An extra 60 seconds to run the Derby - surely premierisation should have done better than that?

At the bottom of every controversy, there's always someone with a reasonable explanation. That's one thing I've learned from years of trying to find out why certain odd things happen in racing.

Of course, you're not always obliged to accept the explanation. Crying out in frustration is a valid response to a lot of stuff that goes on. It's probably healthier than trying to bottle it all up so that one day you turn purple and keel over.

These thoughts are prompted by the race-times for Saturday. It's Derby day, as if you needed to be told. And we're in the era of premierisation, so naturally we're expecting to see a bit of space cleared either side of the great race – to let it breathe, to give us all time to drink in the details, to make sure we're not all just whisked on to the next thing right away.