Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 9 June 2026

I don’t know what the analysts will make of the racing that took place on Epsom Downs on Saturday, but I was left wondering after the last race had been run if the many hours devoted to the outcome of the Derby had been of any value at all.

There have never been as many pundits as we have at this time, whether they have high profile exposure in the Racing Post or the dedicated TV channels, even permeating through to the public forum that is social media.

Now I can only talk for myself, but had I been writing a Derby preview in my Dark Horses Annual – an undertaking that usually took place in early February – then I’m pretty sure the winner Christmas Day would have only received the briefest of mentions, probably in the concluding section devoted to the Ballydoyle entries. As for the third I doubt I would have even considered him.

Maltese Cross would have come in for comment. He displayed great tenacity when beating Del Maro on his second start last season, had a pedigree that promised more over middle distances and a trainer, in William Haggas, who does not make frivolous entries.

The son of Sea The Stars apparently has the St Leger as his back-end target, but of more immediate interest is the going.

I’m no expert, but for me the vernacular currently available to the clerks of the course doesn’t seem adequate. I know we have the penetrometer, but my understanding is that it can produce a wide range of readings in different parts of the track.

For example, I think we all accept that soft ground at Carlisle in winter is more taxing than soft ground at Sandown in summer.

Saturday presented the nightmare scenario for both the clerk and the serious student of form. I refer to deteriorating and changing ground conditions on the day or during the course of the meeting.

It was about an hour before the race that I decided Christmas Day had reasonable claims, based on his pedigree and winning form on heavy ground, albeit at a lowly level. I also reappraised the Ballysax Stakes form, which had been enhanced following the subsequent achievements of A Boy Named Susie in the Prix du Jockey Club and the fifth, James J Braddock.

But it would have required an extraordinary degree of prescience to have nominated him in February.

My view is that the form of this year’s Derby will have little relevance to the summer’s top middle-distance programme. The underfoot conditions were extreme and I speak as someone who nominated the second and third, not as a bitter punter.

As regards the punditry, I suggest that we remain open-minded about who we read or listen to, but accept that circumstances may change in the twinkling of an eye for reasons beyond our control.

Let’s hope for more conventional conditions at Royal Ascot.

Bye for now

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