In the early decades of the 19th century, many tens of thousands of ordinary Londoners left before dawn on Derby day to walk the 20 or so miles to Epsom and then, after an afternoon of revelry on the downs, walked – or crawled – home again. By the mid-1850s, in the early years of the rail network, Frith’s masterpiece “The Derby Day” shows a complete cross-section of Victorian society in attendance at the greatest sporting event of the age: aristocrats, criminals and everything in between. Parliament would always rise on Derby day to allow the honourable members to attend. On occasions during his two terms as Prime Minister, Disraeli himself moved the adjournment motion.
The Derby’s pre-eminence in the sporting and social calendar is, of course, ancient history now. The sporting world has moved on and so has Flat racing, with an increasing focus on events like Champions Day and the Arc at the other end of the season. But it still seems odd, unnerving even, to be within a week of Derby day and still unsure whether two of the most obvious contenders for the greatest of the Classics will even turn up next Saturday afternoon.
Sir Dragonet and Telecaster, the winners of the Chester Vase and the Dante Stakes respectively, were both among the 338 yearlings entered for the Derby in December 2017. Both, however, were subsequently taken out and their connections will need to find an £85,000 supplementary fee tomorrow to get them back in again.
For anyone who has grown up believing that winning the Derby is racing’s ultimate achievement, it looks like the easiest decision imaginable. Telecaster won £94,000 in the Dante so, if money is the issue, why not treat it as a bet to nothing with the untold millions on offer for a Derby-winning stallion prospect as the upside? His sire, New Approach, won the Derby in 2008 and his dam, Shirocco Star, finished second in the 2012 Oaks. How could anyone pass up the chance to run at Epsom and spend the rest of their lives wondering what might have happened? As for Sir Dragonet, £85,000 is down-the-back-of-the-sofa stuff for John Magnier. It is difficult to believe that the French Derby was even floated as an alternative.
The reality, though, is more complex. Both colts have come a long way in a very short space of time, having made their racecourse debuts in late March and late April respectively.
Hughie Morrison, Telecaster’s trainer, is rightly concerned that just 16 days between a big effort in the Dante and the Derby itself gives an inexperienced three-year-old very little time to recover.
Sir Dragonet, meanwhile, is just one of three colts from the Aidan O’Brien stable at a single-figure price in the betting. O’Brien is a 1-3 chance to win his seventh Derby next week, but even without Sir Dragonet, he would still be odds-on and the prize-money for the French Derby is only a little less than the cash on offer at Epsom.
It still seems more likely than not that both Sir Dragonet and Telecaster will go to post next Saturday but it is surely time too for a long look at the Derby’s entry system, to ensure that it gives the best three-year-old colts the best possible chance to contest the race which defines the generation. No one with an obvious Derby contender should ever be in two minds about whether to run.
After all, you can never be entirely sure where or when a Derby horse might appear. The 4.45 at Doncaster on 30 March looked like an ordinary early-season maiden on paper but both Bangkok, the winner, and Telecaster, who finished a length and a quarter back in second, are now prominent in the ante-post betting for the Classic.
Bangkok followed up his victory on Town Moor with a comfortable success in the Classic Trial at Sandown while the less-experienced Telecaster took in a maiden at Windsor on the way to the Dante.
Both colts have made rapid strides since their seasonal debuts but both the style and the substance of Telecaster’s win at York suggest that it was the better of their respective trials. Telecaster appeared to be chasing an overly strong pace on the Knavesmire yet he had no trouble outstaying Too Darn Hot in the closing stages and the time backed up the visual impression of strong form.
Bangkok fully deserves his place and has an obvious chance to make the frame, while Broome and Sir Dragonet, if he runs, look like the pick of O’Brien’s strong team. If Morrison and the owners of Telecaster decide that he has recovered from his exertions and send him to Epsom, however, it could well prove to be the best decision they ever make.
Greg Wood’s Derby 1-2-3 1 Telecaster 2 Bangkok 3 Broome
