Talking Horses: Derby’s profile will make it a renewed target for activists

R elief and pride at a job well done were, according to Nevin Truesdale, the Jockey Club’s chief executive, the primary emotions at Epsom on Saturday evening after the 2023 Derby joined the previous 243 in the form book. “It is incredibly important that this race continues to take place,” Truesdale told Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday programme, “and that we’re not disrupted by illegal activity.”

There are, of course, other positives for the track and its owners to take from the 2023 Derby beyond the simple fact that it happened and Auguste Rodin took his place on the sport’s most illustrious roll of honour. The clash with the FA Cup Final which prompted the move to a 1.30pm start time will not be an issue in 2024, and it seems reasonable to hope that the train strikes which persuaded thousands of fans to skip their usual trip to the Downs will also be a thing of the past.

We have to assume, though, that the threat of disruption from Animal Rising or other activist groups is likely to remain, both at the Derby and other major racing events, as the traditional cycle of Flat racing Festivals unfolds at Ascot, Newmarket, Goodwood and York.

In terms of the immediate aftermath of this year’s Derby, civil proceedings are now imminent for damages and possibly also the cost of obtaining a High Court injunction 10 days ago which Ben Newman, one of the group’s supporters, breached by running onto the course shortly after the start of the Derby. Newman entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of causing a public nuisance at Guildford magistrates’ court on Monday and will reappear at Guildford Crown Court on 6 July for a plea and pre-trial hearing.

A trip to the High Court in mid-May to obtain a temporary injunction could become an