Time to take a view about who wins the Derby - can anyone beat a rampant Aidan O'Brien after his Chantilly success?

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Derby fever should start to take hold earlier than usual this year, with the French version having been run, unusually, on the previous Sunday, to get us all in the mood. The final declarations for Saturday's £2 million Betfred-sponsored Classic (4.00 Epsom) will be made on Wednesday, a day earlier than for normal Saturday races, following a change made last year to help drive up anticipation.

So there will be no excuse for not having formed a view of the likely outcome by the end of the week. We will also learn of the final jockey bookings on Wednesday, which will offer as good an insight as we can hope to get into the pecking order among Aidan O'Brien's many runners - he has ten entered at the time of writing, although it seems likely Constitution River and Hawk Mountain may be given the week off after finishing first and second in the French Derby.

Benvenuto Cellini remains popular with punters, judging from the way 2-1 was turning into 7-4 yesterday. Pierre Bonnard is third favourite, despite starting his year with two defeats. Action and Christmas Day are also thought likely to represent O'Brien.