Ideal warm-up or 'rubbish' prep: Ryan sides with Carson

They were rivals in the saddle for many years but Willie Carson's assertion that it is 'rubbish' to believe running horses at a downhill circuit like Lingfield helps prepare them for Epsom has gained some support from the only other Willie to ride a Derby winner in the last 100 years.

Willie Ryan could not match Carson's record of four wins at Epsom but won the Classic himself on Benny The Dip in 1997 during a career in which he rode as understudy to Steve Cauthen when second jockey to Sir Henry Cecil.

As another eight colts attempted to advance their claim for Classic consideration in Lingfield's Derby Trial on Saturday, Carson said: "If you're going to try to win the Derby, my advice would be not to run at Lingfield", adding: "A lot of horses will only ever want to run down a hill once."