Vermeer not yet an oil painting but he’s a worthy favourite

IN a routine act of Gallic indifference, the French – having mopped up Newmarket’s 2000 Guineas with Makfi – have turned their backs on Epsom in favour of keeping their equine blue bloods at home for Sunday’s equivalent colts’ classic at Chantilly.

Even so, when the dust has settled on today’s 231st and most puzzling of Derbys, it may be that the history books show that even though the French have no runner, the race was won in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud.

The confusion, of course, is largely down to one man – Aidan O’Brien. Having mightily nailed his colours to the cause of St Nicholas Abbey, only to see his hopes disappear in a disappointing Guineas sixth, a poor piece of work and an eventual “slight muscle injury”, O’Brien has been forced to rely on second-string Jan Vermeer to try to land the lion’s share of the race’s €1.5million prize money.