Derby day and Royal Ascot were apparently the first dates to be blocked off on the late Queen’s calendar every year. Her successor, on the other hand, has different interests and priorities and it will certainly ring the changes from racing’s point of view if, as has been suggested, the first Saturday in June 2023 is chosen as the date for King Charles’s coronation.
The days when the Derby was the most significant sporting occasion of the year, little or nothing could stand in its way and Parliament would adjourn to allow the honourable members to attend are ancient history – though it is fun to take a trip back in time.
