BUBBLING UP ON THE DOWNS

Andy Newton looks at the form and trends for the Epsom Classics

Can you believe it’s June already – the month of my birthday (if anyone is interested, it’s the 30th) – so I’ll be celebrating along with Racing Ahead, who, as you might have seen, are saluting their 20th year this month too. Champagne all-round!

Anyway, for horse racing folk June can only mean two things – Royal Ascot and the Epsom Derby – with these two heavyweight fixtures dominating my month of birth.

The five-day Royal meeting promises to be spectacle again this year and hopefully racegoers will get a chance to see the King in attendance after his tough start to the year – wishing him all the best.

However, before that we’ve also got the third and fourth of the English Classics to take in – the Epsom Oaks and Derby, this year the Oaks is actually run on the last day of May, Friday 31, with the Derby a day later on Saturday, June 1.

Epsom Derby

Starting with the fillies’ Classic it was John Gosden last year that ended a run of three Aidan O’Brien wins when the Dettori-ridden Soul Sister won for the leading Newmarket handler. That was Gosden’s fourth Oaks success – with these all coming from 2014.

In fact, the Gosden/O’Brien camps have dominated this race between them in recent times – winning ALL of the last 10 renewals – and it will be a brave punter that goes against the pair again in 2024.