, go to post with a realistic each-way chance. For win purposes, though, I’m with Dream Composer at around 8-1, as the form of his latest narrow defeat at Goodwood looks as solid as anything on offer and Joe Leavy’s 5lb claim could make all the difference in a tight finish.
SELECTION: DREAM COMPOSER
Betfred Dash Handicap (3.45pm) market mover
Aidan O’Brien, who leaves no stone unturned, with the Instructions (Part One) for a couple of his Derby jockeys …
Betfred 3-Y-O Dash Handicap (3.10pm) result
1 Blue Storm (Rossa Ryan) 8-1
2 Sturlasson (Oisin Murphy) 7-1
3 Due For Luck (Jason Hart) 6-1
4 Enchanting (Hollie Doyle) 20-1
19 ran
Also: 9-2 Fav Grandlad
Non Runner: 13
Betfred 3-Y-O Dash Handicap (3.10pm)
And they’re off … zoom … this is going to be quick (this is the fastest five furlongs in the world) so excuse the sparse description … Grandlad is up there early … Mc Loven is fast away … Blue Storm takes the lead down the centre and holds off the late challenge of Sturlasson.
Betfred 3-Y-O Dash Handicap (3.10pm) market mover
Betfred 3-Y-O Dash Handicap (3.10pm) betting
Greg Wood
Betfred 3-Y-O Dash Handicap (3.10pm) preview
The three-year-old version of the annual headlong charge down the straight five-furlong course that follows at 3.45, and scarcely a name among the 19 runners that can be ruled out with complete confidence. For the most part, though, most of these are a good deal more exposed than many three-year-olds at this stage of the campaign, and one of the few with only a handful of starts to their name is Grandlad, the narrow favourite. He took his record to 2-from-4 with a narrow win at Goodwood last weekend and the form was backed up by a strong time figure, and so he is probably the safest option in a desperately difficult event.
SELECTION: GRANDLAD
Diomed Stakes (2.35pm) result
1 Royal Scotsman (J P Spencer) 17-2
2 Royal Dubai (Oisin Murphy) 6-1
3 Highland Avenue (W Buick) 7-2 Jt Fav
8 ran
Diomed Stakes (2.35pm)
And they’re off … Royal Scotsman sets off in the lead and is going a fast pace … Regal Reality is at the back … Royal Scotsman kicks clear … can he hold on? Yes he can! An easy winner!! That was the story of the race. A horse back to form and he will win better races now he’s back on song. Ran a terrific race in the 2,000 Guineas last year and has not had the rub of the green since. Great to see.
Market mover for 2.35pm race
Highland Avenue 6/1 into 7/2
Greg Wood
Diomed Stakes preview
This is not generally one of the season’s better Group Three events and the fact that last year’s 1-2 – the now nine-year-old Regal Reality and six-year-old Highland Avenue – are back for another crack tells a tale about the latest renewal, but there is at least an interesting new opponent in Roger Varian’s Embesto. He was a little disappointing on his seasonal debut at Newmarket last month but remains with potential after just half a dozen starts and races in a hood for the first time here. It could prove to be the making of him, but for now, I’ll take the proven course form of Highland Avenue to prevail.
SELECTION: HIGHLAND AVENUE
Diomed Stakes (2.35pm) betting
Princess Elizabeth Stakes (2pm) result
1 Breege (Jason Hart) 5-1
2 Chic Colombine (W Buick) 11-4
3 Royal Dress (B M Coen) 14-1
8 ran
Also: 13-8 Fav Running Lion, 66-1 Julia Augusta 4th
Non Runner: 7
Princess Elizabeth Stakes (2pm)
And they’re off … Julia Augusta leads in the early stages … pace quite nippy this time … Astral Beau is second and Running Lion poised in third … the favourite went for a daring run up the rail but didn’t have the finishing kick … it’s a bunched finish and they are all over the place but Breege holds on. What a mess of a race.
Princess Elizabeth Stakes (2pm) betting
There’s an election on and Priti Patel MP is at the Derby – if she loses her Witham constituency (majority 24,000) on July 4th the Conservative party will be extinct!
Greg Wood
Princess Elizabeth Stakes (2pm) preview
It has to be said that the Derby’s undercard is somewhat … well, underwhelming when set against many other big-race days, both here and around the world. That said, this Group Three is a fair race of its type, and features a favourite in Running Lion who has shown occasional glimpses of potential Group One-winning form at various points in her career. Her strike-rate, though, feels like it is not quite what it should be – she is winless in five starts since May 2023 – and personally I’d want to see a bit more before stepping in to back her at around 2-1. Instead, I’ll take her on with a 12-1 chance in David Loughnane’s Sparks Fly, a prolific handicapper last year with the potential for further progress at four and not much to find with the favourite on ratings, although it has to be said that drying ground is not necessarily ideal.
SELECTION: SPARKS FLY
Market mover for 2pm race …
Astral Beau 9-1 into 7–1
Lester Piggott Handicap (1.25pm) result
1 Persica (S M Levey) 9-2
2 Portsmouth (Oisin Murphy) 5-2 Fav
3 Redhot Whisper (Jack Gilligan) 28-1
12 ran
Lester Piggott Handicap (1.25pm)
And they’re off … Blake was slowly away and Persica leads … but it’s a slow pace and the field is bunched up … Golden West is up there at Tattenham Corner … Portsmouth is getting through on the rail … but is being fought off and Persica wins … a fine front-running ride from Sean Levey.
Lester Piggott Handicap (1.25pm) betting
Lester Piggott Handicap (1.25pm) preview
Greg Wood
A tricky little handicap to kick off proceedings on Derby day, named to honour a rider who knew rode this unique track better than anyone before or since. Course form is always worth marking up at Epsom and Portsmouth is one of just two runners in the field – Golden West is the other – with a previous win at the track, having registered a very comfortable win at the April meeting off a mark of 74. He is 9lb higher today, having finished a fine second on heavy ground at Goodwood in early May, but has obvious prospects of a return to the winner’s enclosure back on a better surface today.
SELECTION: PORTSMOUTH
Here are the Oddschecker best-supported horses of the day so far …and City of Troy is among them!
The Racing TV panel on the channel have just stated City Of Troy “is definitely not worth backing at 7-2”. That was recorded earlier this week and now the favourite is 11-4 in places! The most famous British Fat race this year revolves around one horse: if City Of Troy comes back to his best form from last season he wins but if he runs like he did in the 2,000 Guineas when he flopped so badly then it’s the end of another chance for the Aidan O’Brien operation to say they have a genuine racing great in their yard. Don’t forget his owners last year mentioned the colt in the same breath as Frankel.
One of the reasons City Of Troy did not handle the Guineas test at Newmarket was the fact that he boiled over at the start. My colleague Greg Wood reported last night that O’Brien stated he’s not going to take any special measures with the horse while there’s another point to factor in. The BestofBets.com people remind me in a missive that ‘In addition to a very poor run in the Guineas, the favourite for today’s Epsom Derby will have to overcome the ‘coffin box’ draw of stall one.’ Timeform did their analysis and concluded that “the data suggests there is merit in the view that a low draw is more of a hindrance than a help.” It’s a tricky head scratcher for backers.
Good afternoon. Get ready for the usual rollercoaster Derby up and around the famous Epsom Downs. The traditions are part of what makes this event so special and we’re going to start with the annual tip at the Amato pub near the track. Beware, the last few years have not exactly been bursting with winners … including in 2023. This year it’s the Guardian’s tip, Los Angeles!
Preamble
Greg Wood
Good afternoon from Epsom on the first Saturday in June, which can only mean that tens of thousands of racing fans are converging on the Surrey downs for the 245th running of the Derby, the world’s most famous Classic.
Precisely how many tens of thousands is hard to say, not least because the Hill enclosure – which the track describes as the “beating heart of the Derby Festival” remains arguably the best free sporting day out anywhere on the planet. But the paid attendance took a significant hit last year, from 37,274 to 25,413, something that seems to have been slightly lost amid the focus on attempts by animal rights protestors to disrupt the big race.
Jockey Club Racecourses, which is also facing serious struggles to maintain the attendance figures at Cheltenham and Aintree in the spring, will not want to see the numbers at its other big event heading in the same direction.
There is at least no rain forecast at Epsom today, which may well encourage some walk-ups, and the big race – due off at 4.30pm – has several interesting plotlines, including a juvenile champion with something to prove in City Of Troy and a live runner for 91-year-old owner Bill Gredley in Ambiente Friendly.
City Of Troy, who ran a shocker at odds-on in the 2,000 Guineas last time, seemed to be facing a serious challenge at the top of the market yesterday evening but has put some distance between himself and the rest in the betting this morning at around 3-1.
That reflects a lack of market confidence behind his stable companion at Aidan O’Brien’s yard, Los Angeles, who is out to 13-2, and also a drift on Ancient Wisdom, the six-length runner-up behind Economics in the Dante Stakes, out to 6-1. Ambiente Friendly, the Lingfield trial winner, is 15-2, while Macduff, second in the Sandown Classic Trial in April, is heading the other way, at around 9-1 from 12-1 overnight.
The going at Epsom is good-to-soft, good in places after a dry night, and will continue to dry as the day goes on if the forecast is correct. My thoughts about the likely winner are here, and if you have not just decided to drop everything and head to Epsom, you can, as always, follow all the news and developments ahead of the big race right here on the blog.