The Derby has to reignite its flame - and reconnecting with the locals is the best place to start

Derby week is always a huge occasion in the racing calendar, but for Epsom and its owner the Jockey Club, the stakes feel especially high this year.

Having already ruled out the possibility of a radical overhaul to the Derby festival in 2026, the track has left itself with little room to manoeuvre, and therefore open to criticism, should this year's meeting fail to build on the marginal gains made 12 months ago.

A crowd of 26,838 people attended Derby day last June, an increase on the previous year's attendance of 25,413. However, that was still a long way down on the 2022 spectator levels of 37,274 – when the Derby was part of Queen Elizabeth II's official Platinum Jubilee celebrations – and significantly below the pre-Covid attendances of 38,044 in 2019 and 35,258 in 2018.