Much of a muchness on the TV flat races... Al Aasy won the Ascot Listed race but he clearly did not run to his 117 rating and it was more laboured than when he has won races of this calibre in the last two seasons. Maybe he is not the same horse after losing his tackle but only time will tell whether he just remains a horse that only wins at this level or whether he can go on. I am not sure that the Lingfield Derby Trial gave us many clues for Epsom. The winner United Nations hung to the right into the whip in the final furlong carrying the runner up Walk Of Stars with him; but then the Godolphin horse hung right away from the whip in the last fifty yards too. So it is hard to get too optimistic about either of them on the Epsom camber. If Ryan Moore had to choose between the winners that he had ridden this week for a Derby ride, I suspect that he would be on the Chester Vase winner Changingoftheguard. Congratulations to Tom Clover with Rogue Millennium winning the Lingfield Oaks Trial on just her second start beating the more experienced Mystic Wells. There is sure to be more to come from both of them and whilst the winner may take her place at Epsom, will it come too soon for her and will she handle the track? She did not seem too happy with the Lingfield undulations but perhaps that was greenness. The favourite Emily Dickinson was a big disappointment having had a good position until folding quite tamely at the business end of the race.
