Key events
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.
