COMMENTARY : Why the Derby still dazzles

To those that are concerned that the Derby does not matter so much these days, a peek at Ladbrokes' ante-post ledger for the premier Classic might prove instructive. Back in July 1993, a speculative owner called Jim Clarke thought the Derby so important that he backed his three- week-old pride and joy for the race that will be staged for the 217th time on Epsom Downs 19 days from now.

Counter attractions held no lure. When he placed his bet of pounds 50 each- way at the (needless to say, miserly) odds of 500-1, he did not ask for similar wagers on the Italian Derby, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe or the Breeders' Cup Turf, all of which have been blamed at one stage or another for reducing the pull of the Epsom race.

It could be said that someone daft enough to place a bet almost three years ahead of an event hardly provides an ideal example to prove a point about the place of the Derby in the nation's consciousness. Nevertheless, he is not an isolated case and, even though the attendance for this year's race is sure to suffer from coinciding with England's sporting confrontations with Switzerland at Wembley and India at Edgbaston, there are enough people around who care passionately about the outcome of the race to ensure it remains an important sporting landmark.

"What's going to win the Derby, then?" still provides a favourite starting point in any conversation between racing folk in the spring and by turning back to Ladbrokes' books it seems as if there are plenty of people with a ready answer that they have supported with hard currency.

The first racecourse performance to attract punters was that of Alhaarth in his winning debut over Mark Of Esteem last July. Some shrewd judges stepped in for the post-race 33-1 that soon contracted to 25-1 and spent the winter, quite rightly, congratulating themselves loudly and publicly as Hamdan Al Maktoum's colt slid down to odds of 5-2. Since Alhaarth's defeats in the Craven Stakes and 2,000 Guineas, it has been the turn of those who declined to take the early odds to get their own back. Now they can point out that Alhaarth is freely available at the same Derby odds (8-1) as he was before winning the Dewhurst Stakes last October.

At least he is still in the race. Those punters who fell victim to the idle pub talk of long winter's nights, when the names of the John Gosden- trained Sacho and Henry Cecil's Silver Dome warmed the air, are likely to have their dreams concluded when the next declaration stage for the race takes place on Wednesday.

The field will be whittled down considerably from the 158 that stood their ground at the last forfeit stage on 10 April. And, to prove that it is just as easy to strike completely hopeless bets two months before the race as three years before the race, the names of Bonarelli and Clever Cliche, whose pounds 8,000 supplementary entries at that stage inspired short- lived gambles, are likely to be missing from the list.

Clarke's horse will not be there either. Subsequently named Beau Dazzle, he has never even made it to the course.

n Simon Weinstock, the part-owner of Derby hope Nash House, has died at the age of 44.