Derby

A new four-year deal to continue showing exclusive, free-to-air coverage of UK horse racing from 2027 until 2030 was agreed upon by ITV on Tuesday. There will be 117 days of live coverage to be shown across ITV1, ITV4, STV and STV Player--all simulcast on ITVX--along with the morning racing programme The Opening Show. The live coverage will include some of the best races on the UK racing calendar, among them: the Randox Grand National, Royal Ascot, the Boodles Cheltenham Festival and the Betfred Derby. ITV4 will also include five...

Saffie Joseph Jr. is easy to pick out. It's got to be the hair. He talks about the long locks he has on his head and what it would take for him to cut it off. He talks about Skippylongstocking going for his third straight win in the Charles Town Classic. He compares the weather of Saratoga to Florida. And, it might surprise you what actor he picks to play himself if ever there was a movie made about his life. He sat down with the TDN's Tim Wilkin to...

These days, it seems that as soon as the runners have crossed the line in the Derby the crabbing begins about everything that's wrong with the winner, the race and the meeting itself. It's a funny old game when the people who follow the sport, and in some cases whose livelihoods depend on it, seek constantly to undermine the very thing that brings such enjoyment. Obviously there are concerns regarding falling attendances at the Derby, and at race meetings generally in different parts of the world. An ominous weather forecast...

EPSOM DOWNS, UK -- Forty years ago, back in those heady days of the 1980s, Slip Anchor slipped the field under Steve Cauthen to land the Derby by seven lengths and all felt right with the world. A Derby winner by a Derby winner by a Derby winner.  And here we are again. Lambourn, by Australia, by Galileo (and let's not forget Australia's dam, the mighty Ouija Board): an all-the-way Derby winner by almost four lengths. "He'll stay a while," said a smiling Wayne Lordan, so deservedly now a Derby-winning...

For so long now we have been used to the Galileo factor at Epsom, and while none of his final small crop of 13 has made the line-up for the Derby or the Oaks, we still find his name all over the place on the pages of this year's runners, merely starting to shuffle back a bit in the generation game.  Galileo's sons Frankel, Australia and Circus Maximus each have at least one runner in the Derby, and Frankel and Australia also have Oaks runners. Eight of the 19 Derby...

It was exactly 20 years ago on Wednesday that Motivator made history with his scintillating success in the Derby, becoming the first ever syndicate-owned winner of the Classic for the 230 members of the Royal Ascot Racing Club. Inevitably, Michael Bell's new superstar was the centre of attention in the immediate aftermath, swarmed in a crowd the likes of which the Epsom winner's enclosure had never seen before. Meanwhile, just a short distance away out on the track, connections of the placed horses, Walk In The Park and Dubawi, were...

Cheshire Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk (Frankel) is the likely mount of Ryan Moore in the Betfred Oaks, according to trainer Aidan O'Brien, with the Ballydoyle team also set to call upon the services of Wayne Lordan and Colin Keane on a busy Classic weekend at Epsom. Speaking on a call hosted by the Jockey Club on Tuesday, O'Brien echoed his recent comments about Delacroix (Dubawi) being the horse most likely to have the benefit of Moore's assistance in Saturday's Betfred Derby, before clarifying the picture somewhat with regards the Oaks,...

Following Monday's confirmation stage, there remains the possibility of a maximum field going to post for Saturday's G1 Betfred Derby at Epsom, with market leader Delacroix (Dubawi) the standout name among 20 colts still in contention for the Classic. Last seen winning the G3 Derby Trial Stakes at Leopardstown by nearly three lengths, Delacroix is the sponsor's 5/2 favourite to provide trainer Aidan O'Brien with a record-extending 11th success in the Derby, having emerged as the stable's number one contender after The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars) finished only...

Gavin Wallace, breeder of Derby outsider Al Wasl Storm, says he is completely flabbergasted about having produced a Classic contender and believes his story serves as a timely reminder for small breeders to keep on dreaming.  The 52-year-old farmer, whose family bred dual Tingle Creek Chase winner Long Engagement, has only two mares on his County Kilkenny farm. Along with his wife Orla, he has been provided with an earlier update than expected in the shape of Al Wasl Storm, a horse he openly admits to having been bred for...

Derby entrant Wimbledon Hawkeye may head next to the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot instead of Epsom, according to trainer James Owen. The son of Kameko, winner of last year's Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes, has run three times this season to be runner-up in the Craven Stakes before running fifth in the 2,000 Guineas and third in the Dante Stakes. Owen said of the Gredley family's homebred, "He's come out of the Dante really well and he's had three quick runs now and probably ran to a similar...

Delacroix remains Ryan Moore's likeliest mount in the Betfred Derby, according to Aidan O'Brien, who has also pencilled in The Lion In Winter and Lambourn as intended runners in the Epsom Classic on Saturday, June 7. Moore's decision at next week's declaration stage promises to have a significant impact on the Derby betting, which currently sees The Lion In Winter as the 5/2 favourite with the sponsors, despite the son of Sea The Stars finishing only sixth on his return to action in the G2 Dante Stakes at York. Lambourn,...

In a rare diversion from the domination of the breeding superpowers this season, the Dante Stakes was a triumph for David and Lavinia Aykroyd, English owner-breeders with four broodmares at their disposal. And for the second year in a row, Yorkshire's key Derby trial went to a colt raised in the county at Copgrove Hall Stud. The Ralph Beckett-trained Pride Of Arras is out of the Oasis Dream mare Parnell's Dream, who is also an Aykroyd homebred and a boarder at the Harrogate farm formerly owned by Guy Reed, which...