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It's clear mainstream coverage of the Derby is lost at the weekend - so perhaps it's time to move it back to Wednesday

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Deputy news editor
City Of Troy (Ryan Moore) after winning the Derby
City Of Troy (Ryan Moore) after winning the DerbyCredit: Edward Whitaker

At 1.33pm on Derby day, Persica had just won Epsom's opening race, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Lester Piggott Handicap, and I decided to take a look around Britain's most popular mainstream sports news sites for mentions of the Derby.

What I didn’t find probably won't shock you and is reflective of a sport that has lost relevance with the wider public. With less than three hours until the Derby, it was disappointing how little prominence racing's big day could draw.

A live Derby day blog was the 12th item on the Sky Sports News site. "City Of Troy leads O'Brien's Epsom Derby challenge" is the 13th most prominent story on BBC sport. The first mention of the Derby on The Sun sport's homepage was a free bets offer in slot 17, while the first 'racing-facing' story - headlined: "Glam racegoers turn heads for Ladies' Day at Epsom races with eyecatching dresses & hats despite the miserable weather" - was 33rd. I stopped counting at 150 having still not found a mention on the Daily Mail's sport homepage. 

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