Bookmakers’ Derby night turnover suggests recovery still very much a work in progress

Derby final night last Saturday at Shelbourne would have to be deemed a great success. The stadium was packed, the action was brisk, the atmosphere was good, and the final itself produced a winner, Laughil Blake, who, in leading around despite a modest break, showed he possessed a touch of brilliance befitting a champion.

I could argue all day that 13 races is too many but I know it’s one I’m going to lose. When you get as big a crowd as they did last weekend, it’s an opportunity not to be missed, and hence the reason the Tote was willing to guarantee every Trio to €5,000 and the one for the Derby final to €20,000.

It’s not every day you get a chance to fill the Tote pools to those extents, enjoying as much as a 30% cut for some bets. The long format is not the preferred option of many trainers or owners, whose dogs have to be kennelled up for hours, but it’s an obvious and inevitable business ploy.