Derby day at Epsom – live!

• Ironclad – 10/3
• Caradoc – 6/1
• Johnny Drama – 6/1
• You’re Hired – 9/1
• Tinandali – 17/2
• Breath Caught – 12/1
• Data Protection – 14/1
• Certain Lad – 14/1
• Plantadream – 16/1
• Mr Scaramanga – 25/1
• Sucellus – 25/1
• Sky Defender – 33/1
• Dolphin Vista – 33/1
• Wargrave – 66/1
• Full Oddschecker betting here.

Chris Cook

Safe Voyage won in a course record but it might not be worth getting carried away just yet.

• Safe Voyage – 6/5
• Shine So Bright – 9/4
• Daarik – 15/2
• Vale of Kent – 15/2
• Oh This Is Us – 8/1
• Jacks Point – 16/1
• Full betting here at Oddschecker

Chris Cook

He could do with another shower or two but Safe Voyage appeals most. He wasn’t quite up to Group Two standard when stepped up in class last season but he is hard to beat at this level and his main rivals have questions to answer. Shine So Bright would be dangerous at his best but he was a long way short of that when folding tamely at Royal Ascot.

Chris Cook

Owen Burrows gave that winner of the first race on Derby day a big shout from the grandstand steps. He would have trained winners in some more valuable, more significant races in his short career so far but Twaasol is a very promising youngster with bigger days in his future.

Lester Piggott’s plaques at Epsom have been replaced by socially-distancing information!

They’re off … Calcutta Cup is slowly away with Inhaler leading … Mutazawwed is chasing him … and Modern News and Twaasol now make four in a line … with Twaasol getting the upper hand and going on to win.

• Twaasol – 7/4
• Modern News – 5/2
• Mutazawwed – 7/2
• Inhaler – 17/2
• Calcutta Cup – 12/1
• Full betting at Oddschecker here

Chris Cook

Modern News ran a big race in the Chesham and this return to six furlongs looks like good news for the Godolphin horse. Still, narrow preference is for Twaasol, who showed a useful turn of foot to score on his debut at Windsor, when the betting expected little from him.

I am a fan of ITV Racing but at times the coverage is crying out for a presenter such as former Timeform and Channel 4 Racing pundit Jim McGrath – someone who has a bet but also recognises the importance of proper, intelligent analysis. That was most definitely the case this morning on the Opening Show when the subject of the Derby draw was discussed. My email ‘in-tray’ has been bulging with news about English King since Frankie Dettori was booked to ride the horse. But the fact that the horse is drawn in stall one has had an impact on the colt’s chances and has been a legitimate source of discussion.

Indeed, a spokesperson from horse-bettors.com pointed out to me today: “English King was all the rage for the Derby minutes after he crossed the line in his Classic trial. His price came under further pressure as it was confirmed Frankie Dettori would take the ride, but since getting drawn in the worst stall possible, even with the Frankie Factor, that development was enough to see the market leader double in price from 2-1 to 4-1.”

And yet this morning on the ITV preview programme we had Matt Chapman telling us “it didn’t matter” and Oli Bell saying he wouldn’t back horses in certain stalls simply because they had a bad record in the race. Thank goodness for Racing TV and Lydia Hislop who in her pre-meeting broadcast this morning made the valid point that English King’s draw “is not an advantage but not insurmountable”. She highlighted an excellent feature by Timeform on how big a disadvantage is stall one in the Derby. Their conclusion was that “the data suggests there is merit in the view that a low draw is more of a hindrance than a help.” It is definitely something Dettori will need to factor in as he gets ready to go into the stalls later. Of course, the great Lester Piggott had his own view as Racing TV presenter Steve Mellish pointed out (I think Old Stone Face didn’t want to give anything away!):

Chris Cook

To the many of you who would love to be at Epsom today, the hearty message from a makeshift press room is: wish you were here. It’s been fun to see some familiar faces for the first time since March but the 20 or so of us seated behind laptops at socially distanced tables are struggling to create much of an atmosphere, to be brutally honest. Conditions are unexpectedly Spartan, with all the grandstand doors propped open to ensure air circulation. On a cold, windy day, this is causing problems for the circulation in my fingers, which have not been so pale since that day at Kelso when Zaynar got beat at 1-14. Winners are going to be needed, or the long drive home will feel like the retreat from Moscow.

The Eclipse Stakes at Sandown tomorrow is the race of the season so far with favourite Enable scheduled to make her reappearance. She was out on the Newmarket gallops this morning.

There is a wishing well at the ‘Amato’ pub near Epsom that has a Derby runner’s name scrawled on the woodwork each year and legend has it this is performed by one of the gypsy fortune-tellers. I’m indebted to the Racing Post who pointed out that a decade ago the ‘tipster’ was a foreseen fountain of success, predicting eight out of the previous 12 winners. This year’s tip is Kamkeo but it’s worth noting that the Amato selector is on a long losing run, as highlighted by BBC sports reporter Frank Keogh.

The going at Epsom is GOOD with a Going Stick reading of 6.8 at 9am today. The weather is forecast to be overcast and after a damp start it is expected to stay dry with temperatures of up to 21 degrees Celsius.

There are plenty of intriguing races on a unique Epsom card with the Oaks also included this afternoon but it’s the premier Flat race of the season everyone is talking about and it’s as puzzling and as fascinating a Derby as there has been in recent years. Chris Cook has compiled a detailed horse-by-horse guide so take your time (the big one is not till 4.55pm) and take your pick.

Chris Cook’s Derby 1-2-3

1 Russian Emperor 13-2

2 English King 11-4

3 Highland Chief 16-1

Greg Wood

While thoroughly conscious of the fact that it is a huge privilege to be one of the very few people who will watch the 2020 Derby live, it has to be said that arriving at Epsom on the biggest day of the Flat racing year with scarcely a soul to be seen anywhere on the downs is an experience that I very much hope never to repeat.

The efforts that have been made to ensure that the racing public stays away from Epsom today are impressive. The whole area is fenced off, the main road down to the grandstand is closed and there are security personnel guarding every potential entry or vantage point. The entry procedures for us lucky few in attendance are thorough, too. There won’t be any cheeky punters slipping in through the gate.

But no race or event feeds off its crowd quite like this one, which has been attracting huge gatherings to Epsom for nearly a quarter of a millennium. It did not matter quite so much at Ascot a few weeks ago, but in future years, the replay of this year’s Derby will always be immediately identifiable as 2020, thanks to the lack of double-decker buses lining the rail on the inside of the track. There will be no roar to set the runners on their way, no packed grandstand to acclaim the best three-year-old colt (and filly, because it is Oaks day too) of their generation.

And the Derby in particular is packed with headline-grabbing potential. Frankie Dettori will attempt to give Ed Walker a win with his first runner in the Classic aboard the (likely) favourite, English King, Aidan O’Brien has six runners as he seeks an all-time record eighth winner, and Kameko goes for Andrew Balding, 49 years after his father, Ian, won with Mill Reef. There is another father-son combination in the race too, as Paul and Oliver Cole jointly send Highland Chief to post, 29 years after Cole snr won with Generous.

English King is now only the likely favourite as Walker’s colt has drifted to 4-1 with several firms, just half a point in front of Kameko, while there has also been plenty of money for O’Brien’s Russian Emperor, top-priced at 11-2 to give Seamie Heffernan a second successive win in the Classic.

Chris Cook’s tips and analysis of today’s card and Classics are here, while you can follow all the news on the going, the betting and everything else Epsom-related here throughout the day. The first race here is at 1.50pm, the Oaks is off at 3.40pm and the Derby itself at 4.55pm, when there will hopefully be an audience of millions to make up for the lack of punters at the track.