Friday 6th June

After an awful week of Racing in terms of quality and quantity of runners the Epsom Oaks / Derby Meeting has suddenly arrived but with none of the hype, interest and excitement of old. It may be that it is part of getting older but for me the Epsom Derby was best as a 3 day Meeting with The Derby on the Wednesday afternoon, the coronation Cup on the Thursday and The Oaks on the Friday, huge crowds and interest midweek on the Wednesday, when the City Of London on one extreme and the Gypsy and Traveller community and Fairs and Stalls would descend to Epsom with upwards of half a million at peak. Probably my second favourite Flat horse ever, trained by the man who trained my favourite, Sir Henry Cecil with Frankel and my favourite Derby winner, may be not the best, but for me the most eye catching in Slip Anchor who slipped the field on the turn in to Tattenham Corner, was not seen again by the field given a great ride by a young American, name of Steve Cauthan, he didn't have a shabby career either.

 

Sadly, those days are long gone, The Oaks today has a field of 9 fillies, they aren't bred to peak in June of their second season any more, more to develop a bit later before becoming high net worth Mares. Carolyn, our 2 year old expert who we will hear a lot more from now we have got into June, looks at the race and finds one to follow MORE for the future than today, in a race that offers little betting appeal.

 

We have tips and analysis on 5 other handicap races and hopefully a return to the winners enclosure, now that we have the ammunition and targets to aim at in some competitive handicaps.