STRANGE that the strength of the Epsom Derby field is often decried before the race is run.

This tendency could be down to the fact that we haven’t become as familiar as we need to be with the protagonists. That they are not embedded deeply into our psyche, not before the Derby is run, not like they will be when they go on and win the Eclipse or the King George or the Arc, or when they are going off to stud and we are lamenting the fact that their racing careers could not have been extended.

Or it could be down to the fact that these three-year-old colts, these adolescents, have not reached the pinnacles of their respective abilities yet.

But even before the Epsom Derby this year, we knew that we had the Dante first, second and fourth, the Derrinstown first and third, the Ballysax first, second and fourth, the Dee Stakes winner, the Chester Vase first, second and third, the Epsom Derby Trial first and second, the Cocked Hat Stakes winner and the Lingfield Derby Trial first and second.

The quality was there from the trials. We didn’t have the Guineas winner, so maybe that’s it. Maybe if the Guineas winner doesn’t run in the Derby, we jump to the conclusion that it isn’t a great Derby.

STATISTICS

Now look: the Epsom Derby has provided the 1-2-3 in the Irish Derby, as well as the winners of the King Edward VII Stakes and the Hampton Court Stakes and the Curragh Cup.

So three of those races were confined to three-year-olds, but the Epsom Derby horses still stood up very well against the non-Epsom Derby horses.

Benbatl was the only Derby representative in the Hampton Court Stakes, and he won it. There were five Derby representatives in the 12-runner King Edward VII Stakes, and two of them filled the first two places. In the Irish Derby, five of the nine runners had run in the Epsom Derby, and they finished first, second, third, fifth and eighth.

Also, Rekindling was the only Epsom Derby representative in the Curragh Cup, and he won it, beating his elders. Of course, there is another big test today, when the Derby horses take another step beyond the safety zone that is their own age group and take on their elders in Group 1 open competition in the Eclipse. Three-year-olds occupy the top three places in the Eclipse market, and two of them represent the Epsom Derby form. We will be even wiser this evening.