The showreel of Lester Piggott’s Derby winners – played before the minute’s applause for the Classic’s greatest jockey on Saturday – was also a reminder of the days when it felt like the whole nation had turned up at Epsom to watch. Double-deckers lined up along the length of the straight, spectators a dozen deep behind the rail, and a shared sense of tradition and occasion at a 200-year-old day out at the races.
Thirty-five minutes later, there was another flashback to an earlier age as Sir Michael Stoute saddled his sixth Derby winner, 41 years after the first. There was much more breathing space on the Hill and the buses are largely a thing of the past. It was still possible, though, to imagine Desert Crown and Richard Kingscote sliding into a showreel of their own one day, having produced one of the best winning performances of recent years.
