Our man looks at five key talking points ahead of the Betfred Derby at Epsom on Saturday week.
Who will Ryan Moore ride?
A timely question as Betfair have just priced it up and go 4/6 Delacroix, 11/10 The Lion In Winter and 100/1 Lambourn.
On Monday evening Aidan O’Brien told the Racing Post: “I would say it would be hard for him not to ride Delacroix, but that’s not to say he won’t.”
Earlier in the day he said on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast that it would be a very late decision, made after the final declarations and when the draw is known.
It will go down to the wire no doubt but with Aidan’s late bulletin, Delacroix has gone to the head to the Derby betting again.
He’s the solid option, two from two this season, taking a familiar path to Epsom and seemingly with copper-bottomed stamina for the trip. He’s not flash, he’s not sexy but he’s going to run to his level, somewhere on the Timeform scale in the late 120s. It might well be enough.
The Lion In Winter has soared higher than his stable companion before, hitting a performance rating of 130+ when winning the Tattersalls Acomb at York, beating Ruling Court into third.