G1 Cazoo Derby In Memory Of Lester Piggott

A total of £48.6 million was bet into the Tote World Pool over the two-day G1 Cazoo Derby festival at Epsom Downs on June 3-4. Just under £24 million was wagered on G1 Cazoo Oaks Day, with just under £24.7 million bet on Cazoo Derby Day. The biggest pools were on the two feature races, with just under £5 million bet on the Cazoo Oaks and over £5.2 million on the Cazoo Derby. At each World Pool event there is a "Moment of the Day", which awards £1,000 and a...

There were stage-managed fireworks exploding from Epsom's stands minutes before the 243rd staging of the G1 Cazoo Derby In Memory of Lester Piggott, but the real pyrotechnics were provided on the grass by Saeed Suhail's superb Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}--Desert Berry {GB}, by Green Desert) as he proved a class apart in this special edition. Sent off the 5-2 favourite for a race which looked deep both numerically and in terms of talent and promise, the unbeaten TDN Rising Star marked the occasion with a performance to place alongside...

Saturday's G1 Cazoo Derby is no ordinary Derby, being placed squarely in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and bearing the title "In Memory of Lester Piggott", so the onus is on the latest collection of elite middle-distance colts to rise to the occasion. Famed for his ability to pick and choose in his heyday, the question is what would the Longfellow have opted for in this line-up? Few would say anything other than the edition's pop idol Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), whose Dante win had all the purists pricking up...