GRAEME RODWAY

Weblog: On the Ten To Follow trail

Workforce bags the big one but how good is he?

Well, who says that horses beaten in the Dante can't win the Derby? Workforce certainly made a fool of those who stuck by thatstat at the weekend and it just goes to show that every stat is there to be broken.

It was a strange race. The pacemaker, At First Sight, going clear and looking dangerous for half a stride before Workforce came powering down the outside. Nothing else got into it as the 100-1 chance held on for second and, the winner apart, I have a feeling that this was a very average Derby.

Take nothing away from Workforce, he could only beat what was put in front of him and wow did he do it in impressive fashion. Not many horses win a Derby by seven lengths, and he is clearly above average.

Many people are making a big thing of the time. Yes, course record it was, but in my opinion times are such an unreliable measure by which to judge a race as there are simply too many factors that can affect a time, with the state of the ground, the alignment of the course and the early pace all contributing factors. So while I was impressed, I won't be getting carried away, and given the lack of quality in behind, I'll be keen to take on Workforce if he turns up at short prices later this summer.

Anyway, well done to those of you who kept faith in the Sir Michael Stoute-trained youngster after he didn't make it to the 2,000 Guineas. With 54 points already in the bag, I'm sure you lot aren't overly bothered about the merits of his victory. The bottom line is he bagged the big one and any more points from now on would be a bonus.

TheDerby is always the turning point for me in the Flat season. I'm a jumping man through and through but I like the Flat up until the Derby. The three-year-old puzzle is usually incomplete until the big one at Epsom and it is the anticipation of finding out which will prove superior that holds most of my interest.

However, once the race has been run and we know who the best of the classic generation is, the interest rather drains away and it is all down hill from there.

If I was in charge at the BHA, I'd think about moving the Derby to later in the season, running the Derby trials at this time of the year and switching the Epsom feature to late July. That would keep the anticipation and interest in the Classic generation for longer into the season.

I would then confine the Eclipse and King George to older horses, therefore sorting out which of the older horses is best, and then the season could build to a climax with the best of the three-year-olds taking on the best of the older horses later in the season.

Back to the Ten To Follow and with Royal Ascot on the horizon there are plenty of points to be gained in the coming week or so. The opening Queen Anne Stakes looks a corker with Goldikova, Paco Boy and Rip Van Winkle all set to line up. That is such a hot race it almost deserves bonus-race status. Instead, those of you with Canford Cliffs will be licking your lips at the prospect of an easy 50 points in the St James's Palace Stakes. He rates a good thing in my book provided the ground stays fast.

In the other bonus races it looks pretty open, with no stand-out performer in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes, the Gold Cup, the Coronation Stakes or the GoldenJubilee. With those four offering a minimum combined total of 200 points, this really is a pivotal week for those of you at the head of the table.