166 NAMES ENTERED FOR ENGLISH DERBY
Ian Fortune
Entries for the Star Sports & Orchestrate English Derby closed on Monday evening with the final number declared at 166.
The opening round draw for the classic will be made live from Towcester on Friday and the action is set to commence on Thursday, April 30th with the opening round run over three nights.
Speaking to the Racing Post, James Chalkley, the head of racing at Towcester, said,“We still need to go through the entries and check all are okay and that there are none which have been missed as I know some trainers had issues with the online payment system.
"The figure currently is 166 subject to verification, although that may change slightly once the dust settles.”
IRELAND SENDING A STRONG TEAM
Of course, many of the 166 names in the book are trained in Ireland and it seems safe to expect another bold showing rom the raiding party.
The classic was won in 2025 by Droopys Plunge, becoming the first home trained winner since Thorn Falcon in 2021.
Indeed, five of the last seven winners have been trained on Irish soil and the betting suggests that Ireland could well regain the title this year with a very strong team on the way across the water.