For those responsible for promoting the Derby, the race that has given its name to sporting confrontations around the world, 2008 has not been an easy year. Sixteen months after Vodafone withdrew as sponsor, no permanent successor has been found and the telecommunications company has stepped back in for one year only.

Epsom has had to contend, too, with the exploits across the Atlantic of Big Brown, the big colt who is odds on for a Derby Day victory in the Belmont Stakes in New York. After his majestic wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, that would make him the first Triple Crown winner in the US since Affirmed in 1978, overshadowing any colt who succeeds in winning the blue riband of the turf across the Epsom Downs today.