Daily Mail

Midweek Derby is a non-starter, say Epsom

- By MARCUS TOWNEND Racing Correspond­ent

THE debate over whether the Derby should be switched back to a Wednesday will not be revisited, a spokesman for Epsom has insisted. Twenty five years after Willie Carson won the last midweek Derby on Erhaab, many traditiona­lists would still like it switched back to its old midweek slot. They argue that the race’s position in the wider sporting landscape has been downgraded since the move to the first Saturday of June. The discussion has been further fuelled this year by the fact that Saturday’s Derby will be competing for attention on a sporting stage dominated by the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham but also involving the Cricket World Cup, heavyweigh­t world champion Anthony Joshua’s fight in New York and the Premiershi­p Rugby Final at Twickenham when Exeter play Saracens. Impact on the Derby is inevitable but Epsom spokesman Johnno Spence said that it was still hoped an estimated crowd close to 100,000 would attend Epsom, many of them for free on the infield, while it is hoped the viewing figures for ITV could push closer to two million. Dismissing a switch back to Wednesday, Spence said: ‘The fact is that people cannot take the day off work any more during the week and London would not stop and cease like it used to for a Wednesday Derby. It’s just not going to happen and that was very clear in the numbers that were attending the Derby on a Wednesday. ‘Vodafone, the sponsors at the time it was switched, were not interested in a Wednesday Derby. ‘They wanted a Saturday Derby and it is one of the few races now with a solid backer in Investec, who started sponsoring in 2009 and currently have a deal until 2026. ‘From a commercial perspectiv­e it is on good ground. Competing for the leisure pound is now far more competitiv­e and it is very competitiv­e sporting wise on a Saturday. ‘But, equally, we would not get the numbers going back to a midweek fixture that we do now.’

NEWMARKET trainer William Haggas has given the green light for Frankellin­a, runner-up in the Musidora Stakes at York, to join his Pretty Polly Stakes winner Maqsad in Friday’s Investec Oaks.

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