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Timeform's Epsom course guide and key stats including course specialists to follow
Timeform's guide to racing at Epsom, featuring the key facts and figures ahead of the Derby meeting, including three course specialists to look out for.
Epsom course guide
Left-handed, undulating, 'U' shaped course, with tight bends. Races up to eight and a half furlongs are very sharp, meaning those ridden prominently hold an advantage, particularly on the five-furlong course, the fastest in the world, which is virtually downhill throughout. Conversely, the first four furlongs of the Derby course are uphill and it provides a real test of stamina, anything overracing in the early part of the race usually found wanting in the closing stages. In testing conditions, the runners tend to switch towards the stands-side rail for the better ground.
Leading active trainers at Epsom
Sorted by strike rate since the start of 2013 (minimum 25 runners)
- Charlie Appleby 25.81% (16-62)
- John Quinn 23.26% (10-43)
- Roger Varian 22.86% (16-70)
- John & Thady Gosden* 22.62% (19-84)
- Hughie Morrison 21.28% (10-47)
*Also includes data for period when John Gosden was sole licence holder
Other points to consider
- The trainer with the greatest level-stake profit at Epsom in the last 10 years is Aidan O’Brien. His 14 winners from 99 runners have returned a level-stake profit of £72.42, thanks in no small part to a couple of big-priced Derby winners in the shape of Wings of Eagles (40/1 in 2017) and Serpentine (25/1 in 2020). John Quinn has returned a level-stake profit of £29.20, while Charlie Appleby (£26.00) has also fared well.
- No single trainer has had more winners at Epsom in the last 10 years than Andrew Balding (34-220 at 15.45%). The Johnston yard has also sent out 34 winners at Epsom during that period – 30 when Mark was sole licence holder, plus another four when son Charlie became joint trainer at their Middleham yard. Charlie is yet to saddle a winner at Epsom since becoming the sole licence holder at the start of the year.
- If removing the minimum runner criteria, Kevin Philippart de Foy (4-7 at 57.14%) and Owen Burrows (4-8 at 50.00%) are the standout performers by strike rate. Both trainers have been well worth following with a level-stake profit of £21.50 for Burrows and £14.50 for Philippart de Foy.
Leading active jockeys at Epsom**
Sorted by strike rate since the start of 2013 (minimum 25 rides)
- Charlie Bishop 29.31% (17-58)
- Frankie Dettori 23.44% (15-64)
- Jason Hart 20.00% (8-40)
- William Buick 19.51% (24-123)
- Pat Dobbs 19.30% (11-57)
**Only includes active jockeys currently based in Europe
Other points to consider
- Charlie Bishop isn’t just the leading jockey by strike rate at Epsom in the last 10 years, but he’s also proved one of the most profitable to follow with a level-stake return of £34.12. Only William Carson (£48.50) has a greater level-stake profit, while Jason Hart (£26.95) has also fared well.
- Only Silvestre de Sousa – currently serving a 10-month suspension in Hong Kong – has ridden more winners at Epsom in the last 10 years than William Buick, who is just ahead of Ryan Moore (20-134 at 14.93%) and Oisin Murphy (20-156 at 12.82%). Buick is number one jockey to the Charlie Appleby yard and that combination has been a successful one at Epsom with nine winners from 34 runners at a strike rate of 26.47%, plus a level-stake profit of £18.08.
- Frankie Dettori will be riding at this meeting for the final time before the curtain comes down on his career at the end of the season. He’ll be hoping to sign off with victory in one of the three showpiece events – the Coronation Cup, the Oaks and the Derby – and his record in the last 10 years suggests he is certainly the man for the big occasion. He has partnered five winners from 21 rides at a strike rate of 23.81% in the Group One races at Epsom during that period, returning a level-stake profit of £5.40.
Oaks and Derby draw
After the draw was made for last year’s Derby, Timeform analysed how runners drawn in low numbers have fared in races over a mile and a half at Epsom in this article.
Three course specialists to follow
Marlay Park (17:45 Friday)
Marlay Park has finished out of the first three just once in nine starts at Epsom and the one time he failed to hit the frame he was beaten only two lengths into fifth.
All three of his wins at Epsom have come over seven furlongs and he won twice at the track last year, latterly when producing a career-best effort to score by half a length in September.
Marlay Park lines up on Friday from just a 2 lb higher mark and, though yet to fully fire in three starts this year, he shaped well enough at Goodwood last week to suggest he’s coming to the boil at just the right time.
Mokaatil (15:20 Saturday)
Mokaatil has contested the last two renewals of the “Dash” Handicap, running out an emphatic winner in 2021 and passing the post only two and a half lengths behind Tees Spirit when finishing fourth 12 months ago.
It’s not just in the “Dash” that Mokaatil has excelled at Epsom, either, as he’s won three of his five starts at the track altogether, and he’s shown himself to be versatile having won over both five and six furlongs.
He looked rusty when returning from six months off at Newmarket in April, but this meeting is likely to have been the target and another big run could be on the cards from 2 lb lower in the weights than when running so well last year.
Caius Chorister (16:30 Saturday)
Caius Chorister completed an impressive five-timer for the David Menuisier yard in 2022 and two of those wins came at Epsom by a cumulative margin of 31 lengths.
Faced with much softer ground on her reappearance at Epsom in April, Caius Chorister was unable to maintain her unbeaten record at the track, but she still showed improved form in filling the runner-up spot, keeping on well to be beaten just a length and a half.
The return to a mile and a half on Saturday will be in her favour and a BHA mark of 99 still looks workable judged on the balance of her form, while the fact Ryan Moore has been booked for the ride also catches the eye.
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