Churchill on right road as many paths to Epsom left untaken
The reiteration of the Lingfield trials on Saturday simply serves to show how the landscape has changed in respect to the Derby and the Oaks, which in turn reflects the evolving nature of the Flat calendar.
Bluntly put, the Lingfield Derby Trial is to all intents irrelevant to Epsom, its recent halcyon period of Teenoso, Slip Anchor and Kahyasi (recent being a subjective term) coming to an abrupt conclusion with High-Rise nearly 20 years ago.
The race has dwindled in prestige to Listed grade and has been shuffled upwards (metaphorically downwards) to second spot on the card to clear the way for the feature fillies' Group 3 – it no longer matters outside itself.
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