Derby Trial at Lingfield Park 2023

Officially the Derby Trial Stakes but often known as the ‘Lingfield Derby Trial,’ this is a race that was once a Group 3 but is now run under Listed status.

One of the key trials for the Derby at Epsom, along with the Dante Stakes at York and the Classic Trial at Sandown, the Derby Trial Stakes is run on the same day as the Oaks Trial at Linfield, usually in May.

Open only to the three-year-olds; the race is staged over a distance just shy of the Derby trip at one mile, three-and-a-half furlongs.

Until 2019 the Derby Trial was gaining a rather poor reputation in terms of the quality of horses it produced pre-Epsom. However, the winner that year was Anthony Van Dyck, who went on to take the big one as did Oaks Trial winner Anapurna, immediately re-elevating the status of two of Lingfield Park’s key events. The impressive English King took the delayed 2020 renewal.