BROOME is an intriguing case study. A smart two-year-old, he has now won two recognised Derby trials – the Ballysax at Leopardstown and the Derrinstown Stud there on Sunday – by decisive margins but managed to temper enthusiasm for his prospects at Epsom in the latter if not the former.

As mentioned on these pages previously, Broome strides slowly, like a stayer, and was helped by an overly strong pace and soft ground in the Ballysax. He got merely a good pace this time, and just good to soft going, and he made heavy weather of things for a while before beating the 33/1 shot Blenheim Palace by two and a half lengths.