THERE is never anything remotely ordinary about the Derby at Epsom, but there was something most extraordinary about it this year. It was run in July, in the midst of a pandemic, behind closed doors, and, not least, was won in runaway style by a longshot from two other outsiders.

That winner was, of course, Serpentine, who until a week earlier had run twice, and been unplaced twice, in maidens. He stormed away with one at the Curragh on the final Saturday in June, and stormed away with the world’s most famous flat race just a week later. Remarkable!