Betting editor Keith Melrose reveals his key steps to finding the Derby winner

There is no more storied race than the Derby. As sporting coinages go, its name is second only to 'Olympian'. Whenever the Americans stage 'the greatest two minutes in sports', or a global audience in the hundreds of millions watches Manchester City play Manchester United, we hear the Derby's echo.

It is no wonder we all mythologise the race so much. Even the self-styled pragmatists can get carried along. Most of us at some point will have fallen into the trap of treating the Derby differently. Maybe it was under the pretence of Epsom's fairground-ride undulations, or an unusually blanket staking plan just to be able to say you backed the winner, but you will almost definitely have done it. I certainly have.

While it is certainly true that punters should not be swept up in the Derby's folklore, beware of over-reacting. It is indeed just another race, with a few special stipulations, but it is not simply a case of finding the best horse.