The first afternoon of the Derby festival passed without any disturbance on Friday but Epsom racecourse will again be on high alert on Saturday, when activists from the group Animal Rising have threatened to disrupt the meeting with the ultimate aim of forcing the Derby to be abandoned for the first time in its 244-year history.
The same group failed to carry out a similar threat to stop the Grand National at Aintree in April, although the race was delayed for about 15 minutes after a small number of protesters scaled a fence and attempted to attach themselves to a fence.
