Key events
The big question everyone is asking is if, and when, it’s going to start raining at Epsom. Our correspondent Greg Wood is there and walking the track and his social media pic is of a brooding sky … watch this space.
Preamble
Greg Wood
Good morning from an overcast but, for the moment at least, dry Epsom racecourse, where after three months of scarcely any rainfall at all, as much as 10mm is forecast to arrive before the Derby’s scheduled off-time at 3.30pm.
That would be more than enough to transform the shape and likely outcome of today’s Classic, with Ruling Court, the 2,000 Guineas winner, a possible non-runner if it gets really soft, and various outsiders coming into the reckoning.
The 9.30am going bulletin from the track this morning reported that the going had actually quickened slightly overnight after 2.2mm in all, to good, good to soft in places.
A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms is in place from 9am to 6pm, however, and the concern is that if a storm does hit the track, several millimetres of rain could hit the track in a very short space of time. There is some leeway built in to schedule, with a 45-minute gap between the Derby and the subsequent raced at 4.15, which would allow for a brief postponement if a storm is expected to blow over, but some nervy hours lie ahead for Jim Allen, Epsom’s new general manager, and his team.
Hopefully, of course, it won’t come to that, and while the forecast may affect the walk-up audience who can watch the race for free on the Hill, the Derby itself promises to be a compelling renewal of the premier Classic, with 19 runners, the biggest field since Kris Kin’s year in 2003, due to go to post.
The early betting news is that Ruling Court, unsurprisingly, is on the drift, all the way out to 7-1 in fact from around 9-2 on Friday afternoon, while Delacroix, the winner of Leopardstown’s Derby Trial, is firming up at the top of the market at 5-2. Pride Of Arras, the Dante Stakes winner, is a 9-2 chance, with Lambourn and The Lion In Winter, stable companions of Delacroix at the Aidan O’Brien yard, both on 8-1. The former, though, is on the way in, thanks to a strong-staying win in the Chester Vase, while The Lion In Winter is drifting.
A fascinating and dramatic afternoon lies ahead, and you can, as ever, follow all the action here on the blog as it happens.
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