The Derby still retains its lure, but will it produce a memorable winner to compare with Troy or Shergar?

The Derby can ill afford to lose one of its central players, since the pool of horses capable of staying one and a half miles continues to diminish. To lose three of them, as has happened this year, does not bode well for a superior running of the great race.

When I say great, it’s more a reflex action than the result of careful consideration. As with the Grand National, time’s passage erodes the mortar of seemingly indestructible bastions. The harsh truth is that many recent Derby winners have flattered to deceive.

Perhaps that’s born of the unrealistic expectation that Derby winners are special simply by dint of having won the race. That was the way of it in my formative years, and it has governed my thinking ever since.