THE trials have told a familiar story, with Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partners dominating the trial races, but what should we expect in the Derby itself on the first Saturday of June? Some questions have been answered in the last few weeks, some have been left lingering, and a few new conundrums have surfaced since the season started, so now seems as good a time as any to take stock.

After Puppet Master won the Lingfield Derby Trial, Paul Smith, representing the owners pointed towards Delacroix remaining the main Derby hope at Ballydoyle, saying: “We like him and the two that finished behind him” of Leopardstown’s Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial winner, while also suggesting that Lambourn and Puppet Master, behind him in the Ballysax Stakes previously, had enhanced their own claims by winning subsequently.