Summer of disruption fails to materialise at Epsom as Jockey Club's actions against protesters pay off

Everyone will have felt the nervous tension that builds up before you throw a party: will the guests like the food? Have all the right people been invited? Will anyone actually come at all?

It seems those feelings were acutely experienced by Animal Rising on Saturday, as after weeks of threatening mass disruption to the Betfred Derby, fewer people came out in support of the organisation at Epsom than you might expect to attend a mid-winter all-weather evening fixture at Kempton.

Perhaps the omens were there from the start. At the ‘family fun’ gathering for the group outside the front gates, there was considerable hand-wringing at the apparent no-show of the vegan food truck that had been arranged to provide sustenance to those who were present. It is unknown whether Epsom stepped in to provide any doughy concessions in its absence.