Talking Horses: Derby must avoid bookmaker backing for good of racing

I n its usual, almost apologetic style, the new British Flat season on turf will flicker into life at Doncaster on Saturday with the Lincoln Handicap, and this year the lack of fanfare in the country that gave the sport of organised horse racing to the world does not feel entirely misplaced.

The 2023 campaign will begin without an obvious star to pin early hopes and dreams upon, since Baaeed is already settling in to his new life as a stallion while Little Big Bear, last year’s champion juvenile colt and 2,000 Guineas favourite, did not race beyond six furlongs at two, or any later than August. Nor is there any immediate sign that Desert Crown, unraced since winning the Derby last June, will be back on track as a four-year-old this summer.

And while the blossoming of new talents as the season unfolds is, of course, one of its great fascinations, it will be a considerable surprise if anything emerges over middle distances in Europe to match Japan’s brilliant Equinox, whose defeat of Westover, last year’s Irish Derby winner, in the Sheema Classic at Meydan on Saturday evening was one of the outstanding individual performances of recent years. The ease with which Equinox dominated a useful field at Meydan was extraordinary to behold, and we can only hope that his connections will set aside concerns about the likelihood of easy ground and point him towards the Arc at Longchamp in October.

This season will also see the first Royal meeting at Ascot since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and the depth, or otherwise, of the new King’s commitment to maintaining at least something of a royal presence on the turf should become apparent. The sale of nearly 20 mares at last December’s breeding stock auction at Tattersalls was not